IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bushor/v67y2024i1p5-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital Davids, global Goliaths, and the Web3 sling

Author

Listed:
  • Gala, Kaushik

Abstract

The Web 2.0 digital economy, centered on dominant platforms, generates substantial opportunities for managers and entrepreneurs yet creates critical dependencies. Platform-dependent businesses engage in competitive actions—rivalrous, competitive-cooperative, and relational—vis-à-vis digital platforms to gain a fair share of economic value. While the (supposedly) trustworthy custodians of digital data have captured a disproportionate share of revenue and profits, Web3 promises to tilt the balance away from dominant platforms by providing mechanisms that replace centralized organizational trust with decentralized technological trust. Here, innovations such as blockchains and smart contracts complement antitrust laws and regulations in limiting platform power. Furthermore, this study suggests that end users, peers, and regulators may play an important role in helping businesses draw investors’, users’, and customers’ attention away from Web 2.0 platforms. To effectively leverage decentralized trust as a novel aspect of competitive actions, business leaders must pursue Web3 technologies that are reliable, high-growth market segments that are credible, and ventures that are investable.

Suggested Citation

  • Gala, Kaushik, 2024. "Digital Davids, global Goliaths, and the Web3 sling," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 5-17.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:67:y:2024:i:1:p:5-17
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2023.06.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000768132300068X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bushor.2023.06.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chalmers, Dominic & Fisch, Christian & Matthews, Russell & Quinn, William & Recker, Jan, 2022. "Beyond the bubble: Will NFTs and digital proof of ownership empower creative industry entrepreneurs?," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    2. Satish Nambisan, 2017. "Digital Entrepreneurship: Toward a Digital Technology Perspective of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(6), pages 1029-1055, November.
    3. Kelly D. Martin & Patrick E. Murphy, 2017. "The role of data privacy in marketing," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 135-155, March.
    4. Paul Belleflamme & Martin Peitz, 2018. "Inside the Engine Room of Digital Platforms: Reviews, Ratings, and Recommendations," Working Papers halshs-01714549, HAL.
    5. Ferraro, Carla & Wheeler, Melissa A. & Pallant, Jason I. & Wilson, Samuel G. & Oldmeadow, Julian, 2023. "Not so trustless after all: Trust in Web3 technology and opportunities for brands," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(5), pages 667-678.
    6. Christian Lechner & Birthe Soppe & Michael Dowling, 2016. "Vertical Coopetition and the Sales Growth of Young and Small Firms," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(1), pages 67-84, January.
    7. Narayanan, V.K. & Yang, Yi & Zahra, Shaker A., 2009. "Corporate venturing and value creation: A review and proposed framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 58-76, February.
    8. Enkel, Ellen & Sagmeister, Veronika, 2020. "External corporate venturing modes as new way to develop dynamic capabilities," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 96.
    9. Birch, Kean & Ward, Callum & Tretter, Eliot, 2022. "Introduction: new frontiers of techno-economic rentiership," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115135, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Ladd, Ted, 2022. "The Achilles’ heel of the platform business model: Disintermediation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 277-289.
    11. Carlota Perez, 2010. "Technological revolutions and techno-economic paradigms," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 34(1), pages 185-202, January.
    12. Luisa Roa & Alejandro Correa-Bahnsen & Gabriel Suarez & Fernando Cort'es-Tejada & Mar'ia A. Luque & Cristi'an Bravo, 2020. "Super-App Behavioral Patterns in Credit Risk Models: Financial, Statistical and Regulatory Implications," Papers 2005.14658, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2021.
    13. Chawla, Chetan, 2020. "Trust in blockchains: Algorithmic and organizational," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    14. Paul Belleflamme & Martin Peitz, 2018. "Inside the Engine Room of Digital Platforms: Reviews, Ratings, and Recommendations," Working Papers halshs-01714549, HAL.
    15. Hughes, Alex & Park, Andrew & Kietzmann, Jan & Archer-Brown, Chris, 2019. "Beyond Bitcoin: What blockchain and distributed ledger technologies mean for firms," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 273-281.
    16. Feng Zhu & Qihong Liu, 2018. "Competing with complementors: An empirical look at Amazon.com," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(10), pages 2618-2642, October.
    17. Park, Andrew & Wilson, Matthew & Robson, Karen & Demetis, Dionysios & Kietzmann, Jan, 2023. "Interoperability: Our exciting and terrifying Web3 future," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 529-541.
