Business Model Perspective Research Articles

High-Resolution Assessment of Air Quality in Urban Areas—A Business Model Perspective

The increasing availability of low-cost air quality sensors has led to novel sensing approaches. Distributed networks of low-cost sensors, together with data fusion and analytics, have enabled unprecedented, spatiotemporal resolution when observing the urban atmosphere. Several projects have demonstrated the potential of different approaches for high-resolution measurement networks ranging from static, low-cost sensor networks over vehicular and airborne sensing to crowdsourced measurements as well as ranging from a research-based operation to citizen science. Yet, sustaining the operation of such low-cost air quality sensor networks remains challenging because of the lack of regulatory support and the lack of an organizational framework linking these measurements to the official air quality network. This paper discusses the logical inclusion of lower-cost air quality sensors into the existing air quality network via a dynamic field calibration process, the resulting sustainable business models, and how this expansion can be self-funded.

Regulating Platforms as Utilities? A Business Model Perspective

Current discussions about how to regulate platforms revolve around the extent to which existing frameworks can and should be applied to modern-day platform firms and business models. We outline and explain the economic and strategic features of platforms, and compare and contrast them to utility industries often considered structurally similar. We will then outline the manner in which these industries have been regulated and the rules for regulatory intervention and assess how these approaches and others currently being discussed are likely to affect competition and innovation on modern-day platforms.

Startups versus incumbents in ‘green’ industry transformations: A comparative study of business model archetypes in the electrical power sector

Scholars have recently argued that startups and incumbents play differential roles in the disruptive transformations of industries toward sustainability and that the transformations are only likely to succeed if both startups and incumbents contribute. To understand their respective contributions and, thus, to understand how industries make the transition toward sustainability, comparative studies of incumbents versus startups during this transformation have been identified as a central pursuit, but yet they are mostly lacking. Since business models have become a principal way of characterizing firms, the present study takes a business model perspective and derives business model archetypes in the electrical power sector from an analysis of 280 startups and incumbents in three different countries. The selected countries (USA, UK, and India) represent three different energy profiles and leading instances of disruption in the energy sector. The article, then, undertakes a comparative analysis of startups and incumbents based on the empirically distilled business model archetypes and develops propositions on startups, incumbents, and business models in industry transformations. This analysis produces several important insights. First, incumbents do not seem to engage in less business model experimentation than startups. Second, incumbents have adopted several new business models that are not pursued by startups. Third, startups have espoused some business models that are not pursued by incumbents. Fourth, foreign firms can also affect the ‘green’ transformation of an industry in a focal country. Finally, the identified business model archetypes are likely to be of interest to scholars and practitioners who are seeking an improved understanding of business models in the electrical power industry and the industry's competitive landscape.

Sustainable deployment of an electric vehicle public charging infrastructure network from a city business model perspective

The unprecedented growth of global cities together with increased population mobility and a heightened concern regarding climate change and energy independence have increased interest in electric vehicles (EVs) as one means to address these challenges. The development of a public charging infrastructure network is a key element for promoting EVs, and with them reducing greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the operation of conventional cars and improving the local environment through reductions in air pollution. This paper discusses the effectiveness, efficiency, and feasibility of city strategic plans for establishing a public charging infrastructure network to encourage the uptake and use of EVs. A holistic analysis based on the Value Creation Ecosystem (VCE) and the City Model Canvas (CMC) is used to visualise how such plans may offer public value with a long-term and sustainable approach. The charging infrastructure network implementation strategy of two major European cities, Nantes (France) and Hamburg (Germany), are analysed and the results indicate the need to involve a wide range of public and private stakeholders in the metropolitan areas. Additionally, relevant, and fundamental patterns and recommendations are provided, which may help other public managers effectively implement this service and scale-up its use and business model.

