Business Models - An Information Systems Research Agenda

The business model concept, although a relatively new topic for research, has garnered growing attention over the past decade. Whilst it has been robustly defined, the concept has so far at- tracted very little substantive research. In the context of the wide-spread dig- itization of businesses and society at large, the logic inherent in a business model has become critical for business success and, hence, a focus for aca- demic inquiry. The business model con- cept is identified as the missing link between business strategy, processes, and Information Technology (IT). The authors argue that the BISE community offers distinct and unique competen- cies (e.g., translating business strate- gies into IT systems, managing busi- ness and IT processes, etc.) that can be harnessed for significant research con- tributions to this field. Within this re- search gap three distinct streams are delineated, namely, business models in IT industries, IT enabled or digital business models, and IT support for developing and managing business models. For these streams, the cur- rent state of the art, suggest critical re- search questions, and suitable research methodologies are outlined