Business Models: Fasttracking Competitive Advantage

由于市场环境瞬息万变、竞争激烈、产品生命周期缩短、新技术和信息云等复杂因素，商业决策越来越困难（Archibugi and Iammarino 2002）。公司领导人越来越需要进行“心理体操”，因为他们在努力应对各种活动的同时，还必须对顾客和客户的需求做出反应。毫不奇怪，对许多公司来说，决策是一项越来越危险和具有挑战性的活动。如今，商业领袖们被来自价值主张、动态能力、能力建设和客户细分等各方面的信息轰炸。此外，商业模式很流行，现在已经成为商业用语的一个组成部分。它们为组织如何创造、传递和获取价值提供了基本原理——Osterwalder和Smith(2010)，因此被视为通往竞争力、增长和盈利的途径。b谷歌、亚马逊和eBay等公司被举为例子，说明主要由新技术驱动的新商业模式正在改变竞争格局（格利2001）。商业模式在很大程度上是基于新的互联网和技术主导的经济（参见Boulton和Libert 2000），并描述了所使用的价值创造和价值获取机制的架构。用通俗的语言来说，商业模式描述了如何将价值传递给客户，而客户反过来又愿意为所获得的“价值”付费，从而为供应商带来利润和可持续性[见Timmers (1998)； Weill和Vitale (2001); Rappa(2003)]。文献强调需要新的商业模式作为竞争力的基础和在21世纪实现盈利差异化的唯一途径-见Rentmeister和Klein (2003), （Chesbrough和Rosenbloom 2002； Afuah和Tucci 2001； Applegate 2001； Pateli和Giaglis 2003）。当人们试图定义和描述商业模式时，困难就出现了。大多数定义都非常宽泛。例如，Amit和Zott（2001:493）将商业模式定义为描述“交易内容、结构和治理的设计，从而通过利用商业机会创造价值”。他们继续说，公司的商业模式是创新的重要场所，也是公司及其供应商、合作伙伴和客户创造价值的关键来源。然而，很少有商业领袖了解如何识别、制定、评估、修订或进一步发展商业模式。在西英格兰大学开展的一项研究中，对20家公司进行了知识审计，这些公司来自ESRC优先行业(包括零售业；休闲旅游；创意产业]以及对另外五个企业的关键线人的进一步采访，很明显，相当多的企业认为他们有一个商业模式，但无法表达出来。这是一个值得关注的严重原因，因为商业模式支撑着公司做出的所有决策（Linder and Cantrell 2000），只有当它被清楚地理解并能够利用更多使用技术、创新和创造力所产生的商业机会时，它才能适合目的。缺乏理解意味着商业模式变得过时，因此企业失去竞争力，最终无法生存。商业模式需要与不断变化的商业机会保持同步。霍奇森（2003:471）强调需要适应“为提高生产力和管理指数级增长的产品和流程而设计的新的和多样化的组织形式”。因此，这个拟议的研究研讨会系列制定了一个研究议程，重点是如何提高用户对商业模式的理解和表达，以获得竞争优势和提高绩效。

Business decision-making is increasingly fraught with difficulty arising from complexities such as the rapidly changing market environment, intense competition, reduced product life cycles, new technologies and a cloud of information (Archibugi and Iammarino 2002). Company leaders are increasingly having to perform 'mental gymnastics' as they strive to juggle activities while still having to react to customer and client demands. Not surprisingly decision-making is an increasingly perilous and challenging activity for many firms.Today business leaders are bombarded with information on various aspects of their business from the value proposition, dynamic capabilities, capacity building and customer segmentation. In addition, Business models are in vogue and are now an integral part of the business parlance. They provide the rationale for how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value - Osterwalder and Smith (2010), and as such are seen as the route to competitiveness, growth and profitability. Companies such as Google, Amazon and eBay are held up as examples of how new businesses models largely driven by new technologies are changing the competitive landscape (Gurley 2001). Business models came to prominence largely based on the new internet and technology led economy [see Boulton and Libert 2000), and describe the architecture of the value creation and value capture mechanisms used. In plain language, a business model describes how value is delivered to customers and customers in turn are willing to pay for the 'value' received, thus resulting in profit and sustainability for the provider [see Timmers (1998) Weill and Vitale (2001) and Rappa (2003).The literature stresses the need for new business models as the basis of competitiveness and the only way of achieving profitable differentiation in the 21st Century - see Rentmeister and Klein (2003), (Chesbrough and Rosenbloom 2002; Afuah and Tucci 2001; Applegate 2001; Pateli and Giaglis 2003). The difficulty arises when one attempts to define and describe a business model. Most definitions are distinctly broad. For example Amit and Zott (2001:493) define business models as depicting 'the design of transaction content, structure, and governance so as to create value through the exploitation of business opportunities'. They continue by saying that a firm's business model is an important locus of innovation and a crucial source of value creation for the firm and its suppliers, partners, and customers. However few business leaders understand how business models can be identified, formulated, assessed, revised or further developed. In the course of research carried out at the University of the West of England based on a knowledge audit of 20 firms, drawn from the ESRC priority sectors [including Retail; Leisure and Tourism; Creative Industries] and further interviews with key informants in five further businesses, it was clear that a significant number of businesses perceived that they had a business model but were unable to articulate it. This is a grave cause for concern as the business model underpins all decisions made in the company (Linder and Cantrell 2000) and can only be fit for purpose if it is clearly understood and capable of being leveraging business opportunities that arise from greater use of technology, innovation and creativity. A lack of understanding means that business models become outdated and consequently firms lose competitiveness and eventually fail to survive. Business models need to keep pace with the evolving business opportunities. Hodgson (2003:471) stresses the need to adapt to 'new and varied organizational forms devised to increase productivity and to manage an exponentially expanding number of products and processes'.This proposed research seminar series therefore develops a research agenda focused on how to improve users' understanding and articulation of Business Models for competitive advantage and enhanced performance.