Emission reduction strategies in the EU steel industry: Implications for business model innovation

AbstractThe European steel industry must achieve deep greenhouse gas emission reductions to become climate neutral by 2050. New business models are often proposed as one of the key solutions but are mostly addressed in general terms, without elaborating on or systematically analyzing how these new business models are actually linked to specific mitigation measures or strategies. In this paper, we assess when and to what extent different emission reduction strategies in the EU steel industry have implications for business model innovation. Through a review of 42 recent publications on industrial decarbonization, we identify 9 types of decarbonization strategies for steelmaking and their emission reduction potential. The strategies achieve emission reductions through material efficiency, emission efficiency, or a combination of both. For each strategy, we analyze the need for incremental or radical changes in business models on the basis of a thorough reading of the business model literature. Our findings show that EU steel firms can pursue several strategies to decarbonize without having to radically innovate their business models. Importantly, material efficiency strategies, arguably key to decarbonization, imply more radical changes to business models than emission efficiency strategies. Our study is a first contribution to the systematic assessment of industrial decarbonization strategies from a business model perspective. It is also an attempt to bring more rigor to the understanding of the role of business models in industrial decarbonization.

Digital platforms in fashion rental: a business model analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the key features of fashion rental from a business model perspective with a focus on the role played by digital platforms.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research design was used based on multiple case studies of three Italian fashion rental enterprises.FindingsThe findings reveal the key aspects characterizing fashion rental business models and the centrality of digital platforms in value creation, configuration and capture activities. The study also found that fashion rental platforms are likely to exhibit further successful development in the future.Originality/valueThe academic literature on fashion rental has been mainly focussed on examining consumers' motivations and concerns, paying little attention to the enterprise's viewpoint. To date, no previous study has examined fashion rental business models from the retailer's perspective. This paper is the first to explore the key components of fashion rental business models and how digital platforms influence them from the perspective of retailers. The originality of the study is further strengthened by the unique context of analysis, namely, Italy, a leading country for global fashion.

Landlords with no lands: a systematic literature review on hybrid multi-sided platforms and platform thinking

PurposeThis article is based on a systematic and comprehensive review of the literature on two-sided platforms, the business structure based on the concept of matchmaking groups of customers (e.g. Uber or Airbnb). The research aims to identify gaps in the existing literature while providing a structured summary of the existing knowledge in the field. Finally, we propose a conceptual framework enabling platform thinking, the ability to see hybrid multi-sided platforms as a useful resource-orchestration structure to unveil innovation opportunities.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a bibliometric approach, combing co-citation and text mining analyses of 196 papers, also implementing a longitudinal analysis that highlights the evolution of the field since its inception till today.FindingsThe novel aspect of the paper consists in taking a purely managerial stance of a very peculiar kind of platform, merging existing knowledge in comprehensive frameworks while providing potential avenues for research.Research limitations/implicationsFrom an academic perspective, this research highlights the double nature of two-sided platforms: as an operational choice or as a way to exploit (digital) assets and reach the economic sustainability. A research agenda is proposed, based on three pillars: a side-based standpoint, a business model perspective and an evolutionary stance to see how these businesses may evolve.Practical implicationsThe research identifies different literature streams that may help practitioners in identifying how two-sided platforms may help them in fostering innovation.Originality/valueThe identification of two-sided platforms as a different way to create value (transaction platforms) or to capture value (non-transaction platform), enhancing the debate on this innovative business model. A research agenda to bring the field forward is proposed.

Managing resource-constrained innovation in emerging markets: Perspectives from a business model

This study examines the organization of resource-constrained innovation from a business model perspective. Using a multiple case study design, we demonstrate that the ability to organize resource-constrained innovation is built on cost, good-enough, frugal, and reverse innovation capabilities. Cost innovation does not always lead to a new product, rather it is a way to reduce operational costs through the value creation activities of a business model to achieve resource-constrained innovation. Good-enough innovations are developed through existing platform reengineering and localization through value creation activities. We demonstrate that frugal innovations are developed based on new product architectures and applications that can create completely new market segments to compete against non-consumption. Reverse innovations refer to frugal innovations that are characterized by higher market novelty because they create completely new market segments in developed and developing markets for value capture.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance in China’s Manufacturing: A Global Perspective of Business Models

