Borders of Network Effects and Early Internationalization as a Latecomer Strategy

Scholars have examined the persistent heterogeneity of firm performance from the entry-order effect perspective. In the international business literature, this perspective has been highlighted in research on early internationalization (i.e., the born global strategy). While prior work has focused on the heterogeneity of firm characteristics and capabilities, we present a demand-side view of early internationalization by focusing on network effects. Prior theoretical work on network effects has predicted that when network effects are prominent, survival is challenging for latecomers because of the installed bases of first movers in the global market. However, we see many cases, such as the mobile instant messenger (MIM) market, where no single winner dominates the global market and where many latecomers have survived by implementing early internationalization. We build upon Brian Arthur’s model of demand-side dynamics. The findings suggest that latecomers may overcome their disadvantages by pursuing early internationalization, especially when the direct network effects (i.e., social network effects) are stronger than the indirect network effects (i.e., installed base effects). The underlying rationale is that country borders often demarcate the reach of the direct network effect, limiting the power of installed bases.

Coordinating Demand and Supply for Crowd Logistics Platforms with Network Effect

The crowd logistics platforms connect stochastic demand with uncertain delivery supply which is provided by independent service providers. Considering direct-network effects and cross-network effects between the demand and supply side, a dynamic surge pricing model for crowd logistics platforms is built. The pricing strategy is derived to coordinate the supply with demand to equilibrium. Furthermore, the pricing strategy minimizing cumulative delivery orders is analyzed. The numerical simulation results show that the dynamic surge pricing strategies can stimulate the uncertain delivery supply for maximizing platforms’ revenue. And, direct-network effects pose a positive impact on the dynamic surge pricing strategy. In contrast, the cross-network effects have a negative impact on the pricing strategy. However, direct-network effects and cross-network effects negatively influence platforms’ revenue.

Examining Protection Motivation and Network Externality Perspective Regarding the Continued Intention to Use M-Health Apps

M-health apps have developed rapidly and are widely accepted, but users’ continued intention to use m-health apps has not been fully explored. This study was designed to obtain a better understanding of users’ continued intention to use m-health apps. We developed a theoretical model by incorporating the protection motivation theory and network externalities and conducted an empirical study of a 368-respondent sample. The results showed that: (1) perceived vulnerability has a direct impact on users’ self-efficacy and response efficacy; (2) self-efficacy and response efficacy have a direct impact on users’ attitudes and continued intention; (3) network externalities affect users’ attitudes and continued intention, among which direct network externalities have an indirect impact on users’ continued intention through attitude; and (4) the impacts of self-efficacy, response efficacy, and indirect network externalities on continued intention are partially meditated by attitudes.

SDN Controller

Designing and organizing networks has become extra innovative over the past few years with the assistance of SDN (software-defined networking). The software implements network protocols that undergo years of equivalence and interoperability testing. Software-defined networking (SDN) is a move toward computer networking that allows network administrators to programmatically initialize, manage, alter, and direct network behavior dynamically through open interfaces and abstraction of lower-level functionality. SDN controller is an application in software-defined networking (SDN) that manages run control to permit clever networking. SDN controllers are based on protocols, such as OpenFlow, that permit servers to inform switches where to send packets. This chapter explores SDN controllers.