Business models sustaining subsistence economies: evidence from India

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhavani Shankar Saripalli ◽  
Vinaysingh Chawan
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organisational Form ◽  
Subsistence Economies ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
Long Run

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse interventions of various forms of organisations operating with the objective of connecting subsistence entrepreneurs (SEs) with the formal economy. This work also attempts to understand and analyse the transformational role played by these organisations. Finally, the paper aims to arrive at a conceptual framework for organisations interested in playing a transformational role. Design/methodology/approach The paper deals with subsistence entrepreneurship and business models for subsistence economies. It draws from case studies of six organisations operating with the objective to connect subsistence entrepreneurs with formal economy. Each case chosen is unique with respect to the organisational form it takes to achieve the objective. However, a lot of similarity can be seen in the components of the business model adopted by these organisations. Findings Organisations which emerge keeping the context of rural producers in mind survive and support SEs in the long run. SEs need not always get converted into transformational entrepreneurs. However, with the help of organisations which collectivise SEs, they can interact with formal economy. Such organisations help large numbers of SEs to sustain and possibly move out of subsistence status over a period of time. These organisations have to fill the voids left by government or market institutions so as to create enabling conditions for SEs to thrive. Despite the efforts of the organisations, it is not possible for all SEs to move out of their subsistence status and existence in informal markets. However, it is possible in case of some SEs at least, as the institutional support gives them more certainty in incomes. Research limitations/ implications The paper does not take a business model adopted by government institution for the purpose of analysis. Practical implications The paper offers practical suggestions for organisations interested in collectivising SEs with the aim to improve their returns from market transactions. Originality/value The paper offers a conceptual framework to enrich the understanding of role played by organisations working towards collectivising SEs. It adds to the debate of subsistence entrepreneurship and transformational entrepreneurship. It elaborates the elements of social capital created by these organisations at the meso level. Finally, it re-emphasises the strengths of informal economy to support the customer value proposition for formal markets.

JD.com: leveraging the edge of e-business

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Allan KK Chan ◽  
Caleb Huanyong Chen ◽  
Long Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
The Self ◽  
Logistics System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Run ◽  
New Business ◽  
Internet Finance ◽  
To Come

Subject area E-Business; Corporate Strategy; Strategic Management; Operation Management. Study level/applicability Senior undergraduate; MBA; EMBA. Case overview After development for 10 years, JD was now China’s second largest business-to-customer (B2C) e-retailer and the largest in self-operated sector. It was September 2015 when Liu Qiangdong was deciding whether to persist with JD’s self-operated model and the heavy investment in the self-built logistics system. JD’s business model had been functioning well. However, as JD grew bigger and bigger, it became too expensive to expand its logistics system. JD had not made a profit since it raised funds from investors. Liu had to come up with a good proposal before the next monthly meeting to convince them that JD would finally overtake its biggest rival, Alibaba which ran on a different business model. In addition, JD was exploiting the rural and the global markets, as well as a new business in internet finance. Facing challenges and dilemmas, should JD persist with its model? How could Liu align short-term profitability with long-run development? How could JD overcome attacks from Alibaba and other competitors? Expected learning outcomes This case is appropriate for courses in e-business and strategy, particularly those with a strong focus on doing e-business in emerging markets (e.g. China). After studying the case, students should be able to: understand the e-commerce market in China; understand business models and key strategies of e-retailers; identify and analyse the pros and cons of the self-operated business model and self-built logistics system in e-commerce; learn how to evaluate performance, strategies and business models of e-commerce companies; and extract key trends in the market and compare different strategies. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code: CSS 11: Strategy.

