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Product co-design which connects the firm and consumers to achieve value co-creation is widely applied in the service-oriented manufacturing system (SOMS) to improve service quality. One of the key challenges in practice is to understand how the product co-design affects the performance of SOMS under different business models. This study considers a SOMS in which the firm optimises its product co-design effort and consumers decide whether to participate in product co-design under the selling and leasing models. The results show that the firm can always benefit from implementing the product co-design, even though consumers do not participate in product co-design under some specific circumstances. However, it does not always hold for consumers. Interestingly, we find that the free rider effect occurs when the participation cost is high. We further elaborate on the firm's business model selection strategy, introducing a threshold-based policy designed to assist the firm in making decisions when confronted with varying residual values and participation costs. Lastly, our findings indicate a lack of clear-cut pros and cons between the two business models in terms of the firm's product co-design efforts and consumer surplus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the servicization business model, a service-oriented manufacturer sells the service derived from its products. Because of the special compensation method, a service-oriented manufacturer is more likely to be underfunded. A Stackelberg game is formulated to investigate the interaction among a bank, a manufacturer, and an operator, in which two financing strategies are considered: bank financing and guaranteed (internal) financing. The difference between these two strategies is who bears the bankruptcy risk of the manufacturer. With bank financing, the bank bears the risk and determines the interest rate, while under guaranteed financing, the operator sets a guaranteed financing interest rate. We find that under bank financing, the low operating efficiency of the manufacturer increases the bank's share of the supply chain benefits. In particular, the service-oriented manufacturer can rarely be financed if the bankruptcy risk is high. However, under guaranteed financing, the operator may, interestingly, even subsidise a manufacturer with high operating efficiency. In this situation, a high bankruptcy risk could incentivize the manufacturer to improve its operating efficiency for the sake of the subsidy. Practically, guaranteed financing could coordinate the supply chain through interest rate adjustments or subsidies when facing different risk levels, which could improve both firms' benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy landscapes and the closely related cost function landscapes have been recognized in science, mathematics, and various other fields such as economics as being highly useful paradigms and tools for the description and analysis of the properties of many systems, ranging from glasses, proteins, and abstract global optimization problems to business models. A multitude of algorithms for the exploration and exploitation of such landscapes have been developed over the past five decades in the various fields of applications, where many re-inventions but also much cross-fertilization have occurred. Twenty-five years ago, trying to increase the fruitful interactions between workers in different fields led to the creation of workshops and small conferences dedicated to the study of energy landscapes in general instead of only focusing on specific applications. In this perspective, I will present some history of the development of energy landscape studies and try to provide an outlook on in what directions the field might evolve in the future and what larger challenges are going to lie ahead, both from a conceptual and a practical point of view, with the main focus on applications of energy landscapes in chemistry and physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitally enabled firms such as Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta achieved rapid growth in part through business model innovations that challenged the existing norms and regulations of the markets they entered. Research has explored aspects of their norm-breaking behavior—for example, getting users to behave differently, or offering free services to forestall competitors. I focus on their tactics for getting through or around regulatory infrastructure designed to protect consumers and other stakeholders. Specifically, I examine the relationship between large digital firms and three sets of institutional structures—competition policy, employment law, and individual property rights. I identify three tactics firms have used to overcome potential resistance: some have finessed regulations by identifying gaps and inconsistencies they could take advantage of, some have sidestepped regulations by arguing that those regulations do not apply to their situation, and others have nullified those rules by denying their existence altogether. I discuss regulatory responses to these tactics, from providing a free pass on one extreme, to doubling down on existing rules on the other extreme, and negotiating a new set of rules in themiddle. I concludewith thoughts on the role of institutional innovation in fostering economic development in the context of digital innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technologies challenge incumbent firms to rethink their established approaches to customer relationships. This article examines how a corporate bank reconfigured its relationship-oriented business model to benefit from digital transformation. The case analysis reveals a gradual transition toward a blended service model that first replaces, then complements, and finally augments physical with digital in increasingly complex customer interactions. While replacing and complementing human-enabled services with digital offerings are necessary steps of the digital transition, the associated competitive advantages are perceived as unlikely to endure. In contrast, augmenting human-enabled services with sophisticated digital technologies holds the potential for sustainable competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business models play a key role in companies' profit growth and competitiveness. A growing number of companies not only sell products but also provide leasing services. In traditional leasing models, companies usually charge customers for the time they occupy the product, but ignore differences in how long and how often customers actually use the product. In practice, customers have different product usage patterns, which will affect their purchase choice. Considering the pooling effect in the leasing service network, this paper describes customers' usage patterns in two dimensions (product occupancy time and utilisation rate) and determines the optimal pricing under three models (selling, leasing, and their hybrid model) to maximise corporate profits. Through comparative analysis, the optimal business model selection decision is obtained, and its market performance is also analysed. The results show that when the leasing service operational capability is strong, the pure leasing service model is superior; otherwise, the result also depends on the product value creation capability. When this capability is high, the hybrid model will be selected; otherwise, the pure selling model will be better. This result differs from the generally held result in previous studies that the hybrid model is more profitable in most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under servitization (one paradigm of non-ownership-transfer) business model such as sharing, a manufacturer is responsible not only for product design but also for maintenance. This paper