The future of the web? The coordination and early-stage growth of decentralized platforms

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hsieh, Ying-Ying; Vergne, Jean-Philippe
• 署名单位: Imperial College London; University of London; University College London
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.3455
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 829-857
• 关键词: blockchain; COORDINATION; decentralization; GROWTH; platform

摘要

Research Summary This abductive study investigates how management occurs without managerial authority as part of a previously unseen organizational form-the decentralized platform with an independent market value. Our mixed-methods study of the cryptocurrency industry draws on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analyses (QCA) to analyze archival and interview data and offer new theory on how decentralized platforms coordinate activities to grow in an early-stage, before network effects kick in. We find that, in the absence of a central authority, platforms coordinate activities with three mechanisms, namely decentralized (a) algorithmic coordination, (b) social coordination, and (c) goal coordination. Our QCA treat these mechanisms as explanatory conditions and, using a representative sample of 20 cryptocurrency platforms, reveal which configurations of decentralized coordination mechanisms nurture, or hinder, early-stage platform growth. Managerial Summary Firms operate around a managerial hierarchy that distributes tasks, resources, information, and rewards to organizational members who pursue common goals as contract-bound employees. From 2009, a new organizational form, called the decentralized platform, emerged and diffused without relying on hierarchy nor managerial authority-and without having to employ anyone. The most prominent decentralized platform, Bitcoin, has millions of users, thousands of contributors, and a market valuation never achieved before by an organization without a CEO nor shareholders. This study explicates how this unprecedented level of organizational decentralization functions in practice. We foreshadow implications for the digital economy, wherein Web3 innovations, such as non-fungible tokens and DAOs, have already shifted the orchestrating role played by platforms in capitalist societies.