Digital Transformation

Digital Strategy

Today, every organization is impacted by the digital revolution, whether it likes it or not. Digital is now an unavoidable factor that affects corporate life. This true in all sectors and for all types of organizations.
In a more or less ambitious way, firms are led to transform in order to meet the challenges of digital. This is why this digital strategy course was designed. Its purpose is to understand what the term "digital transformation" implies and how a digital transformation strategy is built.
Various themes will be addressed in this course, among which: Industry 4.0, the platformization of economy, AI, etc.

Economics of Internet

Today, the five largest companies in the world by market capitalization are Google (Alphabet), Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft, often referred to by the acronym GAFAM. They are closely followed by another group of emerging companies, known as NATU (for Netflix, Airbnb, Tesla and Uber) and are increasingly challenged by Chinese giants such as Alibaba, Baidu, or Tencent.   What all these companies (perhaps with the exception of Tesla) have in common is that they can be defined as platforms, i.e., as undertakings whose core mission is to enable interactions between users so as to generate value from these interactions. These new digital matchmakers have been turbocharged by technologies and data creating new industries, destroying old ones and forcing traditional business to reinvent themselves.  
The economics of multi-sided platform formalizes the interaction between different groups of users on the platform. Economists, for instance the recent Nobel prize Jean Tirole, have shown that taking this interaction between the different sides into account changes many of the traditional results of the classical economic textbook. For instance, prices below marginal cost could be optimal (sometimes optimal prices are negative) or demand could increase with price contradicting the law of demand. Economists and students should take this interaction into account if they want to understand how firms operate in the digital economy and how they are competing for technologies, for products, for clients and for audience. This proposed course intends to fill this gap by presenting the main insights from the last 20 years of research in economics.  
Course content (provisional)
Part 1: the economics of the multi-sided platforms
-Platforms and network effects -Pricing and strategies for a platform -Creating audience and competition for the market -Strategies for multi-sided platforms
Part 2: prices, discrimination, data and advertising
-Price discrimination, personalized advertising and recommendations -Big data and algorithmic competition
Part 3: digital competition and regulation
-Net neutrality -Competition policy: regulating mergers and market power -Markets for data and privacy -Competition between matchmakers and the traditional sector: the Uber economy -Creation of digital content and piracy
The course will be a mix of theory, empirical evidences and case studies.

Digital Strategy

By the end of the course, students will be able to:
 

• define the concept of digital transformation
• differentiate digital technology from digital strategy
• elaborate a digital strategy building approach
• understand the main digital-related technologies
• apprehend digital-related changes in terms of business model.

Digital Strategy

No specific prerequisite.

Economics of Internet

Microeconomics (B2)

Digital Strategy

Learning method will be based on:

• Active participation to physical classes
• Reading of a number of predefined articles
• Realization of a group work

Economics of Internet

Teacher's presentations, discussions and exchanges, readings

Digital Strategy

The teaching mode will be based on physical lectures.

Digital Strategy

There is no specific textbook for this course. However, several papers and articles are mandatory and will be shared on the go.

Economics of Internet

to be completed

Digital Strategy

Final exam (written): 60 %
Group work: 40 %

Economics of Internet

written exam

Economics of Internet

Axel Gautier
Office I.43 (B31)
Email: agautie@uliege.be

Economics of Internet

Same as in January

Economics of Internet

On line exam on Lol@.   The questions will be adapted to the online format.