Innovation and Sustainable Business Development
The objective of this essay is to develop your understanding of the business model as a concept and how a theoretical understanding of business models can be used to explain value creation, value appropriation and/or the innovation process at firms in real-life. To successfully complete this assessment, you are required to explore the academic literature on business models and to write an essay addressing the following statement:
According to Kodama (2009), Zott and Amit (2010), and Itami and Nishino (2010), who published in Long Range Planning in 2009 and 2010, business models can be conceptualised as activity-based systems. However, these authors developed significantly different models and insights in their papers when they wrote about business models as systems. There is a good reason for this. The way in which firms create and capture value can vary significantly. Much depends on the firm’s unique context. In other words, when managers think about their firm’s business model it goes without saying they need to understand the firm at a particular point in time, how it may need to change but also the elements that compose it. Business models as activity-based systems provide managers with the flexibility to abstract in all of these ways.
(Links to the above articles can be found on Moodle.)
When you write your essay you should ensure you fully address the above statement and do the following:.
- Define the concept of a business model.
- Explain what is involved when one conceptualises business models as systems.
- Explain how business models as systems can be used to solve static and dynamic problems.
- Explain how business models as systems can be used to understand how firms partner.
- Explain how business models as systems can be used to understand the innovation process.
- Explain Kodama’s (2009), Zott and Amit’s (2010), OR Itami and Nishino’s (2010) arguments in more detail through the use of an example, that is, by explaining the business model of one firm in more detail. (You only need to focus on the articles of one of the articles referred to above, that is, only one business model framework or model.)
- Identify which article you thought helped you understand business models as systems the most and explain why. (You can identify one article, two or all three if you want.)
- Conclude by briefly discussing the significance of your findings for the future of business models.
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N.B. You should feel free to use diagrams to illustrate points in your essay, including develop hybrid frameworks and models of your own based on your research.