Business Model Framework Research Articles

Study on core essential elements for O2O business model with value net theory

The O2O business model concept was given based on literature review. The O2O business model framework was established and the most basic seven major elements were identified in our research with value net theory as follow: customer, telecom operator, content provider, service provider, software provider, third-party payment platform and offline business entity. Then, we identified eight secondary elements and 22 three-level elements of O2O business model with Delphi, and the O2O business model core essential elements evaluation model was also established. We analysed the model systematically and figured out top ten core elements with analytic network process as follow: network speed and stability, mining the customer subject requirements, insight to customer demand, control the trading risk, the core technology research and development, the life service payment platform, after payment platform, financial services platform development, outburst requirements fulfilment and maintenance of direct correlation among enterprises. The top ten elements mainly concentrated in four dimensions as follow: customer, telecom operators, third-party payment platform, and software providers. We hope that the research can provide enlightenment to O2O business model essence and insight to O2O future trends.

Imperatives of Business Models and Digital Transformation for Digital Services Providers

Despite the increasing pace of digital transformation initiatives across many industry verticals, lack of understanding among business leadership is cited as one of the major barriers for successful implementation of business transformation. This article explores the imperatives of business models and digital transformation from practical perspective and proposes an improvised business model framework with particular focus on digital services providers. Extant literature covering the trends of business models and digital transformation were reviewed qualitatively along with select reports pertaining to challenges faced by communications service providers. Key findings of this article suggest, a practical framework and business model representation to mitigate the challenges of business models and digital transformation. The authors believe, such an approach shall open up new and innovative opportunities for communication service providers to become true digital service providers which will help their business customers to plan and empirically progress with their business transformation efforts.

Development of a Strategic Business Model Framework for Multi-Sided Platforms to Ensure Sustainable Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

As digitalization progresses, enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are pressured by reduced product life-cycles and the emerging role of information technology to continuously deliver product innovations to stay competitive. Due to limited resources, new approaches are necessary. This paper shows, how multi-sided platform (MSP) business models can help to achieve this goal. Therefore, we analyze current innovation approaches, collect the current state of business model innovations in SMEs, survey five SMEs who successfully launched an MSP and derive an exemplary framework which is built on the detected key aspects.

Study on core essential elements for O2O business model with value net theory

The O2O business model concept was given based on literature review. The O2O business model framework was established and the most basic seven major elements were identified in our research with value net theory as follow: customer, telecom operator, content provider, service provider, software provider, third-party payment platform and offline business entity. Then, we identified eight secondary elements and 22 three-level elements of O2O business model with Delphi, and the O2O business model core essential elements evaluation model was also established. We analysed the model systematically and figured out top ten core elements with analytic network process as follow: network speed and stability, mining the customer subject requirements, insight to customer demand, control the trading risk, the core technology research and development, the life service payment platform, after payment platform, financial services platform development, outburst requirements fulfilment and maintenance of direct correlation among enterprises. The top ten elements mainly concentrated in four dimensions as follow: customer, telecom operators, third-party payment platform, and software providers. We hope that the research can provide enlightenment to O2O business model essence and insight to O2O future trends.

Upgradable Product-Service Systems: Implications for Business Model Components

Upgradable products are comparatively more robust against uncertainties stemming from future technological innovations and market movements. They have the potential to satisfy evolving consumers’ preferences by integrating functional and performance enrichments during different consecutive life cycle stages. In academia, there is a growing interest in upgradability as a product life cycle extension strategy, especially given the growing importance of a product’s middle of life stage. However, due to novelty, complexity, and associated risks, upgradable products require a change in the general value proposition structure of standard products. Consequently, manufacturers need to rethink consumer relationships, key partners, channels, revenue streams, etc. (i.e., business model) in order to align with the new value proposition structure. This can be addressed by developing upgradable products as Product Service Systems (PSS) and then provisioning them with a business model that is designed specifically for upgradable PSS. To provide a first step towards a comprehensive business model framework, this paper analyzes the specificities of upgradable PSS and their implication on the components of the well-established Business Model Canvas based on a literature review.

