Defining the Business Model in the New World of Digital

European Journal of Information …, 2010

Recent rapid advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have highlighted the rising importance of the Business Model (BM) concept in the field of Information Systems (IS). Despite agreement on its importance to an organization's success, the concept is still fuzzy and vague, and there is little consensus regarding its compositional facets. Identifying the fundamental concepts, modeling principles, practical functions, and reach of the BM relevant to IS and other business concepts is by no means complete. This paper, following a comprehensive review of the literature, principally employs the content analysis method and utilizes a deductive reasoning approach to provide a hierarchical taxonomy of the BM concepts from which to develop a more comprehensive framework. This framework comprises four fundamental aspects. First, it identifies four primary BM dimensions along with their constituent elements forming a complete ontological structure of the concept. Second, it cohesively organizes the BM modeling principles, that is, guidelines and features. Third, it explains the reach of the concept showing its interactions and intersections with strategy, business processes, and IS so as to place the BM within the world of digital business. Finally, the framework explores three major functions of BMs within digital organizations to shed light on the practical significance of the concept. Hence, this paper links the BM facets in a novel manner offering an intact definition. In doing so, this paper provides a unified conceptual framework for the BM concept that we argue is comprehensive and appropriate to the complex nature of businesses today. This leads to fruitful implications for theory and practice and also enables us to suggest a research agenda using our conceptual framework.

This paper aims to clarify the concept of business models, its usages, and its roles in the Information Systems domain. A review of the literature shows a broad diversity of understandings, usages, and places in the firm. The paper identifies the terminology or ontology used to describe a business model, and compares this terminology with previous work. Then the general usages, roles and potential of the concept are outlined. Finally, the connection between the business model concept and Information Systems is described in the form of eight propositions to be analyzed in future work.

Communications of the …, 2005

This paper aims to clarifyi the concept of business models, its usages, and its roles in the Information Systems domain. A review of the literature shows a broad diversity of understandings, usages, and places in the firm. The paper identifies the terminology or ontology used to describe a business model, and compares this terminology with previous work. Then the general usages, roles and potential of the concept are outlined. Finally, the connection between the business model concept and Information Systems is described in the form of eight propositions to be analyzed in future work.

Information Systems and the Future of the Digital Economy, 2002

This paper presents a conceptual business model, which aims to improve the understanding of the business context of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). We argue that research into how ICT generates economic value is limitedly valid due to lacking comprehensive knowledge of strategy theory and lacking abilities to integrate strategy perspectives, and the fragmentation of strategy theory. We discuss the main strategy perspectives as well as ICT research within each of these perspectives and conclude that in order to improve the understanding of the ways in which ICT generates value, research must integrate different perspectives. We also review some of the new ebusiness texts that addresses business models. The business model is broader than any individual strategy perspective (such as Industrial Organisation, the Resource-Based View or the Strategy Process Perspective) and includes market factors, offering, activities, organisation and resource bases as well as longitudinal management processes. In addition, we illustrate how the management and business context of ICT (such as ERP and CRM systems) can be viewed through the business model.

Business and Information Systems Engineering the international journal of Wirtschaftsinformatik

In the context of the wide-spread digitization of businesses and society at large, the logic inherent in a business model has become critical for business success and, hence, a focus for academic inquiry. The business model concept is identified as the missing link between business strategy, processes, and Information Technology (IT). The BISE community offers distinct and unique competencies that can be harnessed for significant research contributions to this field. Three distinct streams are delineated, namely, business models in IT industries, IT enabled or digital business models, and IT support for developing and managing business models.

Modern enterprises are currently experiencing volatile and rapid information and communication technology (ICT) change. A key challenge for business leaders is to ensure their organisations are ready for that change. This is particularly challenging when it comes to emerging ICT that may disrupt the management of existing enterprise information systems or business processes. The business model has been cited as an effective tool which organisations can use to prepare for ICT related change. However, there is evidence to suggest that the business model remains largely a nebulous concept to most organisations. This is compounded by the siloed nature of existing business model research. Using a content analysis research approach, this paper provides a holistic review of contemporary academic literature to ascertain and classify the various approaches to the study of ICT enabled business models. The literature examined is classified into nine specific thematic descriptors which underpin these specific business models. A comprehensive definition is also developed for ICT business models. This paper therefore extends our understanding of the business model concept and can be used to guide and coalesce future research on illuminating how organisations can operationalise effective business models in order to leverage new digital ICT.

European Journal of Information Systems, 2003

The business model concept is becoming increasingly popular within IS, management and strategy literature. It is used within many fields of research, including both traditional strategy theory and in the emergent body of literature on e-business. However, the concept is often used independently from theory, meaning model components and their interrelations are relatively obscure. Nonetheless, we believe that the business model concept is useful in explaining the relation between IS and strategy. This paper offers an outline for a conceptual business model, and proposes that it should include customers and competitors, the offering, activities and organisation, resources and factor market interactions. The causal inter-relations and the longitudinal processes by which business models evolve should also be included. The model criticises yet draws on traditional strategy theory and on the literature that addresses business models directly. The business model is illustrated by an ERP implementation in a European multi-national company.

SAGE Open

and it really seems that the business model is emerging as a new unit of analysis (Zott et al., 2011). These authors offer a variety of definitions, but a general consensus on the definition of the business model has not been reached. The term has been frequently confused with other popular terms in the management literature such as strategy, business concept, revenue model, economic model, or even business process modeling (DaSilva & Trkman, 2014; Morris, Schindehutte, & Allen, 2005). As a generally accepted definition of the business model does not exist, it is not surprising that the constitute elements of the business model are not clearly defined too. Despite many efforts (e.g.