Mark de Reuver

Designing viable business models for context-aware mobile services

Technologies of 3G and beyond open up new opportunities to develop and commercialize context-aware services that utilize information like user location and social context. Although initial expectations were high, the adoption and diffusion of context-aware services have thus far been limited. Existing literature points to failing business models to explain part of the disappointing uptake. However, most authors focus on the factors that explain failing business models rather than providing practical design issues to improve business model viability. This paper fills this gap by specifying generic mobile business model design issues for the domain of context-aware services. As such, we provide a well-grounded, holistic overview of design issues that are the most critical in developing viable business models for context-aware services, based on interviews with eighteen esteemed practitioners and academics in the mobile services domain, at CEO and Professor level. Our findings indicate key challenges in the service domain (i.e. defining value adding elements, specifying target groups and generating trust of consumers in the service), the technology domain (i.e. integrating emerging technology platforms and safeguarding privacy and security), the organizational domain (i.e. division of existing and new roles in complex value networks, openness of the value network towards new service providers and governing the activities in the value network) and the financial domain (i.e. pricing; dividing costs and revenues and combining multiple revenue models). Our research has scientific implications, because it applies generic mobile business model theory to the context-aware services domain. In addition, we provide practical clues to practitioners with regard to the design issues on which they should focus while developing more viable context-aware business models.

BUSINESS MODEL ROADMAPPING: A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO COME FROM AN EXISTING TO A DESIRED BUSINESS MODEL

Literature on business models deals extensively with how to design new business models, but hardly with how to make the transition from an existing to a newly designed business model. The transition to a new business model raises several practical and strategic issues, such as how to replace an existing value proposition with a new one, when to acquire new resources and capabilities, and when to start new partnerships. In this paper, we coin the term business model roadmapping as an approach to define the transition path from a current to a desired business model. We develop our approach based on core concepts from business model literature as well as technology roadmapping. The approach is illustrated using a simplified case study. We find that visualizing business model road maps elicits how operational actions and business model impacts are interrelated. The merits of business model roadmapping not only lie in defining a road map of actions and business model changes, but also in identifying and discussing trade-offs between strategic business model issues and operational activities. Especially if an organization still has to choose between different alternative business models, business model roadmapping may help to identify overlapping paths, path dependencies and points of no return.

Collective action for mobile payment platforms

Graphical abstractDisplay Omitted Mobile payment requires collective action between banks and telecom operators.A case study on cooperation between all major Dutch banks and operators is analyzed.Differing strategic objectives between banks and operators hinder collective action.Lack of leadership, authority and commitment hindered collective action.Realizing joint m-payment platforms for banks and operators is highly challenging. Mobile payment has long been discussed but has still not reached mass market in Western societies. Banks and telecom operators often struggle to develop platforms for authorization and authentication of mobile payment services. This paper analyses an in-depth case on collaboration between three major Dutch banks and three Dutch telecom operators who jointly developed a trusted service manager for mobile payment. Collective action theory and platform theory is combined to study the issues of collaboration and competition between banks and operators. We find that differing strategic objectives and interests, conflicts, lack of dependencies and governance issues led to dissolution of the mobile payment platform. These problems partly result from platform characteristics of openness to third parties, governance of relations with third parties and platform competition.

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.

Mobile customer segmentation based on smartphone measurement

While customer segmentation for mobile services is typically based on demographics and reported use, smartphone measurement software enables to add directly observed user behavior. This explorative paper develops customer segmentation on relevant metrics from the perspective of network operators, handset manufacturers, and application developers. We analyze the results of a smartphone measurement project among 129 users using latent class analysis. The data are subsequently related to demographics and psychographics, to enable lifestyles. We find that several service clusters can be defined from the perspectives of the usage of the network (i.e. voice, SMS and data) and the usage of content services (i.e. URLs and applications). We demonstrate that such clusters can be related to demographic as well as psychographic segments. The results provide fine grained insights in market segments as well as new hypotheses about mobile behavior that are open for further testing. While being exploratory in nature, the study demonstrates the relevance of customer segmentation on smartphone measurement data.

