Business Innovation
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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 Zott, Amit and Massa who reviewed the state of business model research in their paper
entitled, The Business Model: Recent Developments and Future Research in 2011, there are “at least
three concepts that might warrant distinct consideration: (1) e-business model archetypes, (2) business
model as activity system, and (3) business model as cost/revenue architecture. These distinct concepts
could all be fruitfully investigated – individually, as well as in relation to each other – under the umbrella
theme of the business model.” For the business student, this statement suggests that there are
potentially a number of ways in which one could approach the problem of effective business model
analysis, and design or re-design. Likewise, it suggests that the business model concept, when
considering real world problems, must be approached with the specific business context in mind and to
what extent change is inevitable.
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 referring to the notion of an e-business archetype, business model as an
activity system AND a business model as a cost-revenue architecture.
Explain how these business model conceptualisations can be used to analyse and solve static and
dynamic problems, including business model design/re-design problems.
Explain what is meant by the term business context and the notion that change in business is
inevitable.
In regard to the latter, you should ground your arguments through the use of an example. The
example you use should refer to an organisation that has been impacted by either one or a
combination of the following phenomena: the rise of ‘big data’, the necessity to reconfigure the
organisation’s value chains, technologies becoming more integrated and the introduction of ‘cities of
the future’ initiatives.
You need to explain how the organisation’s business model has been impacted by change and what
this means for managers when making decisions about the organisation’s business model.
Conclude by briefly discussing the significance of your findings for the future of business models
research and practice.