deals with joint decision of product quality and maintenance under servitization. A model minimising total cost is formulated to obtain the optimal product quality, maintenance effort and maintenance times. We find that the total cost first decreases then increases with product quality, maintenance effort and maintenance times. Moderate quality and maintenance effort level are the best for the manufacturer, because too high or too low quality and effort cause too high total cost. However, preventive maintenance should be implemented as many times as possible until the failure cost is reduced to zero as long as each maintenance can save cost. Moreover, in the optimal joint decision, the product quality, maintenance effort and maintenance times are negatively correlated in pairs. In addition, we explore the impact of unit failure cost, product lifecycle, production cost, maintenance cost, and failure intensity on the manufacturer's optimal decisions. In extensions, we further take penalty cost, exponential failure distribution, discount rate, and customer usage into account. This paper provides insight for the manufacturer to jointly consider product design and maintenance under servitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supply chains are widely studied as carriers of value, but their potential to create value remains underappreciated. This study conceptualizes supply chain orchestration as a business model that allows a firm to create value in a supply chain with high market uncertainty by matching demand and supply more effectively than the present norm, and without relying on product innovation. Building on contingency theory, this study theorizes supply chain orchestration and articulates three defining qualities of its activity system. Next, it describes the evolution of this business model: its creation requires architectural market knowledge; however, sustained belief in the architectural market knowledge, ironically, can hinder its adaptation to changes in the firm's environment and lead to its abandonment. The study, I hope, will promote management practice and research at the largely untapped intersection of business models and strategic supply chain management to foster novel value creation by orchestrating supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary organisations recognise the need for Anthropocene disruptions and transform their business models, restructure their operations, and re-engineer their supply chains to attain greater sustainable objectives and a strong ESG (environmental-social-governance) proposition. Indeed, physical asset management shifted from the negative image associated with asset failure, expensive maintenance, and decommissioning to an enabler of sustainability that allows us to create and capture value from extended lifetime, renewed functions, and increased awareness. In this direction, this study follows a systematic reviewing process enabled by text analytics methods to identify the means and approaches to build a sustainable perspective for physical asset management. Our key contributions and insights are supported by statistics and key features extracted from over 2800 journal articles. We particularly emphasise the research footprint, the evolution, and research trends of the two most asset-intensive sectors (i.e. construction and energy) represented as barriers and enablers of sustainable development. Lacking a unified perspective of the field, this study proposes a conceptual framework that adopts an asset-within-a-system perspective, recognises the links between the stakeholders and holistically integrates the extracted research trends. The knowledge provided here positions physical asset management as a key resource in achieving competitive advantage in the framework of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-advertising-based mobile apps face several critical challenges when trying to monetize their free services—among them, the choice of pricing strategies (hard landing vs. soft landing; i.e., a "pay or churn" paywall vs. continuing to offer limited free services to existing users after monetization) and aspects of product design (whether to provide exclusive secondary offerings to paying users). The authors implemented a large-scale randomized field experiment with an app firm to test the causal effects of such pricing and product design strategies. Results show that both soft landing and exclusive secondary offerings decrease existing app users' willingness to subscribe, but there is a positive interaction between these two strategies on subscriptions. The authors propose a theoretical framework, discuss potential mechanisms that might be at play, and conduct robustness checks to rule out several alternative explanations. A customer survey by the firm and an experiment on Prolific provide further support for the theoretical mechanism. To assess generalizability, the authors conducted a second field experiment and obtained consistent results. They also report the results from the actual implementation of the best-performing strategy by the firm. This research provides guidance on possible theoretical underpinnings of users' responses and important managerial implications for app monetization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores a supply chain product-inventory problem with advance sales under the omni-channel strategies (physical and online sales channels) based on the brand owner's business model and develops corresponding models that have not been proposed in previous studies. In addition, because the brand owner is a member of the supply chain, and has different handling methods for defective products or products returned by customers in various retail channels, defective products or returned products are included in the supply chain models to comply with actual operating conditions and fill the research gap in the handling of defective/returned products. Regarding the mathematical model's development, we first clarify the definition of model parameters and relevant data collection, and then establish the production-inventory models with omni-channel strategies and advance sales. The primary objective is to determine the optimal production, delivery, and replenishment decisions of the manufacturer, physical agent, and online e-commerce company in order to maximize the joint total profits of the entire supply chain system. Further, this study takes the supply chain system of mobile game steering wheel products as an example, uses data consistent with the actual situation to demonstrate the optimal solutions of the models, and conducts sensitivity analysis for the proposed model. The findings reveal that increased demand shortens the replenishment cycle and raises order quantity and shipment frequency in the physical channel, similar to the online channel during normal sales. However, during the online pre-order period, higher demand reduces order quantity and cycle length but still increases shipment frequency. Rising ordering or fixed shipping costs lead to higher order quantity and cycle length in both channels, but variable shipping costs in the online channel reduce them. Market price increases boost order quantity and frequency in the online channel, while customer return rates significantly impact inventory decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship on sovereign debt emphasizes the importance of central banks in backstopping markets, but less attention has been devoted to the interactions of debt management offices with private finance. To fill this gap, this article examines the market-based operations of debt management offices alongside those of central banks. Debt management has played a crucial role in constructing and nurturing liquidity conditions in primary and secondary markets for sovereign debt through the contracting of primary