Business models for the now economy

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Art T. Weinstein
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Business Models ◽  
Business Practitioners ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Remote Learning

Purpose Business models are a key to success. This paper aims to identify the characteristics of the Now Economy, discuss the components of an effective business model, examine numerous e-commerce business models and provide an application of online learning. Design/methodology/approach The literature on business models is reviewed. E-commerce models are explored as a means for building competitive advantage in the Now Economy. An in-depth case study of remote learning in universities illustrates the development of a sound digital business model. Findings Business models explain where and how an organization competes and the financial feasibility of its strategy. Digital business models create market differentiation or disruption. This paper explains 20 e-commerce business models and offers an in-depth view of the opportunities and challenges in the online learning sector. Research limitations/implications Building on the literature, this work is conceptual and presents a case study. It is not an empirical study. A three-point agenda for scholars includes research on speed and service in business models, assessing the impact of customer value and examining the market power of Big Tech. Practical implications The digital component of the economy is growing annually. Business practitioners must respond by developing winning business models. The remote learning application is particularly relevant given today’s changing educational market. Originality/value While there has been considerable research on business models, there has been limited work on digital business models, which is the focus of this article.

Harnessing platform-based business models to power disruptive innovation

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 6-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haydn Shaughnessy
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Continuous Innovation ◽  
New Business ◽  
Unique Customer

Purpose Adopting and implementing a platform-based business model is fraught with problems and complications, many of which are poorly understood even by industry insiders. As they try to sort through the best practices for operating in this new business environment, senior managers need to carefully analyze the strengths of the business model of some of most successful companies before trying to imitate them. . Design/methodology/approach For a team to execute such a strategy quickly and seamlessly it must first thoroughly understand the components of such a business model and how they interact to produce unique customer value and formidable competitive advantage Findings The platform is a new way to organize wealth-creating activity. Practical implications The author details the components of a successful platform-based business model. Originality/value Platform-based business models seek to leverage the assets of third parties and in the process extend the value of economic activity to customers in ways that engage and benefit them. Senior leaders and operations managers alike need to understand that continuous innovation of customer value and policies that attract asset-rich partners and skillful developers is essential to the growth of the network.

Three value-focused strategic questions for continuously updating your business model

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladyslav Biloshapka ◽  
Oleksiy Osiyevskyy
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Top Executives ◽  
Operating Profit ◽  
True Value ◽  
Strategic Value

Purpose The article describes how a well-functioning, competent system of self-evaluation of customer value creation and delivery can be an essential part of a corporate initiative to reach or sustain the winner state.” Design/methodology/approach The true value the firm’s customers are obtaining from interactions with the firm can be assessed by obtaining candid answers to the following three strategic value-focused business model questions: 10;(1)9;How do you make sure you are offering the benefits your customers really appreciate most? 10;(2)9;What group of customers is the primary focus of your efforts? 10;(3)9;How do you help your customers fully appreciate the delivery of the benefits offered? 10;These three questions were derived from an in-depth investigation of the business models of real-world firms that succeeded in moving to and remaining in the winner state, an ongoing longitudinal study undertaken by the authors’ team in North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. Findings Based on the authors’ research, companies with sustainable winning business models institutionalize the processes of systematic, ongoing collection of the information about customer value, integrating it into the strategic decision making processes. Practical implications To be effective, according to our research, the analysis needs to consider value proposition (what is promised), value targeting (who is the primary recipient) and value delivery (how the promise is fulfilled) separately, which most companies don’t do. Originality/value The article offers top executives, marketing executives and board members process for updating and adjusting the business model so that it continues to produce superior revenue, operating profit and ongoing customer and shareholder satisfaction.

Managing digital transformation through hybrid business models

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Herbert Endres ◽  
Kristina Stoiber ◽  
Nina Magdalena Wenzl
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Value Capture ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Business Model Canvas ◽  
Value Propositions ◽  
Successful Business ◽  
The Individual

Purpose This paper aims to examine how hybrid business models can help companies to survive in a constantly evolving digital world. The hybridization of business models is a promising approach to innovation. Design/methodology/approach The authors discuss the key elements of a successful business model hybridization along the Business Model Canvas (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010). In particular, the elements of value propositions, customer segments, channels and a company’s cost structures demonstrate the individual steps toward a hybridized business model. Using Paddy Power Betfair as an example, the authors showcase how the concept of a hybrid business model can be successfully implemented in practice. Findings By hybridizing its business model, Betfair not only expanded existing customer value propositions but also introduced new ways of co-creating value with customers. Simultaneously, the hybridization positively affects a company’s revenue model, hence evolving in new ways of capturing value. Originality/value To effectively hybridize and thus innovate a company’s business model, the two key factors are successful value creation and value capture. By hybridizing elements of existing business models, new value for customers can be generated. Companies capturing this additional value may achieve sustainable and successful business models and thereby gain a competitive advantage.

