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Entrepreneurs and startups are increasingly turning to platforms nowadays鈥攚hether it is about creating a new platform, or providing product offerings and soliciting ideas on a platform. 听Consider Kickstarter鈥檚 platform that features listings of thousands of entrepreneurial projects to connect with the millions of registered backers online, or Apple鈥檚 iOS platform hosting millions of mobile apps published by developers and billions of users of iOS devices. 听Indeed, platforms are now being seen as 鈥渟emi-regulated鈥� marketplaces that foster entrepreneurship under the coordination and direction of the platform owner (Kickstarter, Apple). Yet, such coordination is surely easier said than done. Platforms do not own the product offerings (entrepreneurial projects, apps) or have direct control over their partners (entrepreneurs, app developers). 听

So what can a platform owner do to orchestrate the value creation activities of autonomous business partners which are critical to the vibrancy and success of a platform?

This question was the focus of a research project carried out by Leeds School鈥檚 Strategy & Entrepreneurship professor Tony Tong, in collaboration with two Ph.D. alumni, (currently assistant professor at Tulane University) and (currently assistant professor at the University of Virginia), who recently presented at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Boston. The researchers argue that platform owners can use what they call 鈥渁ccess control鈥� to shape business partners鈥� activities. Specifically, they looked at how 鈥渏ailbreaking鈥濃�攕hapes app developers鈥� activities. Apple鈥檚 iOS is well-known for adopting a strict gatekeeping policy that controls for what (apps) or who (app develops) has access to the platform.

The 鈥渏ailbreak鈥� of the iOS is hacking that exploits loopholes to remove Apple鈥檚 built-in restrictions, allowing users to install apps not officially approved by Apple鈥檚 App Store. After jailbreaking, many apps that were previously denied by Apple鈥檚 App Store can gain access to a sizable number of users with jailbroken iOS devices, and may present competitive pressure to existing iOS developers who profit from app-related sales.

The researchers leveraged the unexpected timing of the jailbreak of iOS 7 in December 2013 to conduct a natural experiment. They compared the posting activity of iOS app developers (which they consider the 鈥渢reatment group鈥�) and the activity of otherwise comparable Android app developers unaffected by the jailbreak (the 鈥渃ontrol group鈥�) on StackOverflow.com, an active online forum of software developers. They found that with the jailbreaking, the resulting deficiency in iOS鈥檚 gatekeeping鈥攁nd weakened platform access control鈥攔educed the amount, as well as the quality, of the information being shared by iOS app developers. The findings suggest that increased competitive threat鈥攄ue to the 鈥渦nauthorized鈥� entry of imitating products into the platform鈥攄ampens app developers鈥� incentives to share knowledge.

The team鈥檚 findings suggest that platform access control, at least in the case of Apple鈥檚 iOS, may be beneficial to platform owners. 听

Although ecosystem partners often collaborate with each other to create value, this study highlights that opening platform access too widely to partners with substitutive product offerings can significantly shift the dynamics among partners toward a more competitive stance. These dynamics ultimately shape the success of the platform, and thus are worth close attention for entrepreneurs aiming to create a platform or release their product offerings on the platform. 听Overall, the findings suggest that while openness may help a platform orchestrate innovation, too much openness鈥攅specially to partners with highly similar products or services鈥攎ay dampen innovation.