dealers as monetary and fiscal policy partners, the embrace of repo markets, and later, through the creation of special liquidity facilities. Co-working in the collateral factory of the modern financial system creates new forms of entanglements that we term the 'collateral triangle', linking together central banking, debt management, and primary dealer operations in a shared convergence on repo finance as integral to public sector governability and private sector business models. Debt management and central banking jointly created and now maintain the infrastructures of this 'collateral triangle', not least because the inherent stability risks of repo markets threaten market-based monetary policy and market-based debt management. Routine de-risking by both actors is a core feature of the collateral system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capital accumulation in Turkey was notably bolstered by the substantial involvement of small-scale trade and manufacturing activities yet significant changes in the realm of small business politics have occurred since the 1980s, culminating in the restructuring of small enterprises as a viable business model through a series of socio-political and economic shifts. As for the 2000s, this period has witnessed a heightened emphasis on entrepreneurial rhetoric where sectoral inequalities have affected the model of small businesses through a range of institutional-legal policies and financial adjustments compatible with the consumption-led growth model during the AKP era. While the policies aligned with the demands of global trade have indeed created a favorable environment for capital accumulation, but introduced a range of new competition dynamics and complexities among the sectors and have forged new alliances within the small businesses, alongside giving rise to emerging conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the fast development of digital technologies, innovative business models were booming in the last two decades, which demands further investigation of the growing research trends of business models in the digital era. This research adopts bibliometrics techniques to explore business models in the extant literature, and then uses structured reviews to conduct content analysis which leads to the identification of research trends and propositions. The analysis shows that most of the literature could be summarised into a 4V-BM framework covering value proposition, value creation, value delivery and value capture. Moreover, it reveals and verifies three trending areas that focus on dynamics, digitalisation, and business ecosystem. Based on these findings, this research proposes a concept of ecosystem-oriented business mode which reflect the three trending features. The research findings offer insights to entrepreneurs and ecosystem organisations regarding the current business model in digital transformation and its potential economic impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open innovation (OI) is an effective way for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to acquire external resources and enhance innovation performance. This study focuses on the effect of OI on innovation performance of SMEs. Specifically, this study classifies OI into inbound and outbound OI, and explores their respective impacts on SMEs' innovation performance. Besides, this study investigates the mediating role of absorptive capacity and the moderating role of business model on the above relationships. Based on the survey data from 218 Chinese manufacturing SMEs, our empirical results show that: (1) both inbound and outbound OI have positive impacts on SMEs' innovation performance; (2) absorptive capacity partially mediates relationships between inbound and outbound OI and innovation performance of SMEs; (3) efficiency-centered business model positively moderates the inbound and outbound OI-SMEs' innovation performance relationships, and novelty-centered business model only exhibits a moderating effect on outbound OI-innovation performance relationship. This study provides deeper insights into the relationship between OI and SMEs' innovation performance. Besides, this study reveals the mediating mechanism of OI on SMEs' innovation performance, and enhances our understanding of why some SMEs more successfully utilise OI activities to improve innovation performance than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business model innovation leads to the high performance of the growth-stage enterprises that needs to meet certain conditions. The sole implementation of novel nor efficient BMI cannot bring high performance to the growth-stage enterprises. From the perspective of 'environment-strategy' synergy, this research studies how the synergistic mechanism of environmental factors and BMI affects the growth-stage enterprise performance via QCA method. The research results show that: (1) When the competitive pressure is not obvious, transaction innovation-oriented BMI will lead to high performance; (2) No matter what the external environment is, BMI jointly oriented by transaction innovation and transaction optimisation can lead to high performance; (3) Growth-stage enterprises in Schumpeter Competition Zone generally have high performance. The conclusion of this paper enriches the theory on the synergy of environmental factors and BMI affects enterprise performance, and can provide guidance for the growth-stage enterprises using BMI to enhance performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban mobility has a relatively high potential for radical change and plays an important role in building more sustainable cities. This paper investigates the role of business models and local conditions in the transitions towards sustainable urban mobility through a study set in the context of Chinese cities that focuses on the emergence of electric vehicle-sharing services (EVSSs) as a sustainable mobility innovation. Transitions theory and its multi-level perspective has been adopted as a theoretical framework for this research. A case study methodology was employed comprising semi-structured interviews with 26 respondents. These comprised EVSS providers, other mobility service providers, and other stakeholders including local and national governments bodies. It is based in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone (YRDEZ), which includes the major cities of Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou that have been at the forefront of EVSS adoption and innovation. The findings highlight the dynamic interplay between business models, regulatory environments, and urban settings, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding the socio-technical shifts necessary for fostering more sustainable urban mobility. The study also demonstrates the importance of a range of research disciplines for understanding the processes of sustainability transitions, whilst also revealing some limitations of transitions theory and the multi-level perspective for analysing and understanding transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital investment determines enterprises' internal resource structure and drives them from traditional to digital business models, increasing the difficulty and risk of external audits. This study empirically examines the impact of an enterprise's digital investment on auditor choice to clarify the impact of digital businesses on external audits. We find a positive association between enterprises' digital investment and their propensity to hire Big Four auditors, suggesting that digital investment leads to an increased demand for high-quality audit services from enterprises. This positive effect is more pronounced in enterprises with more complex businesses, high degrees of earnings management, and high degrees of the digital economy in their location. Additional