In a globalized and digital world, manufacturing firms have used internet technology to conduct value appropriation (VA). However, during the COVID-19 crisis, export-led manufacturing firms around the world, particularly those in developing countries, have been forced to lay off workers and cope with VA-related problems, and serious survival problems have resulted in critical corporate social responsibility (CSR)-related challenges. Whereas limited research has discussed relevant issues in nonwestern contexts, we adopt a global perspective of business model and transactional cost theory, aiming to fill this gap by investigating the mechanisms among different dimensions of CSR implementation, firm performance, and VA herein. Based on a sample of listed Chinese manufacturing firms, the results show that the CSR technique dimension is negatively related to firm performance, that the CSR content dimension is positively related to firm performance, and that VA positively moderates the relationships of all three CSR dimensions to firm performance. The main contribution here is providing a more comprehensive understanding of how different CSR dimensions reflect firms’ multiple ethical behaviors, which influence their sustainable performance, respectively, thus enriching the existing knowledge of CSR studies in a new digital era riddled with uncertainties and complexities. We also offer practical implications for other export-led manufacturing firms in developing countries facing turbulent times.

Enablers and Barriers for Circular Business Models: an empirical analysis in the Italian automotive industry

Research stream on Circular Business Models has recently emerged within the management research to address the concept of Circular Economy from a business model perspective. Several studies in this stream have identified and analyzed a set of managerial practices that can be adopted by companies to design Circular Business Models. However, current research still falls short to provide a systematic view of the enablers and barriers for the design of Circular Business Models and the adoption of related managerial practices. The paper addresses this research gap in two ways. First, it provides a reference framework of enablers, barriers, and contextual factors affecting the design of Circular Business Models. Second, it presents the results of a survey involving 66 companies operating in the Italian automotive industry, bringing into light the relative importance of the identified enablers, barriers, and contextual factors in this industry. Finally, our research provides practical suggestions and recommendations for properly approaching the design of Circular Business Models in the automotive industry.

Business Model Evolution of Content Platform in Emerging Economy: A Case Study of Bilibili

Content platforms are becoming popular all over the world, especially in China. As a content platform, Bilibili’s story shows the development process of content platforms in emerging economies. This research explores the content of Bilibili at different stages of development from the perspective of business model, and tries to show a new growth path for enterprises in emerging economies. This research finds that in the three development stages of Bilibili, the nine elements of business model presented different characteristics and were combined into three distinct models. This study provides a reference for the theory and practice of the growth of emerging economies and the evolution of business models.

Social Value Creation in Institutional Voids: A Business Model Perspective

The literature on Base of the Pyramid (BoP) strategies emphasizes that creating social value requires collaborative, multi-stakeholder business approaches. However, there is limited understanding of how businesses can successfully coordinate such value creation processes in the developing economies that face significant institutional voids. This study adopts a business model perspective for analyzing social value creation processes that span organizational boundaries. We introduce a novel, theoretically grounded business model framework that helps conceptualize social value by locating the various loci of value creation, and the stakeholders that partake in creating and capturing this value. We subsequently analyze the mechanisms of social value creation in M-Pesa, a renowned boundary-spanning mobile money system that has advanced financial inclusion among tens of millions of users in Kenya. The results show that information and communications technology can help advance social value creation by reducing the cost of coordinating boundary-spanning business models that integrate diverse societal stakeholders. The results further point to uneven distributional outcomes in self-governing social value creation strategies where the focal firm plays a coordinating role.

