Llewellyn D W Thomas

Big data commercialization

We consider the emerging trade in Big Data through commercial transactions. Through a wide ranging systematic literature review that covers both academic and practitioner perspectives, we first demonstrate that there is increasing interest in Big Data commercialization, which mostly consists of exploratory theoretical development and managerial prescriptions to date. We outline the new types of businesses that seek to create and appropriate value, including the data supplier, data manager, data custodian, data aggregator, application developer and service provider. Building upon this typology, we discuss the processes of business model emergence, and the importance of data ecosystems, reviewing both ecosystem structure and dynamics. We also highlight the challenges for the trade in Big Data, including IP protection, regulatory complexity, pricing, the development of data agreements and privacy concerns. We conclude with an outline for future research.

How important is IT

Information and communication technology patents are more influential on subsequent inventions than are other types of patents.

Architectural leverage: putting platforms in context

This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright. Full text is not available on IEEE Xplore for these articles.

The Performative Power of Words: How Business Model Innovators Use Framing for Strategic Advantage

Despite increasing interest in business model innovation, there is only limited scholarship that examines how business model innovators present and explain their innovations to various stakeholders. As business model innovation often involves the creation of a new ecosystem, understanding how innovators can gain support of future ecosystem members is important. Based on a longitudinal case study of Salesforce, a pioneer in cloud computing, we show how the innovator’s skillful framing to different audiences fosters the emergence of an ecosystem around the new business model. Our findings suggest that effective framing constitutes an important strategic process that enables business model innovators to shape new ecosystems due to the performative power of words.

An Ecosystem-Level Process Model of Business Model Disruption: The Disruptor's Gambit: Business model disruption: The disruptor’s gambit

Based on a longitudinal case study, this paper presents an ecosystem‐level process model of the interlocking key activities of the business model disruptor, other ecosystem participants (customers, partners, media, analysts), and the incumbent. Together these constitute a strategic process of ecosystem evolution from incumbent‐centred to disruptor‐centred. We identify the phenomenon of a ‘disruptors gambit’, where the disruptor reveals its intentions early on through effective framing, followed by rapid adaptation of its business model to satisfy ecosystem needs. These processes generate a virtuous framing‐adaptation cycle, where feed‐forward and feedback enable rapid response to customers and partners, while engaging them as force multipliers during new ecosystem creation. Our findings suggest that framing constitutes a dynamic strategic process enabling disruptors to reduce uncertainty, dislodge powerful incumbents, and shape new ecosystems through business model innovation.

The Disruptor's Gambit: How Business Model Disruptors Use Framing for Strategic Advantage

Despite increasing interest in disruption, there is only limited scholarship that considers the strategic use of framing associated with disruptive business model innovation in the competitive inte...

Adoption readiness in service innovation: the case of digital money

Abstract One challenge for firms seeking to develop new services is to understand the conditions likely to affect the rates of adoption. Understanding relative degrees of ‘adoption readiness’ provides innovators with information to choose market segments and indicates opportunities to influence adoption environments. However, there is a little research into the adoption readiness of countries upon which firms can base their new service development decisions. This paper considers these issues through the case of digital money, a service innovation some claim to have the potential to provide major economic and social benefits. Defined as ‘currency exchange by electronic means’, we conceptualise digital money as a socio-technical system, and propose a Digital Money Readiness Index. This composite index integrates institutional, financial, technological, economic, industrial and social attributes to measure adoption readiness. We identify four stages of readiness and systematically analyse the factors that drive under or over adoption of digital money technologies.