Dominant Business Model Research Articles

The rise of empirical online platform research in the new millennium

AbstractOnline platforms have emerged as a dominant business model in numerous industries in the new millennium. In light of the substantial and burgeoning body of empirical platform research, this article synthesizes extant studies and identifies the evolution of underlying research methodologies and topics. Building upon a database of 860 empirical online platform papers in premier journals during the first two decades of the new millennium, this article presents a categorization framework based on the online platform type (including search platforms, e‐commerce platforms, online communities, and mobile platforms) and research perspective (including platform participants, platform orchestrators, and platform ecosystems). We provide a critical review of noteworthy trends and highlight directions for future research in each category of the proposed framework. A comprehensive bibliometric analysis is then conducted to visualize and track scholarship in empirical online platform research. Lastly, we adopt an interdisciplinary lens to synthesize our critical review of empirical online platform research into lessons and research opportunities that emerge from multiple disciplines.

Investigating retailing customers' adoption of augmented reality apps: integrating the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) and task-technology fit (TTF)

PurposeSince the advent of augmented reality (AR) technology, “Smart Retailing” has become the dominant business model in the retail sector. Therefore, comprehending the dynamics of AR adoption is essential if retailers are to successfully encourage customers to embrace this extremely innovative form of technology. As a result, the authors propose and evaluate a more comprehensive model, consisting of the task-technology fit (TTF) and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTUAT2) models, for use in low-income countries.Design/methodology/approachThe present research uses variance-based partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using WarpPLS.7 to examine 398 responses from Egyptian retail consumers.FindingsTTF, performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating condition (FC), hedonic motivation (HM) and customer innovativeness (CI) positively affect shoppers' behavioral intentions (BI) to adopt AR Apps in retail, while perceived risk (PR) negatively affects BI.Originality/valueThe current study is the first to investigate the determinants of shoppers' BI toward AR Apps adoption in the retail context using UTAUT2 and TTF models.

‘Technology is not created by the sky’: datafication and educator unease

ABSTRACT The pressure towards digital education is felt everywhere including in places with extreme digital divides. Resource-constrained educational environments are particularly threatened by datification manifest in the dominant business models of surveillance capitalism as there is less room in such contexts to refuse the ‘free’ offerings from big tech companies; it is these very contexts which are most vulnerable. Yet educators within such environments are not mere pawns of circumstance. While the realities of their structural constraints may be invisible or obfuscated, educators are driven by their own ‘concerns’, which in this case pertain to the needs of diverse students in very challenging circumstances as well as to their personal aversion to being monitored. This paper reports on findings from focus groups in a mixture of institutionsin South African education. Archer’s theoretical framework provides a lens to show how, despite very little choice, educators critically reflect on their circumstances expressing discomfort and unease.

The Emergence of Dominant Designs in Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are engaged in a harsh battle for market dominance. This article examines the emergence of a dominant design in terms of technology, service, and business model innovation. We conduct a theoretical synthesis of the literature on industrial organization, technology management, network economics, operations management, and strategic management—with the implications of each theory related to the dominant-design battle in AI. The findings indicate a dominant design for AI will be based on innovation concerning business models as much as on technology, and that the dominant business model will include AI as a service.

Sufficient consumption as a missing link toward sustainability: The case of fast fashion

