Catalyst Code: The Strategies Behind the World's Most Dynamic Companies

by David S Evans, Richard Schmalensee

Overview

In an economy where markets, consumers, and technology are ever-changing and increasingly interdependent, economic catalysts - businesses that bring together a number of groups who need each other and make it easy for them to work together - are essential. Think of the credit card industry. This trillion dollar industry brings merchants and consumers together. Google creates value for its customers, and makes billions for itself, by bringing searchers and advertisers together. Companies that do this right - and transform their pricing practices, incentive plans, and organizational structures - are today's power brokers. Of course, catalysts have been around as long as marketplaces. But now, more than ever, they drive the economy. Doing business in this world isn't for the faint of heart - but Catalyst Code maps it out, showing where the opportunities - and pitfalls - lie.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781422101995
Publisher:	Harvard Business Review Press
Publication date:	05/09/2007
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David is a professor at University College London and lecturer at the University of Chicago. The author of more than 80 academic articles, his empirical research on two-sided businesses is cited widely. He is the Founder of Market Platform Dynamics, a strategic consulting firm that helps catalysts develop profitable product, customer and business strategies.

Dick is the Dean of the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA, where he is also a professor of management and economics. A former member of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, Dick is one of the world's leading scholars on the economics of industrial organization. Dick is the Chairman of Market Platform Dynamics and the author of more than 100 academic articles. He has Ph.D. and undergraduate degrees from MIT in economics and lives in Boston.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     ix
What Is a Catalyst?     1
Build a Catalyst Strategy     21
Identify the Catalyst Community     45
Establish a Pricing Structure     71
Design the Catalyst for Success     93
Focus on Profitability     119
Compete Strategically with Other Catalysts     145
Experiment and Evolve     169
Cracking the Catalyst Code     193
Additional Readings     205
Notes     207
Index     217
About the Authors     227

What People are Saying About This

" . . . an important book for anyone interested in understanding how breakthrough businesses can be built in today's economy."--(Bill Gates)