O processo empreendedor: associando o business model Canvas (BMC) ao life cycle Canvas (LCC)

O processo empreendedor envolve desde a concepção de uma ideia até a implementação e gestão do novo negócio. Entre as ferramentas utilizadas nesse processo pode-se destacar o Business Model Canvas (BMC), um quadro de modelo de negócio que contempla as principais áreas que devem ser pensadas. Esta ferramenta baseada na filosofia de gestão visual é amplamente conhecida e a literatura indica que seu uso demonstra contribui para eficiência no processo empreendedor. Desse modo, este artigo teórico propõe uma associação do BMC com a gestão de projetos por meio do Life Cycle Canvas (LCC). A ideia central é mostrar como estas duas ferramentas podem ser associadas, uma em complementaridade à outra, para promover melhores resultados para o negócio, uma vez que a implementação dos projetos originados no BMC pode ser um fator crítico de sucesso para o negócio. Essa associação mostrou que há complementaridade entre as duas ferramentas, ficando o BMC responsável pela fase inicial do processo empreendedor, enquanto o LCC atende à fase final, de gestão dos projetos que levam ao sucesso do negócio.

Strategy for the Cultural Contents Industry to Secure Competitive Advantage Using Fourth Industrial Revolution Technology

With the coming of the fourth industrial revolution, cultural contents industry requires a new strategy to enhance its competitive advantages. As a result, governments and companies have been focusing their efforts on finding new business models and expanding the value chain in order to respond to the paradigm shift in a timely manner. This study aims to suggest new business model frameworks and strategies to create a paradigm shift by converging the characteristics of the fourth industrial revolution and cultural contents industry such as publishing, game, broadcasting, and character industry. First, we discuss how to upgrade cultural contents industry with the fourth industrial revolution technology and then suggest new contents business models and the change of value chain in the cultural contents industry. Finally, we consider strategies of innovation process development in the cultural contents industry. This study will contribute not only to economic policy-making but also to the business strategy of the company.

Business models for sustainable consumption in the circular economy: An expert study

Combining sustainable consumption with the circular economy concept could help tackle challenges, such as resource scarcity and climate change by reducing resource throughput and increasing cycling of products and materials within the economic system, thereby reducing emissions and virgin material use. To achieve sustainable consumption in a circular economy production and consumption practices need to change. Business models can potentially influence both practices as it defines how a company conducts business and shapes the company-consumer relationship. This paper developed future business models for sustainable consumption through two rounds of semi-structured interviews with experts from academia, industry, and policy. During the first interview round, four business model elements that are important for sustainable consumption were identified: Resource strategy, Revenue model, Consumer effort, and Objective to (decrease/increase) consumption level. Based on these elements, we developed a comprehensive business model framework. Using this framework, experts envisioned future business models for sustainable consumption of clothing during the second interview round. The findings of this study suggest that the most promising business models for sustainable consumption are those that reduce overall consumption levels and consumer effort. Further, we found that a diverse range of business models in the market can potentially enable different customer segments to consume sustainably.

Educating engineers to develop new business models: Exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities in technology-based firms

This study examines educational frameworks and practices useful in teaching engineers to develop new business models (BM) that exploit entrepreneurial opportunities in technology-based firms. We compare three existing frameworks (Blue Ocean, the Business Model Canvas, and the Business Model Innovation Framework) used to teach how to develop new business models. We then report findings from two studies: (1) five years of teaching engineers at a business school; and (2) a two-year intervention carried out at an aerospace engineering firm engaged in new business model development. In both studies, the challenges of business-model-related education involve the limits to creativity imposed by existing frameworks and the difficulty in prototyping new business models. The opportunities of business-model-related education include the transformation of the educator into a coach by effectively combining explanation- and experience-based learning approaches into a virtuous learning cycle. Systematic thinking about business model design, enabled by the business model frameworks, is of crucial importance to generate viable business models for new technologies.

Transformative Sustainable Business Models in the Light of the Digital Imperative—A Global Business Economics Perspective

The considerable body of literature on business models, business model innovation, and sustainable business models has yet to fully account for the impact of external dynamics—including the digital imperative—on generating sustainable value propositions. To address this issue, we developed a multifaceted framework of transformative sustainable business models, spanning three levels: the external environment, the organization, and the individual. We drew on the resource-based view and the literature on digitization to explain how organizations can capitalize on dynamic transformative capabilities to generate novel value propositions, based on both reconstructionist logic and shared-value logic. These include elements such as co-creation, usage-based pricing, agility, closed-loop processes, asset sharing, and collaborative business ecosystems.

A Research Framework for Business Models: What Is Common Among Fast Fashion, E-Tailing, and Ride Sharing?