The fashion industry has been driven by limitless consumption-led growth spearheaded by companies in the fast fashion segment, with a dominant business model based on massive accelerated demand, production, consumption, and disposal. Despite companies' efforts to decouple the pursuit of growth from its negative impacts, a more sufficiency-driven approach seems imperative to curb consumerism and contribute more effectively to sustainability. This study draws on the literature to build a three-pillar framework of potential strategies to enable fashion companies to foster sufficient consumption and reduce dependence on the sale of new items, with benefits expected for both consumers and companies. Subsequently, it uses multiple case study to examine qualitatively the annual reports issued during 2013–2014 and 2020–2021 by a sample of ten top companies in this segment. The goal is to assess whether these companies are embracing such strategies, what (if any) evolution occurs between these two periods, whether the 2030 Agenda with its SDG12 ‘Responsible consumption and production’ plays a mediating role in their adoption, and what is the logic behind such evolution. The results show that, although such adoption is gaining momentum, companies tend first to embrace strategies with less impact on their traditional modus operandi. Further, the laxity of SDG12 enables companies to profess commitment even when not addressing any of the strategies to foster sufficient consumption. This study aims to give actors critical awareness of this issue and provide practical guidance for managers to adopt and combine these strategies decisively to fully embrace the principles of circular economy and a more holistic approach to sustainability. It also advises companies to avoid the risk of ‘anti-consumerist washing’—a newly identified variant of greenwashing—and proposes to study a ‘hierarchical pyramid of business strategies to rationalize consumption’.

Towards a Theory on Dominant Business Model Emergence of Marketplace Lending in Germany

In this paper, we analyze the business models of Germany’s biggest lending platforms smava, auxmoney, and Lendico to identify a standard business model as a dominant design in this industry. We use a mixed method approach in which a case study at firm level is conducted to analyze and contrast the business models together with their business model components. This qualitative analysis is complemented with a quantitative test of their total asset annual growth rates to triangulate the qualitative analysis. The results indicate that all three companies started with a similar approach but evolved over time into entirely different business model variants. This seems to contradict the previous theory of the emergence of standard business models and dominant designs. At first glance, an increasing convergence of business models over time into a standard business model in the German lending platform industry was not consistent with our results. However, we suggest to explain this contradiction by taking a closer look at the global context of the industry. The origin of lending platforms was pioneered outside the German market by firms such as Zopa (UK) or later Prosper and Lending Club (USA). We hypothesize based on initial evidence that the German lending platforms have largely adopted the business models of the early movers and later modified them according to their local value network such as local market, regulation, and competition conditions. Thereby we propose that the deficient standard business model as a dominant design or a winner takes all market outcome in the lending platform industry might depend on localized demand and regulative heterogeneity.

BUSINESS DIAGNOSIS OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE CONDITIONS OF DIGITALIZATION

The article deals with current issues of the need for business diagnostics of the competitiveness of innovative entrepreneurship customer service for a product/service. It was argued that in each of the industries, over time, one or more dominant business models are formed, which are well-optimized ways of allocating and organizing resources. It was also noted that the generally accepted approach is when the most effective models are those that create prerequisites for increasing the loyalty of companies or contribute to barriers to entry of competitors. At the same time, if the dominant business model is replaced by another one based on the latest technology, then the entire industry will be transformed accordingly. In the course of the study, the concept of a lean start-up and a minimum viable product were revealed as well as a comparative description of traditional and lean start-ups was given. The attention was focused on the step-by-step procedure for revising the business model of innovative entrepreneurship. It was noted that recently the agile approach to business models has gained popularity, when, unlike traditional approaches, the key is to find the most effective ways and methods of doing business by testing hypotheses for fallacy. It has been proven that in order to change the existing business model, it is necessary to determine the specifics of the industry and then analyze the impact of technologies and existing market needs in order to formulate aspects of innovation that need to be implemented.

Green Servitization in the Single-Use Medical Device Industry: How Device OEMs Create Supply Chain Circularity through Reprocessing

Establishing a circular supply chain for single-use medical devices would make a significant contribution to reduce health care-generated emissions. One way in which this can be accomplished is to apply the possibility of device recovery through high-level disinfection and sterilization (a process referred to as ‘reprocessing’). As increasing emphasis is being placed on reducing health care-generated emissions, several major OEMs of single-use medical devices have extended their business to reprocessing services, taking a green servitization orientation. The present paper examines the trend towards green servitization in the single-use medical device industry. It uses interviews with industry experts, complemented with information from secondary sources, to explore how the green servitization phenomenon is supporting the transition of the industry to a more sustainable economic model. The findings provide insights into the green servitization endeavors of device OEMs as regards services offered, strategic intents, dominant business models, use of collaborative relationships and capability requirements. The paper reveals that single-use device OEMs may have started to understand the perspective and the long-term market share gains of combining a service model and a manufacturing model, making reprocessing an integrated part of how they think about how to design, produce and deliver their products.

