Opening Up the Business Model: Business Model Innovation

215 Pages·2014·1.3 MB·English

Opening Up the Business Model:
Business Model Innovation through Collaboration

D I S S E R T A T I O N
of the University of St. Gallen,
School of Management,
Economics, Law, Social Sciences
and International Affairs
to obtain the title of
Doctor of Philosophy in Management

submitted by

Tobias Weiblen
from
Germany

Approved on the application of

Prof. Dr. Oliver Gassmann
and
Prof. Dr. Ellen Enkel

Dissertation no. 4382
Difo-Druck GmbH, Bamberg 2015
The University of St. Gallen, School of Management, Economics, Law, Social
Sciences and International Affairs hereby consents to the printing of the present
dissertation, without hereby expressing any opinion on the views herein expressed.

St. Gallen, October 22, 2014

The President:

Prof. Dr. Thomas Bieger

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This dissertation is the culmination of my research work conducted in a joint PhD
program between SAP Research & Innovation and the Institute of Technology
Management (ITEM-HSG) at the University of St. Gallen. Many people have
contributed to the success of this undertaking, and I want to take this opportunity to
thank all of them for their support.
Foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Professor Oliver Gassmann for
supervising my thesis and for giving me the opportunity and freedom to pursue my
aspirations in research and teaching. I would also like to thank Professor Ellen Enkel for
co-supervising my thesis and for her valuable advice. At SAP, I am deeply grateful to
my manager Dr. Uli Eisert, who arranged for my PhD position and was a constant source
of encouragement and candid guidance, not only in troubled times.
I am also indebted to all of my co-authors and research partners. In particular, I want to
thank Dr. Karolin Frankenberger for our fruitful collaboration on the articles which later
became the core of my thesis. Dr. Markus Schief and Dr. Michaela Csik played a key
role in introducing me to the miracles of business model research and deserve my
thankfulness. Dr. Markus Eurich, Andrea Giessmann, and Stephan Winterhalter should
also be gratefully acknowledged for being great co-authors and discussion partners.
Valuable research assistance was provided by several interns and thesis students at
ITEM and SAP – thank you for your great support! My sincere thanks are also extended
to Ursula Elsässer, Ruth Meier, and Claudia Hesse for skillfully mastering all kinds of
administrative challenges. Lastly, I owe a debt of gratitude to all the executives who set
aside time in their busy agendas to make themselves available for my interviews and
questionnaires.
I was lucky enough to spend the final months of my PhD time at the Institute for
Business Innovation at UC Berkeley. Professor Henry Chesbrough deserves my deep
gratitude for being an amazing host, adviser, and co-author. My thanks are extended to
his entire team in Berkeley, as well as to the great community of visiting scholars from
all over the world. This experience was made possible financially by the Swiss National
Science Foundation (SNF). The SNF, along with the Swiss Commission for Technology
and Innovation (KTI) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
(BMBF) indirectly financed my research endeavors and deserve credits for the unique
opportunity which they provided.
The time in St. Gallen would not have been half as enjoyable as it was without my
colleagues and friends at both the university and SAP. Thanks to all of you for your
friendship, desperately needed humor inside the office, and the many joint activities
outside. Whether we conquered the Swiss Alps on foot, skis, and bike or battled in epic
table soccer matches, I have enjoyed every minute spent together. “Dr. Teflon“ and “die
Katze von Schwetzingen“ will never forget you! Representative for the entire crew,
special credits go to Amir Bonakdar. As my office mate in both offices and my team
mate in two research projects, he was a loyal and faithful partner from the first day to
the last.
Finally, my family deserves my deepest gratitude for their encouragement and belief in
me. I thank my parents Waltraud and Martin, my “parents-in-law” Nannette and Günter,
and my sister Judith with Florian for being there in my life and for supporting me far
beyond this thesis. Most importantly, I am deeply grateful to my partner Sarah for her
love and support in every moment during my PhD time and during all our years together.
It is to her and to my family that I dedicate this work.

Basel, November 2014 Tobias Weiblen

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract ........................................................................................................................... v 
Zusammenfassung.......................................................................................................... vi 
Chapter 1
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 
1  The Case for Opening Up the Business Model .................................................... 2 
2  Literature Review ................................................................................................. 4 
2.1  Business Models and Openness ................................................................ 4 
2.2  Business Model Innovation ....................................................................... 9 
3  Goal and Research Questions ............................................................................ 13 
3.1  Main Research Question ......................................................................... 13 
3.2  Sub-Research Questions ......................................................................... 14 
4  Structure of the Thesis ....................................................................................... 17 
4.1  Overall Structure ..................................................................................... 17 
4.2  Thesis Outline ......................................................................................... 19 
5  Outlook ............................................................................................................... 21 
6  References .......................................................................................................... 23 
Chapter 2
The Open Business Model .......................................................................................... 33 
1  Introduction ........................................................................................................ 34 
2  Method ............................................................................................................... 35 
3  The Open Business Model in Literature ............................................................ 36 
3.1  Emergence ............................................................................................... 36 
3.2  Definition and meaning ........................................................................... 37 
3.3  Commonalities between both views ....................................................... 43 
4  Clarifying the Open Business Model ................................................................. 46 
4.1  Reconciling both views of the open business model .............................. 46 
4.2  The ‘open business model - open innovation’ relationship .................... 48 
4.3  The ‘open business model - business model’ relationship ..................... 50 
4.4  Conceptual framework of the open business model ............................... 52 
5  Summary and Conclusions ................................................................................ 54 
6  Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ 56 
7  References .......................................................................................................... 57 
Appendix .................................................................................................................. 61 

