An analysis of the Peer-to-Peer model of the sharing economy as an ecosystem platform. A case in the furnishing sector: TAGE for the Municipality of Göteborg

Abstract

Modern society is leaving behind the concept of a linear economy and moving ever closer to that of a circular economy. Therefore, the way we act has changed to become more and more sustainable. Even companies have been looking for a way to avoid wasting resources since our planet has very few of them, and to enter markets that allow sustainability, such as the sharing economy that operates on digital platforms that act as ecosystems. The purpose of this thesis work is to explain how a company, belonging to the Municipality of Gothenburg (Sweden), can improve its performance and use ecosystem platforms to perform a Peerto- Peer furniture sharing service. Therefore, the author decided to analyze a single case study in order to investigate and eventually fill those gaps that there are in the study of this topic. In particular, the author, decided to analyze what are the opportunities and challenges that the company faced in implementing ecosystem platforms in their business model, in the sharing economy of furnishing; with a focus on how important it is to implement ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) to deliver smart solutions to the company. The study was based on qualitative research, due to the lack of literature, and therefore in order to get as much information as possible from the respondents. Research data was collected in 2021 by interviewing (with semi-structured interviews) various departments within the same company in order to get multiple ideas of the same problem. The author had to limit the research to a single case study as there are not many examples of companies providing these services and delimited to the city of Gothenburg. The study revealed what role platforms play in this sector, what bottlenecks the company has faced and whether they are focusing on value propositions to increase their audience. The results of the analysis showed how the company recognizes that they face several challenges every day in implementing these platforms into their business model, while recognizing that they have even greater logistical problems due to the nature of the objects being exchanged. At the same time, however, it is satisfied with the results achieved in previous years, despite the difficulties that the pandemic has entailed. However, through the use of these ecosystem platforms, which is an imperative implementation for the company, the sharing economy service will be able to be facilitated.