A Case for Openness \u2013 Book Publishing and the Role of Amazon

The presence of Amazon is ubiquitous, especially in the online bookstore and e-book market. The introduction of the “Kindle” further cemented Amazon’s dominant position and business model in the market, having negative implications for authors, publishers and consumers. Publishers have less control over setting the price to have access to Amazon’s customer base. This will affect the authors’ remuneration and attribution. On the other hand, Kindle users are locked-in consumers, limited to Amazon’s e-book offering. This not only affects consumer choice but also reinforces Amazon’s market power due to the significant network effects. The European Commission attempted to increase competition in the e-book market by banning most-favourite-nation clauses, but this has seemingly failed. This article advocates for enforcing the Kindle’s interoperability with the e-book formats of other e-book providers. The proposed approach is beneficial for publishers as well as consumers. It safeguards copyright aims while alleviating the contractual constraints imposed by Amazon. Furthermore, consumers would benefit from broader flexibility when using their Kindle, allowing them to store and read e-books from the provider of their choice.

Flow of information for bovine health surveillance: Two socio-economic models demonstrating the impact of the organisational profiles of local actors

Passive surveillance is based on spontaneous reporting to veterinary authorities of disease suspicions by farmers and other stakeholders in animal production. Stakeholders are considered “actors” in sociology of organisations research. In veterinary public health, passive surveillance is considered to be the most effective method to detect disease outbreaks and to generate epidemiological information for decision-making on surveillance and control strategies. Nevertheless, under-reporting of cases is an inherent problem, reducing the ability of the system to rapidly detect infected animals.Previous studies have shown, for example, that passive surveillance for bovine brucellosis in France, through compulsory reporting of all bovine abortions, has limited sensitivity, with variability in reporting rates despite similar cattle farming profiles. Based on this observation and on sociological literature in health surveillance, we hypothesised that oversight organisational factors in different areas influence health actor contributions to passive surveillance. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of surveillance systems, we need to understand the organisational levers (supporting factors) and organisational drags (hindering factors) on the production and dissemination of health information.We conducted semi-structured interviews with the surveillance actors in two administrative geographic divisions in France (Departments A and B) with similar cattle farming profiles but contrasting abortion reporting rates (low and high, respectively). We assumed that these rates were related to health actor organisation in each administrative division.We mapped actor relationships and looked for behavioural recurrences and differences between the two departments. This analysis led to two socio-economic models explaining the configurations observed: pro-curative in Department A, and pro-preventive in Department B. These models showed a link between the level of competition endured by veterinarians on the sale of veterinary medicinal products and the overall contribution of the actors to health surveillance. The pro-preventive model had a higher contribution to surveillance than the pro-curative model. Importantly, the nature of the information produced in this configuration of actors corresponded to the needs of surveillance, providing collective and early information that circulated more readily between actors.We highlighted three characteristics that help to identify the configuration of a system of actors: 1) the pressure of competition exerted on veterinarian activities; 2) the dominant business model and form of organisation of veterinary clinics; and 3) the frequency of interactions between the main surveillance actors outside of crises. The first two characteristics affect the local contribution to data reporting for surveillance, and the third affects network responsiveness in a health crisis.