analysis suggests that enterprises with digital investments that hire Big Four auditors have lower audit delay and higher audit quality. The findings provide empirical evidence for improving subsequent digital transformation and audit quality in emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to increasing digitalization, most companies have added online retail as a new business model (BM) separate from their initial physical BM, requiring them to manage a portfolio of BMs. The literature points out that companies choose between a separation or integration strategy to manage their multiple BMs. However, business cases show that companies adopting a separation strategy may then plan for a possible integration strategy. Despite the growing knowledge in the BM portfolio literature, scholars and practitioners still lack a comprehensive understanding of the integration process of two BMs that were initially managed separately. This qualitative research draws on a cumulative multiple case study of five retailers to analyze how incumbent firms with different BMs manage their integration. We show that these firms pivoted the management of their BM portfolio. The notion of pivoting has been studied from the perspective of a single BM. In this research, we demonstrate that the process of pivoting also applies to the management of several BMs. Our results provide a generic model of the BM integration process that underlines barriers and enabling pivoting factors. Finally, by considering pivoting at this corporate level, our research adds to the ongoing discussion in strategic management regarding the way companies manage the dynamics of their BM portfolio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data connectivity is driving a shift in corporate business models toward social responsibility and stakeholder orientation, but existing research has focused on the significant increase in business value from business model platformization and has failed to answer the question of "what kind of business model platformization creates high social value in what contexts." Business model platformization features are decomposed into three‐dimensional components of technology, architecture, and capability, and the external environment in which the business model creates value is segmented in terms of demand evolution and peer competition. This paper develops a technology–organization–environment (TOE) configurational framework, adopts fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), collects data from 42 enterprises with business model platformization, and analyzes what combinations of digital intelligence technology, platform architecture, dynamic capability, demand evolution, and peer competition constitute a high social value configuration. The study suggests that four configurations of the three main types, resource‐driven, demand‐driven, and total factor‐driven, constitute equivalent paths to high social value. With the help of the TOE framework to identify the configurations of business model platformization to create high social value, this paper provides theoretical support for enterprises aiming to create high social value in the face of peer competition and joint changes in the demand environment to choose the appropriate path of business model platformization from their own point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study investigates how the specificity of a university business model supports the dominance and persistence of a handful of elite non‐profit universities, while considering the implications this phenomenon has on social responsibility. Despite their longstanding positions at the top of academia for over four decades, these universities often struggle to actively embrace social mobility, diversity and inclusion. The existing literature on business models lacks a comprehensive conceptualization that captures the ability of some institutions to establish and maintain their domination within non‐economic fields, such as higher education. Drawing on Bourdieu's framework and a unique dataset comprising 192 private non‐profit American universities, the study uncovers two fundamental mechanisms of accumulation and conversion of forms of capital (economic, social, cultural and symbolic) behind the perpetuation of dominance among non‐profit universities. This research contributes to both business model and higher education studies by introducing a novel conceptual tool for investigating the business models of non‐profit universities. Important managerial and social implications, including a call for leading non‐profit universities to enact socially responsible and diversifying measures, follows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies as motivators to circular economy (CE) in the Brazilian foodtech sector via most relevant stakeholders. The study focuses on specific startups in the foodtech sector in the Brazilian context, offering a unique perspective on a relevant niche. It explores how I4.0 technologies are fundamental in the practices adopted by foodtechs, indicating an innovative approach aligned with technological trends. About the methodology, it was carried out through interviews with nine managers of foodtechs. Other sources of data collect have been used, such as reports, presentations, folders, products catalogs, consultations in companies sites, Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, and videos on the Companies YouTube. The results show that: (i) the I4.0 technologies are fundamental in the practices adopted by the foodtechs; (ii) the CE being internalized, supported by I4.0; (iii) CE is made possible by gathering synergy and co‐participation from stakeholders which are strategic and relevant to foodtechs; (iv) innovation factor is present in the adoption of I4.0, in the operationalization of the practices of CE and in the production of synergy among the stakeholders relevant to foodtechs; (v) the creation of new markets is also a consequence of the adoption of I4.0, the adoption of CE and the articulation of stakeholders in the context analyzed; (vi) virtualize and regenerate are the most strengthened strategies at the sphere of the analyzed foodtechs; (vii) IoT, Big Data and integration of ubiquitous and intelligent components in supply chains are the highlighted artifacts in the making of CE practices at foodtechs levels; (viii) foodtechs of food producers have shown a greater synergy and articulation of stakeholders to the success of CE supported by I4.0. The contribution of the study is associated to the legitimation of I4.0 technologies as motivators to the adoption of CE and the engagement of stakeholders to successful circular business models. The study used a qualitative approach and collected data through interviews with nine startups in Brazil. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data. The limitations of the study include the small sample size and the focus on startups in one country. Future research should aim to explore the integration of I4.0 and the CE in larger samples, across multiple countries, and involving different types of organizations. Additionally, the study highlights the need for government support for startups in the form of funding, incentives, and regulations, as well as the importance of education and training programs to develop skills related to I4.0 and the CE. Overall, the research objectives are to understand the opportunities and challenges of I4.0 and CE integration in startups and to provide insights for policymakers and practitioners on how to foster sustainable business practices. The specificity of your study in exploring the relationship between the CE and I4.0 technologies in Brazilian foodtechs is a unique contribution. Many studies may focus on broader industries or international contexts, while yours delves into a specific, relevant niche. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Value driver trees (VDTs) are abstract, indicator‐based representations of a business model. Although they are conceptual models by nature, no systematic and unified approaches to their modeling exist to date. In fact, a heterogeneous understanding of their conception and methodological implementation has been established. The goal of this study is to provide more clarity in this regard by examining the semantics (the question of "what?") and syntax (the question of "how?") with respect to VDT modeling. For this purpose, a structured literature review was conducted in which a collection of 161 VDTs was evaluated. Based on an extended taxonomy design process, the typical model constructs of VDTs were extracted. As a result, a so‐called VDT Model Classification was derived, which structures 34 model constructs into three dimensions with eight categories. This classification establishes a clearer understanding of the model constructs and their representation, thereby providing a conceptual framework for a unified and more substantiated "vocabulary" for VDT modeling. Finally, a research agenda has been formulated that generally addresses the role and future application potential of VDTs and, in particular, describes the next steps toward a sound notation for modeling VDTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offering Product-Service Systems (PSS) becomes an established strategy for companies to increase the provided customer value and ensure their competitiveness. Designing PSS business models, however, remains a major challenge. One reason for this is the fact that PSS business models are characterized by a long-term nature. Decisions made in the development phase must take into account possible scenarios in the operational phase. Risks must already be anticipated in this phase and mitigated with appropriate measures. Another reason for the design phase being a major challenge is the size of the solution space for a possible business model. Developers are faced with a multitude of possible business models and have the challenge of selecting the best one. In this article, a simheuristic optimization approach is developed to test and evaluate PSS business models in the design phase in order to select the best business model configuration beforehand. For optimization, a proprietary evolutionary algorithm is developed and tested. The results validate the suitability of the approach for the design phase and the quality of the algorithm for achieving good results. This could even be transferred to already established PSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study illustrates current management challenges many arts and cultural institutions face such as declining public subsidies, pressure to be more entrepreneurial, increasing competition in fundraising as well as increasing scrutiny of the partnership with private sector. The case study deals with the management dilemma as to whether Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam should continue its partnership with Shell despite several protests by environmental activists; whether to end the cooperation or whether to reform the partnership. Students are asked to address this dilemma and try to find solutions and, moreover, to identify and address potential consequences of their decision. The case study allows for the demonstration of business models and the management of arts and cultural organisations and, in particular, their financial structures and challenges they have faced recently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microfranchises (MFs), as an innovative organizational model, aim to enhance the productive capacity of the base of the pyramid (BoP) population in diverse contexts. We provide original insights into the underexplored role of MFs in the socioeconomic inclusion of victims of the conflict and former combatants in conflict settings while advancing theory-building in overlooked areas. To bridge these gaps, we use grounded theory in exploratory analysis of the total population sampling of 17 Colombian social enterprises/seven MFs financed by the United Nations Development Program and Inter-American Development Bank. Our results suggest that MFs were the most adopted organizational model in post-conflict Colombia, promoting the inclusion of victims and ex-combatants who collaboratively create contextualized solutions and prioritize community well-being, which has led to the development of a new iteration of the BoP model – BoP 4.0 - closely aligned with MFs, an innovative sustainable business typology developed. Its focus on Colombian social enterprises in post-conflict settings delimited this research. Thus, generalizing these findings beyond this context should be approached with caution. This study marks a significant contribution by revealing the pivotal role of MFs in promoting socioeconomic inclusion for victims in conflict-affected regions. Furthermore, it introduces the innovative concept of BoP 4.0, representing an evolution in sustainable business typology within the BoP framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in North American soccer is re-emerging following the multiple announcements that major club (e.g., 2025 FIFA Club World Cup) and international tournaments (e.g 2026 FIFA World Cup) will be held on the continent in the coming years. However, there is a dearth of evidence on talent identification and development originating from this part of the world. The top-tier domestic league in the United States and Canada, Major League Soccer, operates as a single-entity business model and its clubs have gradually expanded their organizational structures, assembling youth academies and reserves teams, to help streamline a talent pathway into their first teams. The overall growth in Major League Soccer has ultimately created greater opportunities for homegrown domestic talents in North America, particularly the US. The present commentary highlights the evolution of the talent pathway within Major League Soccer, particularly during the better part of the previous two decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a comprehensive framework for understanding the key opportunities and barriers in implementing Industry 4.0 (I4.0) in Tunisian medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using MICMAC (Matrice d’Impacts Croisés, Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement) and DEMATEL (Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) methodologies, supported by a literature review and expert consultations. Both methods identify crucial opportunities such as digital collaboration and real-time information, along with barriers like under-utilization of academic knowledge and insufficient leadership commitment. While MICMAC emphasizes risk management, not fully recognized by DEMATEL, both converge on similar barriers with nuanced prioritization. Comparing these findings with existing literature highlights commonalities and differences in opportunities and barriers. The study underscores the importance of integrating sustainability and cost reduction into I4.0 frameworks and suggests incorporating technological readiness, leadership support, and innovative business models. For practical implementation, decision-makers should invest in advanced manufacturing technologies, foster collaboration with technology providers, and initiate pilot projects. Enhancing operational agility and efficiency through integrated digital platforms and adaptable systems is essential. Addressing barriers involves securing management support, improving technical expertise, managing resistance to change, and boosting research and development efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMost research on Airbnb focuses on the guests’ perspective or the effects of host-guest interaction. This paper