Abstract
This paper discusses dynamics and differences of business models in the car-sharing industry and focuses on open innovation as the trigger of diverse business models among Uber in the U.S., DiDi Chuxing in China, and KakaoT in Korea. We seek to answer the following two questions: What creates the differences in the business models of the car-sharing industry? Do the differences in open innovation motivate the diversity of business models among Uber, DiDi Chuxing, and KakaoT? We incorporated participatory observation, interviews, and semi-structured questionnaire methods in our study. We used two-step participatory observation and interview methods, hence carrying out observation and interviews two times by different researchers with Uber drivers in the U.S., DiDi-Chuxing drivers in Beijing, and KakaoT taxi drivers in Korea to confirm the interview and participatory observation results. First, business models of the car-sharing firms Uber, DiDi-Chuxing, and KakaoT are not fixed but rather are dynamically changing. Second, business models of car-sharing firms are the result of interaction with government regulations, the taxi industry, public transportation, and the automotive car industry. Third, open innovation strategies of car-sharing firms determine the contents and dynamics of car-sharing business models, such as the revenue business model, responsibility business model, and system business model upon interaction with four agencies.
Highlights
While the 20th century saw the beginning of the individual ownership era of the car, the sharing economy has arrived in the 21st century with diverse car-sharing models even though there are possibilities of the existence of digital divide and the socially unequal availability of the rede sharing initiatives [1,2]
The main research question is as follows: What causes the differences in business models in the car-sharing industry? We posed two detailed research questions: Does the difference in open innovation motivate the diversity of business models among Uber, DiDi Chuxing, and KakaoT? If so, what were the differences in open innovation and business models among Uber, Didi Chuxing, and KakaoT?
The carsharing industry can motivate economical sustainability in several aspects as follows [59]. This industry can be a new change for job creation in the fourth industrial revolution, which normally motivates economy growth with the increase of unemployment according to interviews of several car-share drivers [20,60,61]
Summary
While the 20th century saw the beginning of the individual ownership era of the car, the sharing economy has arrived in the 21st century with diverse car-sharing models even though there are possibilities of the existence of digital divide and the socially unequal availability of the rede sharing initiatives [1,2]. If we have apps for car-sharing we can live comfortably in the U.S, where the individual car ownership era started 100 years ago, without owning a car. The sharing economy is exchanging the traditional manufacturing industry for a new service industry—the car-sharing industry In this new service industry, the traditional factors of a service industry, such as the difference between individual entrepreneurs and individual owners, the business process of an entrepreneurial service firm, the financial resources motivation problem, etc., may be treated totally differently from the perspective of an open innovation platform [4,5,6]. This paper discusses the dynamics and differences of business models in the car-sharing industry and focuses on open innovation as the trigger of the diverse business models among Uber in the U.S, DiDi Chuxing in China, and KakaoT in Korea
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