Role of policy in the development of business models for battery storage deployment: Hawaii case study

Hawaii's 100% Renewable Portfolio Standard target has led to rapid growth in renewable generation resources. This has resulted in grid issues given the islanded nature of Hawaii's grid. The state has decided to use battery storage in its grid to address these issues. This motivates us to try to understand the various business models in the state and the minimum set of barriers that must be overcome for its successful deployment. We achieve the former by assessing the projects in the state and identifying the dominant business models. For the latter, we use a barrier-solution framework that posits the minimum set of barriers that must be met for the successful deployment of battery storage business models and we verify it by identifying the role of various policies/drivers in supporting these business models. As a result, we find predominantly three business models in Hawaii: Co-located Front-of-the-Meter, Behind-the-Meter, and Aggregated Behind-the-meter. We also verify that at least one barrier from barrier categories associated with market demand and project economics along with all the barriers related to interconnection and market participation must be addressed for successful deployment of battery storage. Based on these findings, we give recommendations to policymakers seeking to develop a battery storage market.

Firm Responses to Media Coverage: The Moderating Role of the Dominant Business Model Design

Manifold changes in a firm's environment urge executives of incumbents to make decisions on adapting the firm's strategy and structures. An institutional perspective suggests the media to influence...

Reorienting the sharing economy for social benefit: the nonprofit digital platform business model

PurposeDigital platforms enable the sharing economy and have become dominant business models in many industries. Despite their many benefits, negative externalities associated with the growth of for-profit digital platforms, such as Uber and Google, have ignited concerns among market participants, policymakers and society as a whole, without corrective market forces in sight. One way to address this problem is through a combination of government regulation, criminal enforcement actions and private antitrust litigation. This study aims to analyze an alternative approach, called the nonprofit digital platform (NDP), which is an emerging business model capable of unleashing free-market forces and enhancing the sharing economy’s social benefits.Design/methodology/approachThis study documents the negative externalities (actual and potential) of for-profit digital platforms, uses the product attributes model to explain the market position and strategy of NDPs with respect to for-profit digital platforms and provides recommendations for the successful launch and management of NDPs.FindingsAn NDP is a market-based alternative to antitrust, regulation and litigation that enhances the social value created by the sharing economy, but its success requires startup-like management that attracts and retains talent, capital, effective advertising and positive network externalities.Social implicationsNDPs can force free-market adjustments in the industries they enter, reduce the negative spillovers of for-profit digital platforms and increase social value by incrementally raising the level of competition.Originality/valueThis study conceptually explores the value that nonprofits could bring to the sharing economy in fulfilling its promise and provides strategic recommendations for social-digital entrepreneurs and nonprofits.

WORLD EXPERIENCE IN THE INTRODUCTION OF MODERN INNOVATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE FUNCTIONING OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

The article reveals the essence of the concept of “financial innovations” and their features. The classification of financial innovations is given. The innovative models of the Ukrainian banking business development are analysed. The innovative developments of the world’s leading banks are systematized according to the version of the annual competition for the BAI-Finance Global Banking Innovation Awards held in Las Vegas. The innovative and information technologies in the work of financial institutions in the following areas are analysed: Product and Service Financial Innovation, Channel Financial Innovation, Financial Innovation in Social and Community Impact, Financial Innovation in Internal Process Improvement. Foreign experience and features of the development of the newest innovative information technologies in the financial services market are analysed. The subject of research is theoretical and applied aspects of the development of innovations and information technologies in the functioning of world-class financial institutions. The purpose of the article is to analyse and systematize foreign experience in the development of new innovative and information technologies in the financial services market. In the research, the authors used general scientific and specific methods, including: historical-logical, dialectical, deductive, analysis and synthesis, grouping, abstraction and formalization, benchmarking, generalizations and systematization. The article concludes that in modern rapidly evolving digitalization processes, financial innovations play an extremely important role and contribute to the economic development of countries. The authors point out that banking institutions need to focus their potential as much as possible on identifying priority digital and innovative initiatives, taking into account current challenges and threats. Finally, the effective use of specific financial innovations requires in-depth knowledge of the features of their operation and careful analysis of their consequences. The authors recommend the use of a cross-functional approach, which provides flexibility and the ability to transform change over time and is an important element in the process of implementing financial innovations. Taking into account the experience of leading banking institutions that actively implement innovative developments, the authors note that along with the benefits, financial innovations can cause new challenges and threats for all participants in this process. Researchers have shown that radical innovation can displace a dominant business model or technology and create a new market. According to the results of the analysis of innovative developments of banks around the world for the period 2015-2019, the authors found that financial innovations have changed their nature and are based on the latest digital technologies.

