It is well known (and possibly obvious) that new technologies create strong opportunities for innovation and economic growth. Furthermore, as highlighted in the work of Schumpeter (and many others since), the fact that technological change leads to both creation and destruction is an integral part of entrepreneurship and innovation. Consequently, this means that technological change is not only about creating new productivity assets and opportunities to compete with old industrial models, but also enables the design of new business models and supports radically new strategies.
Beyond the issue of the intrinsic extent of technological change (i.e. the potential impact of the new technology), ecosystems and business models are fundamental determinants of the actual impact of technological change. While vibrant ecosystems and flexible business models enable us to spread new technologies quickly and to fully reap resulting economical and social benefits, rigid ecosystems and outdated business models create significant barriers and can considerably delay and reduce the positive effect of new technologies.
While such issues may arise from any technological change, they have been particularly prevalent in the case of industries that ‘have gone digital’, precisely because of the very specific characteristics of ICTs and the internet: pervasiveness and flexibility. This has made them usable in any context and in any organisational environment, thereby enabling them to support a wide range of strategies. As a consequence, the digital economy has been characterised by a constant battle between traditional and emerging ecosystems (e.g. Apple’s iTunes) and between ‘old’ and ‘new’ business models (e.g. ‘boxed’ video games vs ‘freemium’ games).
Radical changes in infrastructure and the boom of digital services have had a durable effect on ecosystems. Indeed, the increased role of networks, the new forms of partnerships (e.g. open innovation), value chain transformations, industrial market reconfigurations, intellectual property rights (IPRs), performance economy and ‘servicisation’ are some of the crucial aspects of the digital revolution.
Furthermore, the virtually unlimited number of models and systems that can be supported by ICTs encourages a high variability of the market structure, value chain and monetisation, not only in the digital industries but also potentially in all industrial and economic sectors. As a consequence, business models have become a critical vector of innovation, with many different models coexisting and competing. This is particularly the case in the creative, cultural and information industries, but also, potentially, in many other industries (e.g. the recent changes in manufacturing brought about by 3D printing).
Over the past few years, the concepts of business models and ecosystems have been increasingly used by practitioners and academics alike, in particular, for the latter, in literature related to internet economy, innovation management, entrepreneurship, complexity and evolutionary economics. The disruptive changes brought about by ICTs and the internet have made these emerging concepts of critical importance not only in the digital economy, but also in the economy as a whole.
While maximising the benefits of technological change depends on both ecosystems and business models, the two cannot be considered independently from one another. Whereas strong and adaptive ecosystems are drivers of strong value creation, adequate business models are required in order to capture this value. Hence, the interactions between business models and ecosystems and their co-evolution are of critical importance. Likewise, the roles played by stakeholders (in particular new ones) in both ecosystems and business models have to be thoroughly understood.
The aim of this special issue is to bring together articles focusing on the role of business models and ecosystems in leveraging technological change.
The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the workshop “Leveraging Technological Change: The Role of Business Models and Ecosystems” (19 March 2014, London, UK). However, we also strongly invite and encourage submissions from researchers unable take part in the workshop.
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The role of business models and ecosystems in the diffusion of new technologies
- Innovative ecosystems
- Business model innovation
- Systems of innovation
- Interactions between business models and ecosystems
- The impact of disruptive technologies
- New value chains in digitised industries
- Changing business models and ecosystems in cultural and creative industries
- The changing role of IP in business models and ecosystems
- Open innovation in business models and ecosystems
- The role of stakeholders (e.g. incubators, venture capital, customers) in helping define new business models and ecosystems
- The role of supporting technologies (e.g. ICTs) in enabling and supporting new ecosystems and business models
- Value creation vs. value capture
- Rethinking revenue models: moving beyond advertising and ‘free’-economics
- The rise of consumers in ecosystems: prosumption, crowdsourcing and crowdfunding
- Competing business models and ecosystems
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 November, 2014
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