INTRODUCTION OF DIGITAL PLATFORMS BY INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES AS A SOURCE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of digital platforms on the development of industrial companies, their role for the development and formation of sustainable competitive advantages by industrial enterprises. It is investigated how digital platforms affect efficiency and what negative network effects industrial companies experience. As a method of empirical research, the case method of eight Russian industrial companies is used, the number of which varies from 38 to 996 people. All the industrial companies included in the sample have been working on digital platforms for more than 5 years. The results of the study were the conclusions that digital platforms are used as an opportunity to enter foreign markets only by small industrial companies, large and medium-sized companies use other sources of internationalisation; digital platforms are not used as a source of innovative development. Digital platforms serve as an ecosystem to create a better offer for customers. Digital platforms are also a source of sustainable competitive advantages due to the formation of relationships with partners and obtaining information about consumers and markets.