Context: Application and Analysis

Digital platforms, for instance, connect buyers and sellers directly, lowering the costs of search and coordination (McAfee and Brynjolfsson 2017). They have created seamless global marketplaces in areas such as e-commerce, payments, travel, learning, and labour services and there is room for much more growth. Alibabas AL Research projects that cross-border B2C e-commerce sales alone will reach approximately $1 trillion by 2020. B2B e-commerce could be five or six times as that figure. While some of those transactions may substitute for traditional offline trade flows, ecommerce could still spur some $1.3 trillion to $2.1 trillion in incremental trade by 2030, boosting trade in manufactured goods by 610%. This will include many small businesses that can directly reach customers in other countries. eBay, Alibaba, Amazon, Jumia and other online marketplaces are enabling the rise of micro-multinationals today, start-ups tap global talent, finance, and consumers from day one (McKinsey Global Institute 2016).

Question 1: Demonstrate how and why companies like eBay, Alibaba, Amazon and Jumia have managed to use digital platforms to become global players? Choose ONE company for your answer and pick only THREE factors to discuss in your answer.

Key Points for Answers:

The importance and advantages of digital platforms

The creation of seamless global marketplace

The use of e-commerce, payments, travel, learning and labour services

Economies of scale, economies of scope and cost advantages

The use of global talent, finance, and consumers

The overall impact of technology in globalising economies

( 500 -550 words).