Guiping Lin

Business Models, Symbionts and Business Ecosystem: A Case Study from E-commerce Industry in China

The essence of a business model defines a transaction structure that involves stakeholders. This article examines the transactional features that exist between stakeholders, such as relationships and form. We also introduce the new concept of “symbiont” and analyze the aggregation of the focal firm’s and stakeholders’ business models. By proposing this innovative concept, we seek to bridge the gap between the macro Business Ecosystem and micro Business Model, and as such expand our ideas about business models. The concept of “symbiont” in the business model that we have created provides a shared coordination system for different business models under the same business ecosystem, making direct comparison between them possible. Moreover, it allows us to analyze a focal firm’s business model from a micro perspective, which may clarify how to precisely and scientifically restructure or reform the focal firm based on the anatomic picture of the company. To explain this theory, our research focuses on China’s E-commerce industry.

Slotting Fee, Road Toll, Parking Fee, Fuel Charge and Sharing Fee

The thriving taobao.com website has provided large amounts of commodity sales platforms and a startup business platform for many individual entrepreneurs. Through real name authentication, a store can be opened on the site. Taobao even provides many free templates, ranging from the launch, to store decoration to delivery management, for the store owners. For the newbies, Taobao even provides free teaching slides to instruct the prospective store owners on store design and management.

Introduction to the Profit Model: Income and Expenditure Sources and Modes

Our previous books, Discovering Business Models, Reconstructing Business Models, Business Model of Philanthropy, and Approaching Business Models from an Economic Perspective were published between 2009 and 2012. They systematically illustrated and analyzed the “six elements of the Wei-Zhu business model”. The books became bestsellers, and now we feel it is necessary to introduce the principle of the core elements in an overall theoretical business model framework and the characteristic business models. We will begin with the Principles of Profit Models.

Fixed, Residual, and Shared

Newplan Design Co., Ltd., founded in 2000 has the largest industrial designer team in China based on the number of designers. Their method of charging for design projects is still the profit model based on fixed charging. Each design project can cost between tens of thousands to over 1 million RMB (US

Stakeholders of the Sources of Income and Expenditure

160,000) for the design fee, depending on workload and difficulty.

Customer Pricing for 1000 Hamlets

Jack Andraka, a 15-year-old American recently shook the medical world, by inventing a dip stick style paper strip that can accurately and cheaply detect early-stage cancers. His invention could make a major change in the history of medical science. Incredibly, he has no medical background or education. He relied solely on Internet searches to acquire all the necessary knowledge, just like you use a search engine and click the mouse.

Comprehensive Application of Profit Models

In Grey Wolf Rock written by the master of fairy tales, Zheng Yuanjie, Rock opened a restaurant. The pricing structure was based on how much people would be willing to pay. He managed it so well that it attracted lots of customers. The restaurant was even on the cover of Time Magazine. Unfortunately, customer responses to a particular dish differed greatly. Some said, “I will pay only half the price, as it is too salty to me” and others said, “It is so tasteless. I’ll only pay half price.” Rock suffered heavy losses and closed the restaurant.

Resource Capacities of Income and Expenditure Sources

If you have seen the 2012 Indian comedy, Oh My God, then you must be deeply impressed by those priests wearing gold watches who took various measures to rake in money in their disputes with the lead character, Kanji. Though the movie was meant to show a lesson in sincere and reasonable religious belief, there were also hints of pricing models used.

Profit Model One: Fixed-Income, Remaining-Profit and Profit-Sharing

A Chinese internet enterprise with the logo of a little raccoon is unnerving investors in the American stock market. Since listing on the NASDAQ in November 2012, market capitalization has been on a constant rise from the initial

The Business Model with Minimal Transaction Costs

600 million to