explores the way professional and nonprofessional hosts develop relationship marketing with their guests. The results of 30 semi-structured interviews with Portuguese Airbnb hosts show the conscious importance of interactions with guests and customization to generate trust and increase guest satisfaction. The paper shows that the interactivity and functionalities of the Airbnb platform deepens the relationships between hosts and guests. Nonprofessional hosts are those who develop a closer relationship with guests, requiring guidance toward possible advanced electronic relationship marketing tools in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve ambitious United Kingdom decarbonization targets, consumers will need to engage with energy services more so than they have done to date. This engagement could be active or delegated, where in the latter consumers pass responsibility for engagement to a third party in return for ceding some control over decisions. To date, insight into the barriers to consumer adoption of future business models has been limited. To address this gap this study explored benefits, risks and enabling conditions using two extreme consumer-centric business models, third Party Control and Shared Economy. The approach yielded information from stakeholders on what would have to be true for one of the business models to dominate the market. The results show substantial agreement across the expert groups on five key issues that will need to be addressed in the near-term to enable energy business model innovation in the United Kingdom market. These are: 1) Create space to enable business model innovation; 2) Ensure smart devices and data are interoperable and secure; 3) Improve the service standards of energy businesses; 4) Ensure business models work for consumers in all situations; and 5) Implement targeted carbon regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractCircular affordable housing (CAH) is crucial to advancing sustainability, but the lack of empirical evidence on users’ active attitudes towards circularity limits its applicability. To fill this gap, this study utilizes discrete choice experiments to thoroughly explore young users’ preferences and willingness to pay for a circular business model (CBM) in affordable housing by considering Dutch and Taiwanese cultural contexts. The analyses highlight the four key attributes that an acceptable CBM for young users in affordable housing should possess: the incorporation of a certain proportion of reused materials, provision of green facilities, availability of furniture services, and effective energy-saving and waste management. Furthermore, young users are willing to allocate 2.5–5% of their monthly income to support the implementation of CBM, which is beneficial for the adoption of CBM in ongoing affordable housing projects worldwide. The attribute preferences of young users in Taiwan and the Netherlands differ due to varying socio-economic characteristics, sustainability attitudes, and distinct cultural patterns within both societies. Consequently, this paper offers recommendations for governments to expedite the development of CAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in driving financial inclusion is contested. We argue that the ability of MFIs to consistently contribute to financial inclusion depends on their business model and its resilience to structural changes. We find that MFIs with an embedded business model (i.e., deep engagement with the local community) perform better in the aftermath of structural policy interventions as compared to MFIs with a transactional model. Using a difference in differences analysis on a database of MFIs that operated in India during the currency demonetization, we find support for our hypotheses. Our findings indicate that while transactional MFIs do better in a stable environment, embedded MFIs hold the advantage in a turbulent environment. Our results underscore the role of business model fit with the environment in driving financial inclusion. We also alert practitioners to the tradeoffs involved in being embedded in the local context (or lack thereof). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study addresses a scheduling problem arising from the “Rent Instead of Buy” business model where rental service platforms rent equipment from suppliers to satisfy customer requests in exchange for a lump-sum payment. Suppliers often implement piecewise linear concave charging policies to encourage longer rental duration. This policy prompts the platform to consolidate service periods into longer rental agreements for lower rental rates, potentially necessitating the splitting of a customer request among multiple facilities. We establish an integer programming model to maximize the platform’s profit, which is equal to the total revenue from serving customers minus the total rental and scheduling costs. To solve the problem, we propose two Dantzig–Wolfe decomposition reformulations and design branch-and-price algorithms accordingly. Furthermore, by exploiting the property of the concave rental cost functions, we derive the optimal structure regarding the start and end times of services, significantly reducing the subproblem’s search space. Numerical experiments based on real-life data validate the efficiency of the designed algorithms compared to commercial solvers and highlight the benefits of split services. Sensitivity analysis reveals that as the rental cost function becomes more segmented, more requests are split-serviced, but the times for splitting a request are seldom more than once. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pure self-management model, pure aggregation business model and Self-support + aggregation model are three commonly used business modes on ride-hailing platforms. We use an analytical model to study these three business models and give the optimal business model decision of the platform. The research shows that the heterogeneity ratio of drivers, the cost of the platform under the Self-support model, the franchise fee received by the platform under the aggregation model and the dissatisfaction of the original users on the platform play a key role in the selection of the platform's business model. When the difference between the franchise fee under the aggregation mode and the platform cost under the Self-support mode fails to generate positive feedback on the platform profit, the platform should choose the pure Self-support mode. When riders are more sensitive to the heterogeneity of service quality of the platform and user stickiness can be ensured, the platform should choose the pure aggregation business model. When user stickiness can be guaranteed and the cost of the platform under the self-run model is controllable, the platform should choose the Self-support + aggregation business model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the network structure, criminal cooperation, and external interactions of cybercriminal networks. Its contribution is empirical and inductive. The core of this study involved carrying out 10 case analyses on closed cybercrime investigations – all with financial motivations on the part of the offenders - in the UK and beyond. Each analysis involved investigator interview and access to unpublished law enforcement files. The comparison of these cases resulted in a wide range of findings on these cybercriminal networks, including: a common division between the scam/attack components and the money components; the presence of offline/local elements; a broad, and sometimes blurred, spectrum of cybercriminal behaviour and organisation. An overarching theme across the cases that we observe is that cybercriminal business models are relatively stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the performance differentials between Islamic and conventional banks operating in Palestine across a number of dimensions. Research Problem: The study addresses the lack of comparative analysis between Islamic and conventional banks in Palestine, specifically examining performance disparities using the CAMEL approach. This is critical due to the recent trend of conventional banks acquiring Islamic banks, raising questions about the underlying performance differences. Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the performance of Islamic and conventional banks in Palestine from 2011 to 2021, focusing on key performance dimensions such as capital adequacy, asset quality, management quality, earning ability, and liquidity. Methodology: The main purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the performance of Islamic and conventional banks in Palestine from 2011 to 2021, focusing on key performance dimensions such as capital adequacy, asset quality, management quality, earning ability, and liquidity. Results: The main purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the performance of Islamic and conventional banks in Palestine from 2011 to 2021, focusing on key performance dimensions such as capital adequacy, asset quality, management quality, earning ability, and liquidity. Recommendations: Islamic banks should refine their business models to adopt higher-risk, higher-profitability strategies and diversify their financing beyond Murabaha. Conventional banks should continue strengthening their liquidity positions and capital management to maintain their competitive edge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The imperative to harmonize economic growth with environmental preservation has catalyzed transformations in strategic management in current global landscape. The "Port-Park-City" (PPC) model, epitomized by the success of China Merchants Group Port (CMPort), offers a compelling case of how strategic sustainability revolutionizes international business. This research probes the innovative PPC model, initially thriving within China, to assess its adaptability to international investments. Through a meticulous analysis of two pivotal investment cases—the China Belarus Industrial Park (GSIP) and the Djibouti Port Industrial Park— we investigate the replicability of the PPC model and its capacity to confer a sustainable competitive edge. Adopting a "coupling effect" perspective, we scrutinize commonalities in PPC model implementation in these cases. This research address the pressing demand for global enterprises to adapt to evolving paradigms of strategic management. Our findings underscore the PPC model's potential not only in bolstering business success but also in advancing global sustainability, fostering competitive advantage, and catalyzing business model innovation. This encapsulates the essence of sustainable strategic management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-destination tours and activities multisided platforms (T&A MSP) are growing ventures at the forefront of digitalizing tour and activity sector. While these platforms are transforming this sector, understanding of their business models and how they create, deliver and capture value is limited. To address this gap, we developed a morphological matrix to facilitate alternative business model exploration and discovery. Derived from three iterations, this matrix visually represents and describes the characteristics of T&A MSP business models. Utilizing this tool, T&A MSP can evaluate and make transformative adjustments to their business models, thereby enhancing performance, adapting to evolving tourists' preferences and generating greater value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the e-commerce landscape diversifies, suppliers are faced with the critical decision of how to effectively launch their products through e-commerce channels with varying business models. This study aims to explore the strategic considerations for a supplier launching products through two distinct e-commerce channels: one based on a direct sale model and the other on a reselling model. It builds a theoretical model to examine the supplier's decision-making across three strategic options: a simultaneous launch through both channels, a sequential launch starting with the direct sale model followed by the reselling model, and vice versa. The equilibria of those options are derived through game analysis and further compared. The results reveal that for suppliers under a non-alliance pricing contract, a simultaneous product launch across both channels is the most advantageous approach. Conversely, in scenarios where an alliance pricing contract is in place, the optimal strategy shifts towards a sequential launch. The decision of which channel to ally with—whether the direct sale or the reselling model—hinges critically on the difference in service efficiency and the intensity of competition between the channels. This nuanced analysis highlights the importance of strategic flexibility and alignment with channel dynamics in maximizing product launch success in the evolving e-commerce environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deepening of crises and pandemics, the growth of armed conflicts actualize the ability of business to adapt to these changes, as well as the repurposing of industries in accordance with the goals of sustainable development. Industry 4.0 also creates a business environment based on innovation and adaptability to change. The lack of conflict identification in business leads to the creation of the wrong strategy and tools, losses and unprofitability. The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the business models transformation for enterprises from different industries in the context of achieving sustainable development. The aim of the study is to identify factors that change the key elements of the business models under the influence of Covid-19 and Industry 4.0, as well as to adapt to meet the conditions of the sustainable development triangle. In the process of describing business models of enterprises, the authors proposed an approach based on the concept of sustainable development. Characterization of individual transformations of business models is based on the results of generalization of enterprises performance indicators by five sectors of the economy according to GICS. This allows for international comparability of research results. The authors found that business models of enterprises were transformed under the influence of COVID-19 and Industry 4.0. The analysis of CANVAS models allowed to identify the main transformational changes: an open system with multiple inputs and outputs, an interactive-innovative environment, a customer-oriented approach with a focus on millennials, the formation of a full range of End-to-End solutions in three areas (Operations, Solutions Delivery, Innovations). The authors confirmed the hypothesis that the business models of enterprises in the consumer and energy sectors have not adapted to the negative impact of COVID-19 and are difficult to adapt to Industry 4.0. Enterprises in other sectors of the economy have adapted to change and transformed their own business models as a result of the impact of COVID-19 and Industry 4.