NETWORK ECONOMY

The course deals with the mechanisms behind new economic paradigms that let go of the traditional produce-sell-collect money paradigm towards business models that are based on more shared information, more collaboration, vast use of on-line platforms and on-line auctions, and a more intensified general exchange between different stakeholders in the market. Whether it is consumers organising themselves through social tools, intermediates connecting stakeholders in new ways around an offer, or producers reinventing themselves to offer access to a service rather than a purchasable product, or to repurpose waste streams to valuable resources, all these changes are characterized by a growing interconnectedness between stakeholders. In this course, we study different business models and mechanics that are the results of these trends, both from a theoretical and a practical point of view. To that effect, the course will comprise lectures as well as company case studies. Students are then invited to demonstrate their insight on the course topics on their own business case.