I
Chapter 3
The 4I-framework of business model innovation .................................................... 63 
1  Introduction ........................................................................................................ 64 
2  Theoretical Background ..................................................................................... 65 
2.1  Business models ...................................................................................... 65 
2.2  Business model innovation ..................................................................... 67 
2.3  Innovation process models ...................................................................... 68 
3  Methodology ...................................................................................................... 71 
3.1  Sample description .................................................................................. 71 
3.2  Data source .............................................................................................. 73 
3.3  Data analysis ........................................................................................... 74 
4  Results: Development of an Integrative Framework ......................................... 74 
4.1  Initiation .................................................................................................. 75 
4.2  Ideation .................................................................................................... 76 
4.3  Integration ............................................................................................... 77 
4.4  Implementation ....................................................................................... 79 
4.5  Nature of the business model innovation process ................................... 80 
4.6  The 4I-framework of business model innovation ................................... 81 
5  Discussion .......................................................................................................... 83 
6  Implications and Conclusions ............................................................................ 86 
7  References .......................................................................................................... 88 
Chapter 4
The antecedents of open business models ................................................................. 93 
1  Introduction ........................................................................................................ 94 
2  Theoretical Background ..................................................................................... 95 
2.1  Openness in business models .................................................................. 95 
2.2  Antecedents of open business models ..................................................... 97 
3  Methodology ...................................................................................................... 98 
3.1  Multiple case study approach .................................................................. 98 
3.2  Case descriptions ..................................................................................... 99 
4  Results and Discussion .................................................................................... 102 
4.1  Antecedents of Open Business Models ................................................. 102 
4.2  Types of open business models and their antecedent relationship ....... 107 
5  Implications and Conclusions .......................................................................... 111 
6  References ........................................................................................................ 113 
Appendix ................................................................................................................ 120 

II
Chapter 5
Network configuration, customer centricity, and performance of open business
models ......................................................................................................................... 121 
1  Introduction ...................................................................................................... 122 
2  Theoretical Background ................................................................................... 123 
2.1  Open business models ........................................................................... 123 
2.2  Networks ............................................................................................... 124 
2.3  Customer centricity and solution providers .......................................... 127 
3  Methodology and Overview of Cases .............................................................. 129 
3.1  Case study approach .............................................................................. 129 
3.2  Data source ............................................................................................ 131 
3.3  Data analysis ......................................................................................... 131 
3.4  Rating framework ................................................................................. 132 
3.5  Case description .................................................................................... 133 
4  Results and Discussion: The effect of network embeddedness and customer
centricity on performance of open business models ........................................ 135 
4.1  Solution customer centricity ................................................................. 136 
4.2  Tie strength and solution customer centricity ....................................... 136 
4.3  Centrality and solution customer centricity .......................................... 139 
4.4  Shared vision and solution customer centricity .................................... 141 
5  Conclusion and Implications ............................................................................ 143 
5.1  Conclusion ............................................................................................ 143 
5.2  Implications for theory and practice ..................................................... 145 
6  References ........................................................................................................ 148 
Appendix ................................................................................................................ 156 
Chapter 6
Commercializing the Software Ecosystem ............................................................. 157 
1  Introduction ...................................................................................................... 158 
2  Related Work ................................................................................................... 160 
2.1  Business models: from innovation to implementation ......................... 161 
2.2  E-business model taxonomies: organizing template models ................ 163 
2.3  Electronic marketplaces: functionality and design determinants ......... 167 
2.4  Summary of related work ...................................................................... 168 
3  Method ............................................................................................................. 169 
3.1  Research method: action design research ............................................. 169 
3.2  Research context and setup ................................................................... 169 
3.3  Research process: four ADR stages ...................................................... 170 
4  A Taxonomy-based Approach to Marketplace Business Model Design ......... 173 
4.1  Choosing the right model based on two parameters ............................. 174 
III
4.2  Understanding the marketplace business models ................................. 176 
4.3  Driving implementation of selected business models ........................... 179 
4.4  The approach as a set of design principles ............................................ 179 
5  Evaluation and Application of the Approach .................................................. 180 
6  Discussion and Theoretical Contributions ....................................................... 182 
6.1  Business model taxonomies as a tool for strategy implementation ...... 183 
6.2  Strategic considerations in marketplace design .................................... 184 
6.3  Openness in business models and marketplaces ................................... 185 
7  Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 186 
7.1  Summary and theoretical implications .................................................. 186 
7.2  Managerial implications ........................................................................ 187 
7.3  Limitations and future research ............................................................ 189 
8  References ........................................................................................................ 190 
Appendix .................................................................................................................... 199 
List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................. 199 
List of Publications ................................................................................................. 200 
Curriculum Vitae .................................................................................................... 203 

IV