Stability in turbulent times? The effect of digitalization on the sustainability of competitive advantage

Does digitalization make competitive advantage more or less sustainable? One line of argument is that digitalization leads to hyper-competition and shorter spells of competitive advantage. An opposing claim is that digitalization leads to advantages of a size and sustainability unprecedented in the “old” economy. We argue that the likelihood of observing either of these outcomes depend on the extent to which the dominant business model(s) in a market combine the accumulation and use of Big Data with the generation and utilization of network effects. The more complementary Big Data and network effects are in a business model, the more likely that we will observe large and sustainable competitive advantages, and vice-versa. Furthermore, we argue that firms enjoying a data-driven network-advantage have strong incentives and ability to envelop to adjacent markets. In the longer run, such envelopment will cause an increasing number of markets to be characterized by more sustainable competitive advantages.

Evaluating the Design of Service-Dominant Business Models: A Qualitative Method

Evaluating the Design of Service-Dominant Business Models: A Qualitative Method Rick Gilsing, Eindhoven University of TechnologyFollow Oktay Turetken, Eindhoven University of TechnologyFollow Baris Ozkan, Eindhoven University of TechnologyFollow Paul Grefen, Eindhoven University of TechnologyFollow Onat Ege Adali, Eindhoven University of TechnologyFollow Anna Wilbik, Maastricht UniversityFollow Frank Berkers, TNOFollow Abstract Background: Driven by factors such as digitization and rapid technological change, many contemporary organizations adopt a service orientation to sustain competitiveness and to improve their value propositions to customers. In doing so, organizations typically engage in collaborative service ecosystems to co-create value and exchange services, and conceptualize such collaborations using business models. The resulting models should be evaluated to support the development of service ecosystems and their long- term viability. Despite academic efforts on the evaluation of traditional, organization- centric business models, limited research is present supporting the evaluation of service- dominant business models, taking into account their key characteristics, such as service exchange and value co-creation in business networks. Method: Following a design science research methodology, we have iteratively designed a method addressing the qualitative evaluation of service-dominant business models, building on and integrating the theory on service-dominant logic, business model design and business model evaluation. To structure the steps of the design process, we leverage a situational method engineering approach, following a paradigm-based strategy. To evaluate the validity and utility our method, we have applied it to a real-life business case in the mobility domain, involving eight industry stakeholders in the process. Results: The method constitutes a set of guiding questions and a procedural description of their use, addressing the evaluation concerns of feasibility, viability, structural validity and robustness with respect to the service-dominant business model. The results of the evaluation demonstrate that the use of the method facilitates users to reflect qualitatively on design decision with respect the business model design and offers insights on its expected performance. Conclusions: This work contributes to extant research on service systems engineering and the instantiation of service-dominant logic, clarifying how service ecosystems can be evaluated through the business model concept and explicating how business models are impacted through service-dominant logic.

From private struggle to parentscholar solidarity: collective organizing during a pandemic to humanize the academy

This article details our pathway in forming an activist caregiver collective at our institution in response to the unsustainable conditions of concurrently working, parenting, and caregiving during a pandemic. Through a parentscholar collaborative autoethnography, we interrogate structures deeply embedded in higher education that perpetuate existing inequities and invisibilize the labor of caregiving faculty--structures which have been made more visible with the coronavirus pandemic. The narratives documented here were all written in the midst of a global health crisis and a global reckoning for a more just world, and have enabled us to process our personal relationships to the dominant business model of higher education, also referred to as the “neoliberal university.” As caregiving academics, educators, and activists, we believe it crucial to enunciate our stories of struggle and joy in dialogue with the important interventions and conceptual maneuvers of the “Decolonial Turn.” We write with the following intentions: (1) To center caregivers as agents of change in the interrelated projects to decolonize both schools and society; (2) To document our voices and experiences as living curriculums that others may draw upon, extend, or even recreate for their specific contexts; and (3) To identify how our lived experiences, shaped by larger social forces, have enabled us a particular way of seeing/being that recognizes the critical relationship between decolonizing and caregiving.