    18. Hung‐Hao Chang & D. Daniel Sokol, 2022. "How incumbents respond to competition from innovative disruptors in the sharing economy—The impact of Airbnb on hotel performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 425-446, March.
    19. Angelis, Jannis & Ribeiro da Silva, Elias, 2019. "Blockchain adoption: A value driver perspective," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 307-314.
    20. Ming-Jer Chen & Danny Miller, 2015. "Reconceptualizing competitive dynamics: A multidimensional framework," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 758-775, May.
    21. Kyriazis, Nikolaos & Papadamou, Stephanos & Corbet, Shaen, 2020. "A systematic review of the bubble dynamics of cryptocurrency prices," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    22. Murray, Alex & Kim, Dennie & Combs, Jordan, 2023. "The promise of a decentralized internet: What is Web3 and how can firms prepare?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 191-202.
    23. Michael Luca & Georgios Zervas, 2016. "Fake It Till You Make It: Reputation, Competition, and Yelp Review Fraud," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(12), pages 3412-3427, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gala, Kaushik & Schwab, Andreas & Mueller, Brandon A., 2024. "Star entrepreneurs on digital platforms: Heavy-tailed performance distributions and their generative mechanisms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(1).
    2. Gary Bolton & Kevin Breuer & Ben Greiner & Axel Ockenfels, 2023. "Fixing feedback revision rules in online markets," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 247-256, April.
    3. Li, Sen & Chen, Yan, 2024. "Governing decentralized autonomous organizations as digital commons," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    4. Aguiar, Luis & Waldfogel, Joel & Waldfogel, Sarah, 2021. "Playlisting favorites: Measuring platform bias in the music industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Joan Calzada & Nestor Duch-Brown & Ricard Gil, 2021. "Do search engines increase concentration in media markets?," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2021/415, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    6. Yassine Lefouili & Leonardo Madio, 2022. "The economics of platform liability," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 319-351, June.
    7. Yasui, Yuta, 2021. "Controlling Fake Reviews," MPRA Paper 108177, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Weking, Jörg & Desouza, Kevin C. & Fielt, Erwin & Kowalkiewicz, Marek, 2023. "Metaverse-enabled entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    9. Xuelin Chen & Dongmei Zhou & Ziying Zhan & Ruoyu Lu, 2023. "When Do You Enter? Entrepreneurial Firms’ Entry Timing and Product Performance in the Digital Platform Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, March.
    10. Satish Nambisan & Yadong Luo, 2021. "Toward a loose coupling view of digital globalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(8), pages 1646-1663, October.
    11. Tobias Kretschmer & Aija Leiponen & Melissa Schilling & Gurneeta Vasudeva, 2022. "Platform ecosystems as meta‐organizations: Implications for platform strategies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 405-424, March.
    12. Jiewang Chu & Jiaxuan Li, 2022. "The Composition and Operation Mechanism of Digital Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: A Study of Hangzhou Yunqi Town as an Example," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Kotiloglu, Serhan & Ometto, M. Paola, 2024. "An exploratory look at the role of ownership in initial coin offerings (ICO): Different audiences and ICO success," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    14. Motta, Massimo & Peitz, Martin, 2021. "Big tech mergers," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    15. A. Douglas Melamed & Nicolas Petit, 2019. "The Misguided Assault on the Consumer Welfare Standard in the Age of Platform Markets," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 54(4), pages 741-774, June.
    16. Budzinski, Oliver & Gänßle, Sophia & Lindstädt-Dreusicke, Nadine, 2021. "Data (r)evolution - The economics of algorithmic search and recommender services," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 148, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    17. Riikkinen, Mikko & Pihlajamaa, Matti, 2022. "Achieving a strategic fit in fintech collaboration – A case study of Nordea Bank," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 461-472.
    18. Wilson, Kathleen Bridget & Karg, Adam & Ghaderi, Hadi, 2022. "Prospecting non-fungible tokens in the digital economy: Stakeholders and ecosystem, risk and opportunity," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 65(5), pages 657-670.
    19. Antsipava, Dasha & Strycharz, Joanna & van Reijmersdal, Eva A. & van Noort, Guda, 2024. "What drives blockchain technology adoption in the online advertising ecosystem? An interview study into stakeholders’ perspectives," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    20. Dominic Chalmers & Niall G. MacKenzie & Sara Carter, 2021. "Artificial Intelligence and Entrepreneurship: Implications for Venture Creation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1028-1053, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:67:y:2024:i:1:p:5-17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.