Emeritus Research Director, CNRS
Professor, École polytechnique
*Member of the Business Science Institute faculty
Introduction
Over the past two decades, the concept of the business model has become central to corporate strategy. This evolution coincides with the rise of information and communication technologies, which have made it easy to redefine products and services. These technologies have offered unprecedented flexibility, enabling companies to reorganize their offer, rethink their relationship with consumers, and transform their revenue models. This transformation has affected every sphere of the company, from supply chain and logistics to the very design of products and services.
The Digital Revolution and the Reconfiguration of Offerings
Digital technology has initiated a major reconfiguration of product and service offerings. Digital technologies enable offerings to be rapidly and continuously adapted to consumers' changing needs. This flexibility has not only benefited established companies, but has also created fertile ground for the emergence of new entrants like Uber and Airbnb. These companies have revolutionized the transportation and accommodation sectors by rethinking not only service delivery, but also revenue construction and monetization, illustrating the importance of understanding and analyzing new business models.
Pioneering work on business models
In the USA, researchers such as Zott, Amit and Serval have been at the forefront of business model studies. Their work developed a deeper understanding of business model typologies, providing a basis for the analysis and categorization of business models. Early studies, such as those by Pigneur, focused on defining and classifying the different categories of business models, paving the way for more in-depth research into their structure and operation.
Towards Business Model Dynamics
Today, the focus is more on the dynamics of business models. It's no longer simply a question of defining them, but of understanding how companies can pivot and evolve their models over time. This dynamic perspective is essential if we are to grasp the continuous adjustments and transformations that companies must undertake to remain competitive. The study of these temporal dynamics requires sophisticated analytical tools, which are still under development, to track and predict business model evolutions.
Business model diversity and mimicry
A central issue in the study of business models is their diversity. Innovation is not limited to products and services, but extends to business models themselves. For example, Netflix has not revolutionized audiovisual content, but it has innovated in its monetization through subscriptions and streaming. This raises the question of whether this diversity leads to a fragmentation of business models, or whether mimicry sets in, with companies imitating each other's successes, as observed in the streaming sector. This dynamic of mimicry and diversity is crucial to understanding the evolution of business models in a competitive environment.
Current organizational issues
The questions raised by digital business models are not new, but they take on a new dimension in the current context. These questions have long been studied in organizational literature, notably through work on population ecology and organizational mimicry. However, the topicality and relevance of these questions are reinforced by the rapid transformations and constant innovations in the digital domain. Understanding how companies navigate these changes is essential to anticipating future business model evolutions.
Conclusion
It is imperative to mobilize both traditional theoretical frameworks and new analytical tools to understand and anticipate evolutions in digital business models. Fundamental principles remain applicable, even as companies explore innovative and uncharted territory. This in-depth understanding is crucial to developing effective, sustainable strategies in a constantly evolving digital environment.
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