The impact of digital logistics start-ups on incumbent firms: a business model perspective

PurposeDigital freight forwarder (DFF) start-ups and their associated business models have gained increasing attention within both academia and industry. However, there is a lack of empirical research investigating the differences between DFFs and traditional freight forwarders (TFF) and the impact of digital start-ups on incumbents' companies. In response, this study aims to examine the key business model characteristics that determine DFFs and TFFs and propose a framework illustrating the extent to which digital logistics start-ups influence incumbent logistics companies.Design/methodology/approachBased on the primary data gathered from eight interviews with experts from start-ups' and incumbents' logistics companies, as well as secondary data, the authors identify the main factors of DFFs start-ups that have an impact on TFFs and analyze the similarities and differences in regard to the business model components' value proposition, value creation, value delivery and value capture.FindingsThe results show that differences between DFFs and TFFs appear in all four business models' components: value proposition, value creation, value delivery and value capture. In particular, the authors identify three main factors that need to be considered when assessing the impact of DFFs on TFFs: (1) the company size, (2) the market cultivation strategy and (3) the transport mode.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to specifically examine the key business model differences between DFFs and TFFs and to propose a conceptual framework for understanding the impact of digital logistics start-ups on incumbent companies.

Circular entrepreneurship: A business model perspective

The circular economy, which takes inspiration from the ‘waste not’ functioning of the ecosystem to propose more resource efficient production and consumption patterns, has attracted the interest of different stakeholders recently. Yet very little is known about the companies that put circular principles at the heart of doing business and their ecological and social sustainability outcomes. Circular entrepreneurship, conceptualised as the processes of exploration and exploitation of opportunities in the circular economy domain, is just emerging in the circular economy literature and the empirical evidence about how it is implemented through innovative business models is still limited. Our research illustrates and describes the entrepreneurial process and orientation from a business model perspective of a circular firm - Wasted Apple - in the British drinks and beverage industry. We find that entrepreneurial value proposition, value creation and delivery and value capture define our case circular business model. Entrepreneurial orientation is also characterised by embeddedness: being entrepreneurial in the circular economy means to create value for the broader system an organisation is part of. Furthermore, the pursuit of ecological and social value is central to the logic of value creation and typifies the entrepreneurial process.

Close the loop: Evidence on the implementation of the circular economy from the Italian fashion industry

AbstractFashion is widely considered as one of the most polluting and destructive industries to the environment and is a resource‐intensive industry in which opportunities to reduce environmental impacts abound. By relying on an exploratory approach, this paper features an investigation into the circular economy (CE) practices of four purposefully selected Italian fashion companies. The study endorses the overlooked perspective of the product lifecycle (vis‐à‐vis the business model perspective), consistent with the key principles of the CE, to provide a comprehensive picture of CE practices implemented. This study engages with the current debate on the relationship between the concepts of sustainability and CE, supporting the idea that there is a beneficial relation between the two. The analysis shows the emergence of categories of CE‐related practices as well as CE implementation challenges. The study also provides granular insights into the nature of these challenges that hinder the implementation of CE and demonstrates how they can be turned into sources of competitive advantage. Drawing on this emblematic evidence, we develop a set of theoretical and managerial implications.

Sustainability as a Challenge and Driver for Novel Ecosystemic 6G Business Scenarios

Climate change, the deterioration of the environment and exceeding Earth’s carrying capacity are major threats in operating environment which require new actions in industrialized and digitalized society. In parallel with the global deployment of 5th generation (5G) mobile communication networks, the telecommunication community has already started to envision 6G networks that target the year 2030. This paper discusses the unprecedented opportunities in the future 6G ecosystem specifically from the business perspective and applies a futures-oriented scenario planning method utilized in two strategy workshops in 2020. The paper portrays four scenario themes and a total of 16 alternative future scenarios for the business of 6G. Through the identification of key trends, their interactions, and related uncertainties, the scenario development process generates alternative futures where 6G business strategies are then developed and assessed through the business model perspective. Scenarios were created under four themes: user experience, business, sustainability, and geopolitics and they are discussed in terms of economical, societal, and environmental perspectives. The findings of the paper highlight the achievement of a preferred sustainable future that calls for attention to the privacy and security aspects considering business and regulatory needs: public/governmental, corporate, community, and human perspectives and aims of governance; ecosystem configuration related to users, decentralized business models, and platforms; user empowerment; and the role of service location-specificity. The findings indicate that it is vital to bring together relevant stakeholders to solve sustainability problems within the ecosystem and pay special attention to open ecosystem-focused value configuration and decentralized poly-nodal power configuration, while responding to the diversified demands of various users across the different verticals.

