eprintid: 10155576
rev_number: 9
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/15/55/76
datestamp: 2022-09-13 15:19:16
lastmod: 2022-09-13 15:26:26
status_changed: 2022-09-13 15:19:16
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Hsieh, Ying‐Ying
creators_name: Vergne, JP
title: The Future of the Web? The Coordination and Early‐Stage Growth of Decentralized Platforms
ispublished: inpress
divisions: C05
divisions: F49
divisions: B04
divisions: UCL
note: This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
abstract: 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 (i) algorithmic coordination, (ii) social coordination, and (iii) 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 NFTs and DAOs, have already shifted the orchestrating role played by platforms in capitalist societies.
date: 2022-08-26
date_type: published
publisher: Wiley
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3455
oa_status: green
full_text_type: other
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1976102
doi: 10.1002/smj.3455
lyricists_name: Vergne, Jean-Philippe
lyricists_id: JPDVE11
actors_name: Vergne, Jean-Philippe
actors_id: JPDVE11
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Strategic Management Journal
citation:        Hsieh, Ying‐Ying;    Vergne, JP;      (2022)    The Future of the Web? The Coordination and Early‐Stage Growth of Decentralized Platforms.                   Strategic Management Journal        10.1002/smj.3455 <https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3455>.    (In press).    Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10155576/1/Strategic%20Management%20Journal%20-%202022%20-%20Hsieh%20%26%20Vergne%20-%20The%20Future%20of%20the%20Web.pdf