The Future(s) of Pediatric Primary Care.

Pediatric primary care (PPC) arose in the early 20th century as the fusion of acute and chronic pediatric illness care with preventive elements borrowed from public and maternal and child health. Well-established and thriving by the 1930s, PPC saw major changes in childhood morbidity and mortality in the latter half of the 20th century with the recognition of the "new morbidity" of school, behavior, and social problems. At the same time, PPC experienced changes in its workforce, which became increasingly female and added nurse practitioners and physician assistants as practitioners. Independent practice, previously the dominant business model, decreased in prominence at the end of the 20th century as health systems bought practices and other sites morphed into federally qualified health centers. In the present century, electronic health records (EHRs) have brought profound changes in PPC workflows and practitioner experience. In addition, disruptive market competition such as retail clinics and corporate telemedicine providers coupled with changes in health insurance from fee-for-service to value-based payment further challenge the care model and economics of PPC. Finally, recognition of family social circumstances as major determinants of children's health presents another challenge to the status quo. As such, although one PPC future may resemble its present state, a more innovative future is likely to include clinics and practices more oriented toward and linked to communities and directed at the social determinants of health. In addition, the rise in physical, behavioral, and social problems in practice call for a growing focus on wellness, including sleep, nutrition, and activity, that promises to reorient the PPC future in productive new directions. The half-way technology of current EHR systems will ideally be spun into electronic hubs that facilitate teamwork between PPC, specialists, and community groups. Research and practice improvement strategies including involvement in "learning health systems" will be critical to making PPC effective in an evolving society. Although threatened by 21st century forces and hard-to-anticipate change, PPC is ideally positioned to build upon its core functions to create multidisciplinary teams that reach into the community, promoting a holistic wellness for children consistent with the broadest definition of health.

Imprinting Risky Behavior: The Institutional Origins of Bank CEO Risk-Taking

Commercial banks in the United States have taken on more risk since the 1980s, in line with a shift in the dominant business model in the field, from one emphasizing financial stability to one promoting greater risk-taking to maximize shareholder value. But why did certain banks embrace risky strategies more actively than others? Combining insights from the upper echelons perspective and imprinting theory, we argue that bank CEOs who absorbed the principles of shareholder value maximization through MBA education and started their banking career in the post-deregulation era pursued risk-taking more aggressively than other CEOs. We test this argument using data on 194 large commercial banks from 1993 to 2015. Our analysis shows that CEOs with an MBA who entered banking after the mid-1980s were heavier users of brokered deposits—a riskier funding source that contributed to bank instability during the 2007-2009 credit crisis. They also contributed to the use of brokered deposits indirectly by promoting shareholder-value prescriptions known to boost incentives for managerial risk-taking. By highlighting the role that organizational decision-makers—and their institutionally-embedded cognitive orientations—play in driving the uptake of risky strategies, our study contributes to the literatures on corporate risk-taking and institutional change.

Business-Inspired School Reform in the Era of Financialization: Not Business as Usual

Business-inspired school reform policies in the United States date back to the late 19th century. In the last four decades, however, while school reformers have continued to borrow policies and practices from the business world, the dominant business model itself has changed dramatically as part of the financialization of the economy. Once a bureaucratically governed social institution, focused on long-term stability and committed to multiple stakeholders, the corporation has become a destabilized network of temporary contracting relationships, singularly focused on maximizing shareholder value. This conceptual article explores what it means for schools, as public and democratic institutions, to emulate business in the era of financialization. Through analysis of several recent trends in business-inspired school reform policy, I demonstrate the diffusion of financialization logic and practices into public schools. I argue that while business may have historically been a problematic model for educational policy, business is now a uniquely unqualified model.