Unpacking Incumbent-Born Platform Initiatives in S&P 500 Firms

This research note presents the design of a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) study investigating how established S&P 500 firms navigate the transition from platform idea to successful launch. In our study, platforms are defined as intermediaries that connect two or more distinct sides while generating identifiable network effects between them. Because no existing database catalogs platform initiatives at this level of granularity, we conducted a manual identification process across S&P 500 companies, screening more than 500 candidate digital initiatives against this two-part definition and retaining 140 that met both criteria. To translate this sample into calibratable QCA data, we developed a structured survey addressing three sets of causal conditions – project-design drivers, traditional project-management practices, and organizational friction – alongside a multi-item “Success Degree” outcome construct. This note details the platform-identification method, the theoretical foundations of the survey, and the objectives guiding its design.