Every firm has a business model, which is the collection of strategic decisions that determine how the firm generates a sustainable enterprise through the creation of enough value (its supply model) and the extraction of a sufficient portion of that value (its revenue model). Innovative business models—for example, fast fashion (e.g., Zara), e-tailing (e.g., Amazon), and ride-sharing (e.g., Uber)—are capable of offering new products and services that generate considerable consumer utility and transform industries. This paper develops a research framework for understanding business models and how business models have evolved over time. Links are made to the existing literature (primarily in pricing and operations), and simple models are developed to unify and clarify existing research findings. Through this framework, it is possible (i) to identify the few design decisions that explain the success of these diverse firms with otherwise seemingly disparate models, and (ii) to speculate on potential future business-model innovations. This paper was accepted by Teck Ho, operations management.

Towards a Business Model Framework to Increase Collaboration in the Freight Industry

Collaboration in the freight industry has not been widely adopted mainly due to the perceived barriers in competition resulting in a lack of trust among fleet operators. Collaboration in this sector has significant benefits, including the reduction of empty running, operating costs (OPEX) and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) resulting in greater utilisation of existing logistics assets. A review of the literature to establish the critical aspects of freight collaboration was undertaken, as well as analyses of published case studies and European Union (EU)-funded projects. The critical aspects and barriers identified include: revenue sharing; compliance with competition law; process synchronization; organisational and systems interoperability; different forms of collaboration from a physical and coordination structure perspective; and strategies for collaboration. To facilitate collaboration a freight collaborative business model (FCBM) framework that highlights problematic areas in freight collaboration is proposed to support standardizing collaborative practices in the freight industry. Three published freight industry collaboration business cases were evaluated against the model. The business model framework is intended as a tool to be used to compare different business models and identify the best innovations to help facilitate collaborative practices. The freight collaboration business model was applied to the Freight Share Lab research project in order to demonstrate the concept and investigate whether efficiency can be unlocked through deployment of a dynamic data and asset sharing platform to enable route and load optimization across multiple fleets of freight vehicles, rail freight wagons and containers.

The performance implications of the strategy–business model fit

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight different strategy–business model (BM) alignments using Miles and Snow’s strategic framework and analyze the performance implications of these different alignments.Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops a composite conceptual model combining Miles and Snow’s strategy typology with Demil and Lecocq’s BM framework to explore the performance implications of strategy–BM fit. This model is empirically examined using a sample of 156 French small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector.FindingsThe results first highlight a limited set of BM configurations across strategic profiles, confirming that a BM reflects a firm’s strategy as a means of realizing strategic choices. Second, they reveal that deviating from ideal strategy–BM alignments negatively affects performance. Finally, they shed light on the dynamics of Miles and Snow’s typology, from intended to implemented strategy.Research limitations/implicationsThe intrinsic characteristics of surveyed SMEs led to the hybridization of empirically derived profiles, which allowed to partially associate them with theoretically predicted configurations of BMs.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests the patterns of predictive strategy–BM alignment that allow managers and entrepreneurs to monitor the dynamic consistency between strategic choices and their implementation.Originality/valueDo you need a strategy if you have a BM? Adopting a fit and performance perspective, this paper addresses this question and complements other studies emphasizing the need to connect strategies and BMs.

Managerial practices for designing circular economy business models

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the managerial practices that companies can implement in order to design a circular economy business model and how companies can create and capture value from a circular economy business model.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a single case study methodology with semi-structured interviews and company, supplier, and manufacturing site visits, conducted in a small-to-medium-size Italian company operating in the office supply industry.FindingsThe theoretical setting maps a set of managerial practices for a circular economy business model and sets the research gaps and questions in a research framework designed along three main dimensions: value network, customer value proposition and interface, and managerial commitment. Then, through an empirical analysis, the findings reveal that the proposed dimensions are interdependent and reinforce each other. Moreover, the managerial commitment as moderating factor between the value network and the customer value proposition and interface dimensions is identified as essential for reaching the intended goals of circular economy business models.Research limitations/implicationsThis study maximizes the depth of the phenomenon under investigation by leveraging a single case study methodology, which ideally helps in a theory-testing approach as in the present case. Future research opportunities could be found in qualitative and quantitative studies to increase the generalizability of the findings of this paper.Practical implicationsThe paper presents a set of relevant managerial practices for circular economy business models that can be used by managers who have the will to embrace in practice circular economy principles to support the design, change, or upgrade of the business model of companies within which they operate.Originality/valueAn interdisciplinary approach that integrates the research streams of circular economy, social psychology, organizational behavior, and business model design has been pursued to test the theoretical setting and the research framework for circular economy business models in a real-world context.

A Research Framework for Business Models: What Is Common Among Fast Fashion, E-Tailing, and Ride Sharing?

