�Business model thinking�, business ecosystems and platforms: The new perspective on the environment of the organization

Abstract

Business model has allowed strategic management to depart from the "one best way" of traditional approaches, integrating the various ways to deploy resources, to create and capture value. Hence, the "business model thinking" has induced major change in strategic management over the last ten years. In this essay, we take a pragmatist approach to tentatively detail the main features of the environment of the organization introduced by business model thinking. We advance that adopting a business model perspective does not mean that the environment is neglected in the strategy process. However, the environment is not considered as deterministic, and the organization does not have to fit with it or to try to change it. Through a pragmatist lens, the business model is conceived as performing the ecosystem of an organization within a broader environment. Therefore, we argue that the business model selects the relevant competitive landscape. This view has three main consequences. First, the environment is not the same for every organization in a given industry and the traditional concepts of strategy (entry barriers, competition intensity, bargaining power with suppliers or customers…) should be applied after the choice of business model has been made and not ex ante at the industry level. Second, the ability to implement a business model relies essentially on the negotiations and interactions with the stakeholders selected through the choice or design of the business model. Third, business models and ecosystems are not static but co-evolve. Once defined, ecosystems progressively constrain the business models. But ecosystems also change through mutual interaction and therefore offer new opportunities for the evolution of the business models.

A stratified system of knowledge and knowledge icebergs in cross-cultural business models: Synthesising ontological and epistemological views

“…While the external environment outside organisational boundaries is central to the assumptions of strategic management, the concept of a BM implies a new way of thinking in the environment of a firm, namely a modern, more comprehensive idea of a business ecosystem (BE) that can be defined as a business community of interconnected heterogeneous actors with complementary competences to collaborate on or participate in value-creating processes ( Moore, 1996 ). The core of a BE lies precisely in a firm's choice of BM with its distinct ontological reality ( Demil et al, 2018 ). Therefore, the ontological nature of the CBM can be seen as a sub - ecosystem nested in the global BMs .…”

‘Open source has won and lost the war’: Legitimising commercial–communal hybridisation in a FOSS project

“…Collaboration among ‘peers’ is central, but employees in commercial firms also use collaborative techniques (Bezroukov, 1999). Following Raymond (1999), Demil et al (2013) identified a ‘bazaar style’ of governance. In contrast to markets and hierarchies, ‘bazaar governance’ has low incentive and control mechanisms and relies on open licences and self-directed participation.…”

“…EMOs were originally deemed operationally superior to commercial organisations by some proponents, who argued that open systems reach correct results more effectively than closed or proprietary ones, because of the flexible manner in which massive numbers of reviewers can address defects or ‘bugs’ (Moglen, 1999; Raymond, 1999). The benefits of ethical-modular and commercial collaboration are a staple of management scholarship (Bonaccorsi et al, 2006; Dahlander and Magnusson, 2008; Demil et al, 2013). A primary motivation of firms is that outsourcing labour to volunteer projects lowers production costs.…”

Technology Antecedents of the Platform-Based Ecosystemic Business Models beyond 5G

“…Supply-side, Demand-side, or Multi-sided model The demand-side business models have come to complement supply-side business model discussions [6], open and mixed business models have come to challenge traditional closed business models [7], and the discussions on ecosystemic business models have fundamentally influenced the way how the environment of the organization is seen [8]. Traditionally, the wireless networks context has been dominated by supply side business models.…”

“…The business model has emerged as a solution to deal with this duality of perspectives, and the increased platformization of businesses is well exhibited in business model discussions. For example, the demand-side business models have come to complement supply-side business model discussions [6], open and mixed business models have come to challenge traditional closed business models [7], and the discussions on ecosystemic business models have fundamentally influenced the way how the environment of the organization is seen [8]. A transformation of business models as well as entire industries from vertical or horizontal towards two-sided and networked was found in [9].…”