The value matrix: a tool for assessing the future of a business model

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladyslav Biloshapka ◽  
Oleksiy Osiyevskyy ◽  
Marc Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Business Value ◽  
Operating Efficiency ◽  
Short Article ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Depth Analysis

Purpose Good companies innovate. In the process, they consider target markets, target customers, new product or service offerings, and the positioning of these relative to competitors. This forms a basic strategy for the innovation. However, the lesson of competitive dynamics today is that innovation effort stops short of its ultimate potential if it does not also embrace the business model possibilities provided by the innovation itself. This short article provides a strategic lens for considering the efficacy and power of a business model for a product or service innovation. Design/methodology/approach The current paper is grounded in the empirical results of an ongoing longitudinal study (undertaken by the authors team in the U.S., Canada and Ukraine) aimed at exploring the structure, characteristics, evolution, and performance outcomes of organizational business models. Findings The business model’s key characteristics are customer value (the “effectiveness side” of the equation, i.e., doing right things for customers that the latters are ready to appreciate and pay for, but not always to the focal firm) and business value (the “efficiency side” of the equation, reflecting translation of the customer value into profit). Importantly, our evidence strongly reveals the dynamic nature of the business model construct, implying that the companies evolve in terms of these two dimensions. Practical implications The recommendations part of the article is primarily based on the in-depth analysis of the recent history of large companies that were struggling to: sustain customer value, and develop and apply internal product and production platforms to increase operating efficiency, and hence business value. All these firms had either slipped into or were in the danger of slipping into Impostor status, and were seeking ways to regain and sustain their Innovation advantage, often over newer entrants in their respective industries. Originality/value Introduction of the Business Model Value Matrix allowing to analyze the current company’s business model; practical recommendations regarding getting to and remaining in the Winner quadrant

Towards a conceptual framework for sustainable business models in the food and beverage industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 1421-1435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Dressler ◽  
Ivan Paunović
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Wine Industry ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Business Models

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically derive a typology of sustainable business models in the food & beverage (F&B) industry and explore the competitive profiling via sustainability. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected through an online survey for small- and medium-sized wineries (N=125). A principal component analysis (PCA) was used for inducing the F&B sustainable business model typology as an empirical basis for building a conceptual framework. Findings The analysis has identified seven strategic business models of the German wineries in regards to sustainability. Three models are at the forefront of sustainability, two are characterized by managerial focus on social opportunities and innovation and two of the identified business models are characterized by an administrative approach to social and environmental requirements and therefore rather rudimentary approaches to sustainability. Research limitations/implications Main limitations of the study are the focus on wine industry as well as on one country. Furthermore, the deployment of PCA method does not safeguard from neglecting other relevant business models. Practical implications Successful business models allow to differentiate in competitive markets in the F&B industry via sustainability. Such models need strategic ambition, positioning and realization but allow to win new clients safeguarding from market squeeze out. Social implications The research facilitates scaling up of sustainability initiatives to the benefit of the wider society. Originality/value Business model typology for sustainability has been derived mainly conceptually. The empirically based typology of sustainable business models provides a more rigorous foundation for a transition of business models toward sustainability.

scholarly journals Managerial practices for designing circular economy business models

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 561-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enes Ünal ◽  
Andrea Urbinati ◽  
Davide Chiaroni
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Managerial Practices ◽  
Value Network ◽  
Study Methodology

