Creating value with digital platforms
: the cases of Uber and Airbnb

  • Carlotta Maria Barracosa Pugliese (Student)

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

This thesis is intended to analyze a new business model, which bases the main activities of a company in a digital platform. To do so, two companies – Uber and Airbnb - were studied in depth. An overview of each company, an analysis of how is their pricing model and some financial data is shown. In order to provide conclusions concerning the main question of this study, how is value created through digital platforms, it is important to deliver some information regarding the major theoretical concepts, such as sharing economy, trust or network effects. The most fundamental for this work was, certainly, the sharing economy one: the fact that this type of economy is emerging and allowing people to connect with each other and generate activity is very important. Later in the thesis, a model is used to give a more clear perspective of which elements generate value, when a platform is in use. The platform allows transactions, which therefore enable the participating organizations to create value.
Date of Award15 Dec 2016
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
SupervisorAlexandre Linhares (Supervisor)

Designation

  • Mestrado em Gestão e Administração de Empresas

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