Circular economy and paradox theory: A business model perspective

Business models have become the subject of increasing attention amid management practitioners and researchers since the early nineties and business model innovation has emerged as a distinctive field of academic enquiry. More recently, business model innovation for the circular economy has caught the attention of business leaders and academics alike as the circular economy promises to deliver economic prosperity within ecological limits. Yet research on circular business models is nascent and the business literature gives limited attention to the challenges deriving from circular economy implementation. Using an integrative research approach and particularly, drawing on both paradox theory and circular economy principles and loops, this article provides a preliminary, conceptual systematisation of the typology of organisational tensions in circular economy implementation. It also discusses the relevance of these tensions from a business model perspective. As a result, this article contributes to circular economy research wherein challenges are mostly analysed at the macro level and in the absence of a specific theoretical anchoring.

A business model perspective to understand intra-firm transitions: From traditional to flexible public transport services

Socio technological transition with respect to innovations is a broader concept and generally is theorized as such. It is, therefore, unclear how at the micro level, the business firms within an industry is restructuring internally to accommodate the technological innovations. Insights of this process management is uniquely valuable to understand how local technological niches and larger socio-technological transformations are being accommodated in industrial reforms. A business model perspective could provide insights of these innovation process management, in this context the mobility transition from fixed to flexible public transport (FPT) systems. Taking business models as the unit of analysis, in this paper we provide a framework to map the transition process. The framework is applied to a case study of a traditional public transport firm in the Netherlands. We map the evolution of the business models taking the local external developments into account. We define three phases for the business model mapping here – pre FPT, during FPT and the future of FPT. Findings suggest a complete shift in client orientation of public transport authorities with geared up efforts in digitalization and value creation during these three phases of FPT transition. Perhaps the most striking - yet not completely unexpected – outcome for transit companies is to gradually assume a role of facilitator as opposed to a provider of public transit, which potentially will have a thorough reform of the industry. This initial trace of internal transition, however incomplete, provides useful insights of the overall product and process management and the emerging business model configurations and contributes to the learning trajectory of FPT service organizations.

The business model of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) laboratories – A triple-layered perspective

As the question of funding for DIY laboratories remains a matter of central interest for the financial sustainability of laboratories, this paper studies Do-It-Yourself (DIY) laboratories from the under-researched business model and management perspective. We have applied the triple-layered business model canvas (TLBMC) to explore and understand DIY laboratories from the economic, environmental, and social value creation aspects. Based on our comprehensive literature review and exploratory case studies, our research findings reveal that DIY laboratories are essentially technology hubs offering technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs physical and social spaces and business incubation to help them survive and thrive. Engaged with all the Triple Helix stakeholders, DIY laboratories offer a platform of science innovation and technology incubation at the grassroots level for technology entrepreneurs to grow economically, socially, and sustainably.

Digital sustainable entrepreneurship: A business model perspective on embedding digital technologies for social and environmental value creation

This article explores how sustainable entrepreneurs embed digital technologies in their business models to leverage social and environmental value creation. To this end, we draw on the institutional logics perspective of sustainable business models. The article contributes to research on sustainable business models and entrepreneurship by showing that digital technologies enable novel configurations of sustainable business model components: a blended value proposition, integrative value creation, and multidimensional value capture. Moreover, we discuss the complementarities and tensions of a digital logic and logics of sustainability that clarify and advance the link between these concepts in an entrepreneurial context. This further adds to the theoretical development of sustainable business models as manifestations of multiple institutional logics. The article yields practical implications by describing possibilities and drawbacks of digital technologies for designing sustainable business models.