Operation Decisions Of The Internet Platform Enterprise From The Service Supply Chain Perspective

With the development of Internet technology,platform enterprises have become an important driving force for the development of the global economy.Many studies have shown that “service providers-platform enterprise-consumers” is a common structure of service supply chain with platform enterprise as the core.In this service supply chain,both the supply and demand sides can make use of resources provided by the platform to interact online fast and efficiently.In the industry,operation decisions are the core activities of an enterprise to achieve its development goals.As one of the typical types of enterprises,correct operation decisions of the platform enterprise also play an important role in obtaining economic benefits and industry competitiveness.This dissertation analyzes the operation decision issues of Internet platform enterprises from the perspective of service supply chain,selects and describes five decision-making scenarios according to the sequence of “vertical management-horizontal management-promotion management”,and considers different platform features and scene-specific features in each scenario.The research contents and conclusions of this dissertation are summarized as follows:First,this dissertation studies the impacts of value-added service and matching ability on the platform’s pricing decisions.There are two demand states: low-demand state and high-demand state.The results show that,whether it is a low-demand state or a high-demand state,value-added service always contributes to the improvement of platform’s profit.After developing the value-added service,the platform can set higher basic service price and higher total service price.In most cases,the total service price decreases as the platform’s matching ability increases.However,when the basic demand is low,the platform has sufficient funds and the price elasticity coefficient is small,the total service price increases as the platform’s matching ability increases.In the low-demand state,the platform does not always benefit from a higher matching ability.When the basic demand is low and the minimum quantity requirement of the provider is high,the platform’s profit first increases and then decreases with the increase of matching ability.In the high-demand state,the platform’s profit always increases with the increase of matching ability.Second,this dissertation studies sales mode selection when a platform cooperates with service providers.We analyze the impact of data-driven marketing and market size on the platform’ profit and sales mode selection,as well as the profit growth rate of developing data-driven marketing in different sales modes.The results show that,the platform prefers agency selling mode only when the market size is moderate.With an increase in data-driven marketing efficiency,the scope of the market size applicable to agency selling gradually decreases.Only when the market size and data-driven marketing efficiency are relatively low will the platform adopting an agency selling mode have a higher profit growth rate.Otherwise,the platform adopting a reselling mode has a higher profit growth rate.Without data-driven marketing,when the market size meets certain conditions,the sales mode with higher sales volume is not more profitable.However,the “high sales volume with low profit” phenomenon can be avoided when data-driven marketing efficiency meets certain conditions.Third,considering a platform entry scenario,this dissertation analyzes the pricing decisions and profits of the incumbent and entrant platform,introducing the market amplification effect,cross-network externalities,and overconfidence.The results show that,only when the market amplification effect exists,the incumbent platform has the possibility to obtain higher profit than the monopoly scenario.Even if the entrant’s overconfidence can bring an extra profit to the incumbent in the entry scenario,this gain is not enough to make the incumbent benefit from the platform entry.When the market amplification effect is moderate,the entrant’s overconfidence will eventually hurt the incumbent.When the degree of overconfidence is low,overconfidence as a cognitive bias of the entrant benefits the entrant itself.As the cross-network externality on either side increases,both two platforms should lower the market prices.As the cross-network externality on the consumer side(or provider side)increases,the two platforms should raise(or lower)commissions.Fourth,considering a platform cooperation scenario,this dissertation analyzes the conditions for an integrated platform to provide after-sales service in the integration mode,explores the performance of after-sales service cost-sharing contract,and proposes a “after-sales service cost-sharing+ consumer subsidies” contract.The results show that whether the integrated platform is willing to provide after-sales service is affected by the role of reputation and after-sales service cost.Although the after-sales service cost-sharing contract can encourage the integrated platform to provide aftersales service and increase the total utility of the core enterprises in the supply chain,it will stimulate the professional platform and the offline integrator to increase market prices,leading to a reduction in consumer surplus.This is not conducive to the longterm development of platform.Therefore,this dissertation designs an innovative “aftersales service cost sharing+ consumer subsidy” contract.This contract can not only incentivize the integrated platform to provide after-sales service,but also achieve all improvement of core enterprises’ utilities and consumer surplus.As the cross-network externality on the consumer side increases,the scope of the cost-sharing coefficient that makes the “after-sales service cost sharing+ consumer subsidy” contract work will also expand.Finally,this dissertation examines three types of the platform enterprise innovation practice,namely business mode innovation,technological innovation,and social responsibility innovation.Through multi-case analysis,this dissertation clarifies the driving factors of platform innovation practices,analyzes the impact of platform innovation practices on supply chain performance,and explores the moderating role of innovation types and cross-network externalities in performance management.The results show that,the change of customer demand has a driving effect on the business mode innovation and technological innovation.Peer competition and the platform’s iterative needs will simultaneously promote three innovation practices.Three innovation practices all have a positive effect on service provider welfare,customer satisfaction and platform revenue.Cross-network externalities play a positive moderating role in the relationship between platform innovation practices and supply chain performance.Business mode innovation has a more important impact on customer satisfaction and service provider welfare than other types of innovation.The moderating effect of innovation type on platform revenue is affected by time.