Ian MacInnes

Dynamic business model framework for emerging technologies

This paper suggests a new framework for business models that takes into account disruptive technologies. It identifies four stages in the development of new technologies. In each of these stages there are factors that should be overcome. Stage 1 emphasises technical issues. In stage 2 environmental factors such as law and adoption should be considered. Developers begin to incorporate traditional business model factors in stage 3. Stage 4 focuses on factors that will sustain the business. The paper also distinguishes between supply and demand business models. The development of the literature on peer to peer networks illustrates these stages.

Business Models for Mobile Content: The Case of M-Games

It has been difficult to develop a profitable business model for Internet content. The emerging medium of mobile communications promises a new opportunity for this type of business because the gatekeeper for the medium, the wireless network provider (WNP), has greater control over what customers can feasibly do with their mobile devices. Higher barriers to entry and usage costs for mobiles should lead to the development of content business models that are more likely to generate profits. Within the mobile value chain, the WNP has the greatest bargaining power and can thus negotiate the largest share of profits. This paper examines the transformation of an industry as it moves toward a mobile, as opposed to Internet, focus. Mobile games are expected to generate substantial revenue but service providers will have to examine where they fit within the new value chain. The most appropriate strategy for WNPs is to leverage their control over wireless infrastructure and customer relationships. The management com...

Dynamic Business Model Framework for Value Webs

This paper develops a new framework for explaining the dynamic aspects of business models in value webs. As companies move from research to roll-out and maturity three forces cause changes in business models. The technological forces are most important in the first phase, regulation in the second phase, and markets in the third. The forces cause change through influence on the technology, services, finances, and organizational network of the firm. As a result, partners in value webs will differ across these phases. A case study of NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode illustrates the framework.

Business model dynamics: a case survey

In the turbulent world of e-commerce, companies can only survive by continuously reinventing their business models. However, because most studies look at business models as snapshots in time, there is little insight into how changing market-related, technological and regulatory conditions generally drive revisions in business models. In this paper, we examine which types of external drivers are strongest in forcing business models to change throughout their life cycle. To do so, we study 45 longitudinal case descriptions on business model dynamics of (networks of) organizations in various industries. The results of this survey indicate that technological and market-related forces are the most important drivers of business model dynamics, while regulation plays only a minor role. In particular for start-ups, the effect of technological and market-related drivers is the strongest in the early stages of a new business model, while the effects are moderate over time for established, large companies. Our results provide clues to practitioners on what external factors to take into account in different stages of business model design and redesign.

Property rights, legal issues, and business models in virtual world communities

This paper uses a business model framework to help identify the issues that developers of virtual worlds have to address as their enterprises mature. While most virtual worlds have adopted subscription models there is an increasing trend toward selling digital items directly to users. This arises from the emergent markets linking real world currency to items existing on company servers. This practice has resulted in controversial and unresolved legal issues. Communities that arise from virtual worlds can be classified according to level and type of control. Lack of control can lead to a Hobbesian world of predation and vigilantism. Strong developer control can be exerted to protect users but communities adopting shared governance with users are likely to become more common.

Reputation and Dispute in eBay Transactions

This study presents a conceptual framework for determining what factors affect the likelihood of disputes in e-commerce. It hypothesizes that disputes decrease as seller and buyer reputation and experience increase, and further that the likelihood of disputes is contingent on product price, payment method, and amount of information about the product. The empirical model is tested using five goods and services. The results indicate that reputation mechanisms deter the undesirable behavior that can lead to disputes, that experienced users are less likely to be involved in disputes than inexperienced ones, that consumer-to-consumer transactions are more likely to result in disputes than transactions between businesses, and that transactions in services are more likely to result in disputes than those in goods. The implications for auction sites include the possibility for tracking disputes and improving reputation mechanisms by incorporating information about product types, payment methods, and prices.

Business models and operational issues in the Chinese online game industry

The rapid growth of Internet usage has enabled many new online communities to develop. A particularly interesting phenomenon that has arisen through Internet communities is the virtual world (VW) style of online game. This paper identifies the challenges that developers of VWs will face in their efforts to find viable business models. This is a single case study of China as an exploratory project to determine the issues surrounding business models for virtual world developers and users. The paper discusses the feedback effects between broadband adoption and online games as well as issues such as culture, history, Waigua, private servers, virtual property trade, developer control, governance, and regulation. In spite of the profitability of major Chinese VW operators, close observation of the Chinese case suggests that even the most successful VW operators are still in the early stages of their business model development.

FCC organizational structure and regulatory convergence

Convergence of information industries has led to the emergence of services that cross industry boundaries. Changes in these industries have caused the organization of regulatory institutions to become inadequate. An exploratory analysis of orders issued by bureaus of the US Federal Communications Commission shows overlap in the issues on which each provides rulings. Rather than organizing into traditional industries such as common carrier, cable, and mass media, bureaus could be re-organized into functions such as oversight of rates, spectrum allocation, and universal service provision. Using theories of bureaucracy and organization, this paper proposes an explanation for the difficulties that the FCC has had in adapting to converging information industries.

Business models dynamics for start-ups and innovating e-businesses

As technology, market and regulation conditions change rapidly, e-business companies frequently have to reinvent their business models. This paper examines which external drivers are most decisive in changing business models during the phases of service development, roll-out and commercialisation. After a qualitative study, 45 longitudinal case descriptions were surveyed on the business model dynamics of start-up and established e-business companies. Technology and market forces turned out to be more decisive, while regulation plays only a minor role. While external drivers are moderately important over time for established companies, their impact on start-up business models is largest during service development and it fades over time.

Causes of Disputes in Online Auctions

While much attention has been given to reputation mechanisms to deter fraudulent behaviour in online auctions, we know little about the nature of disputes or the types of problems that users face. This is an exploratory analysis of 129 disputes for five different types of products that were sold on eBay. In the analysis we find seven different types of disputes including poor quality, slow shipping, seller withdrawal, fraud, poor communications, misunderstanding, and non‐paying bidders. Each type of dispute is affected by different factors. This research finds that used products tend to have problems related to misrepresentation and fraud. A buyer with a better reputation is less likely to fail to pay and the likelihood to pay appears to be related to the auction process. Sellers are also more likely to avoid delays in the shipping of products if these have a higher price. Business‐related products are more likely to result in less disputes related to slow shipping. Seller withdrawal disputes are related ...