Abstract Every firm has a business model, which is the collection of strategic decisions that determine how the firm generates a sustainable enterprise through the creation of enough value (its supply model) and the extraction of a sufficient portion of that value (its revenue model). Innovative business models, for example fast-fashion (e.g., Zara), e-tailing (e.g., Amazon), and ride-sharing (e.g., Uber), are capable of offering new products and services that generate considerable consumer utility and transform industries. This paper develops a research framework for understanding business models and how business models have evolved over time. Links are made to the existing literature (primarily in pricing and operations) and simple models are developed to unify and clarify existing research findings. Through this framework it is possible (i) to identify the few design decisions that explain the success of these diverse firms with otherwise seemingly disparate models, and (ii) to speculate on potential future business model innovations.

Stakeholders’ Role in Creativity: A Multidimensional Business Model for Arts Festivals

This paper aims to empirically identify the key factors that drive effective innovative business models in the creative industries. There have been various approaches of analyzing the impact and importance of the creative industries but few appears to address the importance of major stakeholders driving innovation potential in this arena. A case study of the Moon Lantern Festival event held in Adelaide South Australia, where it is part of the OzAsia Festival has been adopted in this paper to underline the analyses of this study. Using a systems approach and stakeholder theory this research aims to develop a model that evaluates innovative business practices in major public Performing Arts Festivals. From the case study and its stakeholder analysis a new business model framework is proposed with a focus on organisational culture, idea generation, relationships and collaborations, team work and resource sharing.

EMERGING PROFESSIONAL SERVICE FIRM BUSINESS MODELS: Legal firm start-ups in the US and UK

This empirical paper addresses the effect of digitalization on the business models of professional service firms (PSFs), such as law firms. We apply a business model framework to identify important dimensions of recent disruptions caused by digitalization within this context. Data was collected through 32 semi-structured interviews with legal tech companies and their stakeholders in the US and UK. Our study reveals five emerging business models within these firms: (1) The virtual law firm, (2) The virtual temp model, (3) The value creating legal service provider, (4) The IT-based consumer orientated virtual law firm, and (5) The standardized professional service firm. We also find that digitalization has huge implications on how professionals structure their work, interact, recruit and train employees as well as design their services and interact with clients. The study of law firms contributes as an illustration of the potential impact of digitalization on a broader set of knowledge intensive organizations.

The Role of the Internet of Things in the Improvement and Expansion of Business

The Internet of Things (IOT) has been examined in several perspectives based on the goals and visions of the present report. First, in this report based on previous studies, the general framework of business models in the Internet of Things has been analyzed, and then the suggested framework is presented. In the following, the business models of the Internet of Things and the impact of Internet of Things on the existing business models are studied. Thus, first of all, recognizing the elements of business models related to the Internet of Things is essential which has been addressed in the report. The results of different studies led to recognition of almost all business models in this field and to stating the most important components of the business models affected by the Internet of Things. The authors are still in the beginning of the process of Internet of Things. Most of the companies are willing to offer and sell the connected products and in near future, the majority of organizations will adopt more complex and ecosystem models. The purpose of this report is to offers social and business ideas to innovators so they can improve business models using the Internet of Things. This report examines the business models and proposed existing frameworks along with the economic energy of Internet of Things according to the successful projects in this scope, and offers the general logic for services or products that can be used as the basis of specific elements and patterns of business models of IOT.

A Business Model Framework for Crowd-Driven IoT Ecosystems

This article describes how the era of hyper-connectivity is characterized by distributed, crowd-centric ecosystems that utilise cutting edge technology so as to harness the collective power, co-creation ability and intelligence of the crowd utilising under open participatory value creation models. The Internet of Things (IoT) has fueled the emergence of such ecosystems that leverage not only the power of physical things connected to the Internet but also the wisdom of the crowd to observe, measure, and make sense of phenomena via user-owned mobile and wearable devices. Existing business modelling literature has to date, placed no research attention on business models for such emerging ecosystems. This article aims to fill this gap by examining the dynamics of crowd-driven IoT ecosystems and introducing a business model framework for such environments, encompassing all relevant value-creating actors, activities and processes, facilitating this way a holistic ecosystem business model analysis.

Developing a conceptual framework for the co-operative and mutual enterprise business model

AbstractThe co-operative and mutual enterprise business model represents a unique type of organisation that has a dual purpose focused on both economic and social goals. For nearly two centuries it has played an important role in economic development, job creation and addressing market failures. However, despite its potential importance to economic development it has been largely ignored within the mainstream economics and management literature. This paper provides an overview of the nature of the co-operative and mutual enterprise business model and also proposes a business model framework or ‘canvas’ that can be used for research, teaching and strategic analysis.