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the managerial practices that companies can implement in order to design a circular economy business model and how companies can create and capture value from a circular economy business model. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a single case study methodology with semi-structured interviews and company, supplier, and manufacturing site visits, conducted in a small-to-medium-size Italian company operating in the office supply industry. Findings The theoretical setting maps a set of managerial practices for a circular economy business model and sets the research gaps and questions in a research framework designed along three main dimensions: value network, customer value proposition and interface, and managerial commitment. Then, through an empirical analysis, the findings reveal that the proposed dimensions are interdependent and reinforce each other. Moreover, the managerial commitment as moderating factor between the value network and the customer value proposition and interface dimensions is identified as essential for reaching the intended goals of circular economy business models. Research limitations/implications This study maximizes the depth of the phenomenon under investigation by leveraging a single case study methodology, which ideally helps in a theory-testing approach as in the present case. Future research opportunities could be found in qualitative and quantitative studies to increase the generalizability of the findings of this paper. Practical implications The paper presents a set of relevant managerial practices for circular economy business models that can be used by managers who have the will to embrace in practice circular economy principles to support the design, change, or upgrade of the business model of companies within which they operate. Originality/value An interdisciplinary approach that integrates the research streams of circular economy, social psychology, organizational behavior, and business model design has been pursued to test the theoretical setting and the research framework for circular economy business models in a real-world context.

Sustainable life cycle offers through cooperation

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Selberherr
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Construction Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Business ◽  
Societal Level

Purpose – Sustainable buildings bear enormous potential benefits for clients, service providers, and our society. To release this potential a change in business models is required. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new business model with the objective of proactively contributing to sustainable development on the societal level and thereby improving the economic position of the service providers in the construction sector. Design/methodology/approach – The modeling process comprises two steps, the formal structuring and the contextual configuration. In the formal structuring systems theory is used and two levels are analytically separated. The outside view concerns the business model’s interaction with the environment and its impact on sustainability. The inside view focusses on efficient value creation for securing sustainability. The logically deductively developed business model is subsequently theory-led substantiated with Giddens’ structuration theory. Findings – The relevant mechanisms for the development of a new service offer, which creates a perceivable surplus value to the client and contributes to sustainable development on the societal level, are identified. The requirements for an efficient value creation process with the objective of optimizing the service providers’ competitive position are outlined. Research limitations/implications – The model is developed logically deductively based on literature and embedded in a theoretical framework. It has not yet been empirically tested. Practical implications – Guidelines for the practical implementation of more sustainable business models for the provision of life cycle service offers are developed. Social implications – The construction industry’s impact requires it to contribute proactively to a more sustainable development of the society. Originality/value – This paper analyzes the role for the players in the construction sector in proactively contributing to sustainable development on the societal level. One feasible strategy is proposed with a new business model, which aims at cooperatively optimizing buildings and infrastructures and taking the responsibility for the operating phase via guarantees.

A conceptual framework for product service system design for machine tools

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1227-1248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pankaj U. Zine ◽  
Makarand S Kulkarni ◽  
Arun K. Ray ◽  
Rakesh Chawla
Keyword(s):  
Machine Tool ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Machine Tools ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Service System ◽  
Product Service System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Context ◽  
Product Service ◽  
Key Issues

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for product service system (PSS) design for machine tools and discuss the PSS implementation issues focusing on the Indian machine tool business sector. Design/methodology/approach – The paper opted for an exploratory survey conducted in the Indian machine tool sector including 39 in-depth interviews with employees of different organizations representing middle and senior management having decision-making authority. It also involves proposing a framework to address the stakeholder’s requirements for services that offers foundation for PSS designers. Findings – The paper helps get an insights about key issues for PSS implementation by the Indian machine tool sector. The hybrid PSS model proposed in the paper can address the stakeholder’s requirements for flexibility in business models through different business phases. Practical implications – The paper offers suggestions for the development of PSS for machine tools for designers and identify issues to be considered particularly in Indian machine tools business context. Originality/value – This paper provides an insight to judge the feasibility of PSS concept for machine tools in Indian context and offers framework for PSS designers.

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