Should mobile Internet be an extension to the fixed web? Fixed-mobile reinforcement as mediator between context of use and future use

As the fixed and mobile Internet are converging, the question emerges whether consumers expect mobile Internet services to replicate services they know from the fixed Internet. Literature on reinforcement and displacement suggests that the use of new media depends on whether users are inclined to replace or reinforce their existing media use on a new device. This paper analyzes whether the importance that users attribute to using similar services on their mobile phone as on the fixed Internet can explain the intention to adopt mobile services. Specifically, we investigate if such fixed-mobile reinforcement could mediate the impact of personal innovativeness and several dimensions of context. We compare basic Internet services, entertainment services and transaction services. We find that especially the intention to adopt basic Internet services largely depends on the importance of using similar services in the mobile domain as on the fixed Internet. Several context-of-use predictors are partially or even fully mediated by fixed-mobile reinforcement. The results convey a positive message to operators that are betting on converged multimedia services that can be accessed from any device and from any fixed or mobile network.

The digital platform: a research agenda

Abstract As digital platforms are transforming almost every industry today, they are slowly finding their way into the mainstream information systems (ISs) literature. Digital platforms are a challenging research object because of their distributed nature and intertwinement with institutions, markets and technologies. New research challenges arise as a result of the exponentially growing scale of platform innovation, the increasing complexity of platform architectures and the spread of digital platforms to many different industries. This paper develops a research agenda for digital platforms research in IS. We recommend researchers seek to (1) advance conceptual clarity by providing clear definitions that specify the unit of analysis, degree of digitality and the sociotechnical nature of digital platforms; (2) define the proper scoping of digital platform concepts by studying platforms on different architectural levels and in different industry settings; and (3) advance methodological rigour by employing embedded case studies, longitudinal studies, design research, data-driven modelling and visualisation techniques. Considering current developments in the business domain, we suggest six questions for further research: (1) Are platforms here to stay? (2) How should platforms be designed? (3) How do digital platforms transform industries? (4) How can data-driven approaches inform digital platforms research? (5) How should researchers develop theory for digital platforms? and (6) How do digital platforms affect everyday life?

From eParticipation to mobile participation: Designing a service platform and business model for mobile participation

In an attempt to bring citizens closer to governments, electronic participation is increasingly receiving attention. Despite technological advances regarding smartphones and mobile Internet, mobile extensions to eParticipation solutions are still largely lacking. In this paper, we describe the design of a generic service platform that enables citizens to report incidents and interact with government agencies while on the move. Our service platform utilizes state-of-the-art mobile technologies, georeferencing and wiki concepts. The open and flexible service platform can be used by various government agencies to develop a range of service concepts in an efficient manner. Using a business model approach, we identify critical technological, organizational and financial design issues that government agencies need to deal with before implementing the proposed service platform. Most crucial questions are which agency should govern the service platform, how open the platform should be for other government agencies and how investments should be divided. The paper illustrates how to move from eParticipation to mobile participation, but also how a business model approach can contribute to designing viable mobile government services.

Mobile cloud computing: state of the art and outlook

Purpose – The purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore the meaning of cloud computing for mobile communication. The paper answers the question “what is mobile cloud computing?” and how is it related to the generic cloud computing concept?Design/methodology/approach – This is an explanatory conceptual paper, based on literature review and exploring potential use cases, focused on the use of mobile cloud for service, platform or infrastructure access. The authors exclude the discussion of the traditional cloud concept in back office processes of telecom operators, and service providers.Findings – Where cloud computing is focused on pooling of resources, mobile technology is focused on pooling and sharing of resources locally enabling alternative use cases for mobile infrastructure, platforms and service delivery. The paper discusses relevant concepts and offers examples of use cases.Research limitations/implications – The value of mobile cloud solutions is not yet explicit, but needs further attention...

Dealing with self-report bias in mobile Internet acceptance and usage studies

Self-report bias is a known validity threat to IS usage studies. Respondents may find it even more difficult to assess their actual usage of mobile services as these can be used in highly variable contexts. This paper examines the extent of self-report bias in mobile acceptance and usage studies and suggests counter-measures. We demonstrate that several Type-1 and Type-2 errors are made when relying on self-reports rather than log data. Weighing can partly mitigate self-report bias as older people are more accurate than younger people. Log data replace self-reports in order to reduce self-report bias in mobile acceptance studies.