E-BusinessModelDesign-Classification-andMeasuremen

T5E-BusinessModelDesign,Classification,andMeasurementsMagaliDubosson-Torbay
AlexanderOsterwalder
YvesPigneurExecutiveSummary“Businessmodel”isoneofthelatestbuzzwordsintheInternetandelectronicbusinessworld.Thisarticlehastheambitiontogivethistermamorerigorouscontent.Theobjectiveisthreefold.Thefirstobjectiveistoproposeatheoreticale-businessmodelframeworkfordoingbusinessintheInternetera.Thesecondistoproposeamultidi-mensionalclassification-schemefore-BusinessModels,asopposedtotheactualten-dencyinacademicliteraturetousetwo-dimensionalclassifications.Thefinalobjec-tiveistodefinecriticalsuccessfactors,basedonafieldstudyinordertofindoutandcomparetheperformanceindicatorsusedbye-businessfirmsthatarecompetingwithsimilarbusinessmodels.©2002JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.INTRODUCTIONherehavebeenseveralattemptstoclassifyallthebusinessmodelsconsistentlyemergingwiththecomingoftheNewEconomyinordertounderstandhowe-companiesaremakingornotmakingmoney.SomecompanieshaveseentheirbusinessmodelhighlypublicizedsuchasthereverseauctionmodelofPricelineoronlinegrocerymodelofPeapod.Butisitallsoclear?Forinstance,ebay.commightbetypicalofanAgoraB-Web(Tapscottetal.,2000),butatthesametime,ebay.commightbeconsideredasbeingamerchandiseronline(transac-tion.net)oranauctionbroker(Rappa,2001).Allofthemareconsideringthesameobject,butfromdifferentperspectives.Isthereabetteroraworsewaytoclassifythebusinessmodels?Aretheyallowingcomparisons?Dotheyhelptounderstandthestrategiesofthedifferentactorswithinasamecategory,forinstance,theonlinegrocerystores?Aretheyexplainingwhysomeofthemben-efitfrombetterfinancialfigures?Nowadays,newbusinessmodelsfinishedemerginginelectroniccommerceandcanbecomeamajorstakeinthee-businessgame(Kalakota,1999;Maître&ThunderbirdInternationalBusinessReview,Vol.44(1)5–23•January–February2002©2002JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.MagaliDubosson-TorbayisaresearcherinoperationmanagementattheUniversityofLausanne,Switzerland.AlexanderOsterwalderisaPh.D.studentininformationsystems.YvesPigneurisaProfessorofInformationSystemsattheUniversityofLausanne.Aladjidi,1999).Itisevenpossibletopatenttheminsomecountries(Pavento,1999).Understandingthenewbusinessmodelsandhelp-ingtodesignandmeasurethemareimportantresearchissues,notsowellcovereduntilnow.Thenextsectionpresentsadefinitionandthecomponentsofabusi-nessmodelasanewframework.Thesectionfollowingsuggestsusingthisframeworktoclassifyandcomparebusinessmodels.Finally,weshowthroughexampleshowtotranslatethecoreprocessesofthebusinessmodelsintoasetofrelevantmeasuresforeachcomponentoftheadoptedframework.E-BUSINESSMODELDESIGNSeveralauthorsshowthatwiththesuccessofInformationandCommunicationTechnologies(ICT)–particularlytheInternet–orga-nizationaltransformationsaretakingplaceinindustriesandcompa-nies(Martinez,2000;Tapscottetal.,2000;Timmers,2000).Thee-BusinessModelapproachweproposeinthisarticleshouldhelpafirmstructureitsorganizationinawaythatitbecomesmoreefficient,moreflexible,andresponsivetocustomerdemand,toforecastpossi-blefuturescenariosandtherefore,tostaycompetitiveintheInternetera.E-businessmodelinghassimilargoalstoenterprisemodelingingeneral.Modelinghelpsfirmsdevelopbusinessvisionsandstrategies,identifyandassessbusinessopportunities,redesignandalignbusinessoperations,shareknowledgeaboutthebusinessanditsvisionandensuretheacceptanceofbusinessdecisionsthroughcommittingstakeholderstothedecisionsmade(Persson&Stirna,2001).MagaliDubosson-Torbay
AlexanderOsterwalder
YvesPigneur6ThunderbirdInternationalBusinessReview•January–February2002Figure1.E-BusinessModelDecomposition(2)CustomerRelationship(1)ProductInnovation(3)InfrastructureManagement(4)FinancialAspectsRevenueProfitCostGetaFeelServingBrandingTargetCustomerValuePropositionCapabilitiesResources/AssetsActivities/ProcessPartnerNetworkresourcesforvalueforAbusinessmodelisnothingelsethanthearchitectureofafirmanditsnetworkofpartnersforcreating,marketinganddeliveringvalueandrelationshipcapitaltooneorseveralsegmentsofcustomersinordertogenerateprofitableandsustainablerevenuestreams.Oure-BusinessModelframeworkisthereforedividedintofourprin-cipalcomponents.(1)Theproductsandservicesafirmoffers,repre-sentsasubstantialvaluetoatargetcustomer(valueproposition)andforwhichheiswillingtopay.(2)Therelationshipcapitalthefirmcreatesandmaintainswiththecustomer,inordertosatisfyhimandtogeneratesustainablerevenues.(3)Theinfrastructureandthenet-workofpartnersthatarenecessaryinordertocreatevalueandtomaintainagoodcustomerrelationship.And(4)thefinancialaspectsthatcanbefoundthroughoutthethreeformercomponents,suchascostandrevenuestructures.ProductInnovationTheproductcomponentofthee-BusinessModelframeworkdescribesthevalueafirmwantstoofferitscustomers.Significantstudiesofthetargetedcustomersegmentshavetobeundertakeninordertofindouttherelevanceandthecomponentsofaneffectivevaluerecognitionbythecustomer.Todeliverthisvalueproposition,thefirmhastopossessacertainsetofin-houseand/oroutsourcedcapabilities.ValuePropositionThiselementreferstothevaluethefirmofferstoaspecifictargetcus-tomersegment.ICThavehadtheirmostimportantimpactonnewwa