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is profoundly transforming the entrepreneurial landscape while presenting a myriad of opportunities and challenges. However, scholarly inquiries into this pivotal intersection remain fragmented and lack a comprehensive and interdisciplinary understanding. This study provides a systematic review that consolidates insights from across AI, innovation and entrepreneurship literature to provide an integrated examination of the AI-entrepreneurship nexus. Through rigorous analysis of 92 studies, key themes are elucidated, including AI's impact on opportunity recognition, business model reinvention and socioeconomic dynamics. An original Socio-Technical Systems framework is proposed, capturing the interplay between AI adoption decisions, AI-augmented opportunity exploration, innovative AI configurations and broader socio-economic consequences. While acknowledging AI's transformative potential, the review sounds a clarion call for responsible scholarship that centres on equity and social justice. It advocates a reflexive, inclusive approach, allowing marginalised voices and alternative perspectives to emerge. Theoretical contributions are made by extending established frameworks from technology adoption, business models and socio-technical systems to the AIentrepreneurship context. Furthermore, actionable implications are provided for policymakers to develop governance models balancing innovation and ethical oversight. Therefore, entrepreneurs and support organisations are guided in facilitating responsible AI integration across diverse ecosystems. This unprecedented cross-disciplinary synthesis illuminates crucial gaps, charting an agenda for future research on transparency, accountability and mitigating AI's unintended impacts. As AI continues reshaping entrepreneurial frontiers, this review catalyses a trajectory of ethically-conscious scholarship poised to shape inclusive technological progress aligned with human values and societal wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propose a novel business model for parcel fulfillment that benefits all stakeholders. Develop three analytics methods to support the business model. Cainiao proposes a novel business model that consolidates parcels ordered by the same consumer from one or more merchants during the fulfillment process. The objective is to increase delivery speed without incurring additional costs for merchants and consumers. To support this business model, we develop three analytics methods: (1) a two-phase online optimization algorithm to determine which of a consumer's parcels constitute consolidated parcels and to select the shipping methods for the consolidated parcels that maximize the gains while satisfying the constraints (e.g., the 10-day on-time delivery rate of all consumer parcels created within a specified time should reach a target value), (2) a statistical method to calculate delivery time distributions to obtain on-time delivery rates within different days, and (3) a simulation-based optimization method to guide managers in setting appropriate target values for the constraints. In addition, we prove that the expected optimality gap and constraint violation of the online optimization algorithm have sublinear bounds, and we validate its effectiveness and robustness by testing instances generated from real-world data. Since 2020, Cainiao has utilized the system to consolidate numerous parcels shipped from China to more than 50 countries and regions, thus saving tens of millions of dollars annually and reducing delivery time by at least 50%. History: This paper has been accepted for the INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics Special Issue—2023 Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in the Practice of Advanced Analytics and Operations Research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As digital content increasingly moves away from free access, microtransactions may provide an alternative. There is a need for research on microtransactions as a general digital content payment mechanism. Businesses can capitalize on this technological advancement by expanding their paid digital content offerings without resorting to subscription-based services. This study examines a taxonomy for microtransactions based on consumer buying behavior, presents business models for microtransaction payment processing, and examines issues with its implementation. Data collected from 180 consumers were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative analyses to assess the receptiveness and perception of microtransactions. The results indicate that consumers are receptive to the concept of microtransactions and are willing to spend on five distinct digital content categories. This study concludes with a discussion of issues that consumers foresee with digital content microtransactions and implications for interested businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The digital platform-based sharing economy has become ubiquitous all over the world. In this paper, we explore how market actors' conflicting interpretations of digital platforms' business models give form and shape value co-creation and capture practices in contexts marked by weak institutions and underdeveloped markets. Design/methodology/approach: Integrating insights from the broader literature on digital platforms and the contemporary turn to "meaning-making" in social theory, we adopt a problematization method to unpack the collective contest over the interpretation of value co-creation and capture from ridesharing platforms in contexts marked by weak institutions and underdeveloped markets. Findings: Collective contest over the interpretation of digital business models may give rise to competing meanings that may enable (or impede) digital platform providers' ability to co-create and capture value. We present an integrative framework that delineates how firms caught up in such collective contests in contexts marked by weak institutions and underdeveloped markets may utilise such conditions as marketing resources to reset their organising logic in ways that reconcile the conflicting perspectives. Practical implications: The paper presents propositions constituting a contribution to a meaning-making perspective on ridesharing digital platforms by offering insights into how digital business models could potentially be localised and adapted to address and align with the peculiarities of contexts. It goes further to present a theoretical model to extend our understanding of the different sources of contestation of meaning of digital platforms. Originality/value: The meaning-making perspective on digital platforms extends our understanding of how the collective contest over interpretations of value co-creation and capture may offer a set of contradictory frames that yield possibilities for ridesharing platform providers, and their users, to assimilate the organising logic of digital business models into new categories of understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surging interest in digitalization has revitalized research for digital business model. Mobile Internet of Things (IoT) terminals will reach billions and become an important infrastructure for a digital and intelligent society. In the digital business model of IoT terminals, the electronic seal of commercial contracts are especially investigated to provide the same level security as guaranteed by the traditional seal. However, the existing electronic seal is only applicable to the centralized network applications, which severely relies on the certificate authority. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based multi-signature smart contract electronic seal scheme. The key of our design is to deploy a smart contract for business parties on Ethereum for secure electronic seal towards mobile IoT terminals. Unlike the traditional seal, this electronic seal is verified and managed collectively by all mining nodes. Combining it with optimizations in terms of a multi-signature algorithm encoded in the smart contract, our design achieves complete digital contract functionality for all business participants of terminals. As an example, we demonstrate an implementation on the Goerli testnet of the Ethereum network with the smart contract deployment. The security analysis and evaluation demonstrate that our design is secure in its multi-signature implementation and can be used in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]