Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between knowledgesources, knowledge capacities, and business model innovation in small medium-sizeenterprises (SMEs) and discover the specific pattern among the three groups. Design/methodology - A total of 103 SMEs' CEOs, entrepreneurs and seniormanagers provide the samples for exploratory factor analyses and multiple regressionanalyses. The data is collected by self-completion survey based on perceptualmeasurement of constructs and also referred to objective data from companies' annualreports. Findings - The results indicate a significant relationship between knowledge sources,capacities and business model innovation. External knowledge interaction associatedwith the business network is positively contributed to business model innovation.Information system integration is directly related to business model innovation andmediates in the link between individual knowledge and business model innovation. Thebetter understanding of customers is also positively related to achieving a successfulbusiness model innovation. SMEs identify knowledge sources, develop knowledgecapacities and apply them specifically in different phases of business modelinnovation. Practical implications - To confront the big enterprises' sufficient knowledge, thisstudy inspires entrepreneurs and leadership of SMEs with the possibility of businessmodel innovation. By integrating and implementing the knowledge from external andinternal, SMEs can intentionally enable to map the phases of business modelinnovation, reach the helpful resources, proactively recognize the challenges andfinally achieve a competitive business model.Research limitations/implications - The confirmatory bias might miss out on thephenomenon occurring and the findings are still generally for direct application to aspecific situation. More focused case studies will be suggested in the future to furtherinvestigate the reality differing from individuals, strategies, sectors and nat ions. Inaddition, longitudinal studies with less time restriction will be feasible to understandhow knowledge and business model interact with each other. Originality/value - This study pioneers a measurement of success in business modelinnovation and a justification of overall influence of knowledge on business modelinnovation. By further implementing, some of the results testify the originality'svalidity in SMEs, others present exceptional findings beyond the previous theories.

隨著資訊產業的發展和人們對即時訊息的需求，數位電子看板以多元化的面貌，逐漸取代了傳統的媒體，出現在我們生活的周遭。 根據知名研究機構iSuppli的報導，數位電子看板每年將有百分之三十以上的成長。這樣一個高成長的產業已吸引了包括日本、韓國等國際競爭者的目光，臺灣業者須要嚴肅地思考當如何面對此一挑戰。 本研究先行探討現有文獻和產業現況，後以波特的五種競爭力來分析數位電子看板產業，再敘述創新的營運模式和它如何創造價值。最後則是檢驗這個營運模式下的價值主張。 研究結論是加入服務創新元素的商業模式是能夠創造一個新的市場，整合供應鏈、發揮互補的功能，產生多項且持續的獲利來源，整合者的定位為價值創造者和價值支配者，並以一次購買(One Stop Shop)、創新服務、客製化為其競爭策略。 關鍵字： 數位電子看板，營運模式 / With the development of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) industry and the demand of instant information from consumer, Digital Signage, with multi-function feature, has replaced the traditional media and appeared in our daily life gradually. According to the report from iSuppli, the potential growth for digital signage will be more than 30% every year. This high growing industry has drawn the attention of all international competitors including Japan, Korea etc. Taiwan manufacturers need to consider how we are going to face this challenge. This study started with the review of existing literature and current industry status，followed by the industry analysis by Five Forces of Competition from M. Porter. It continued with the statement of an innovative business model and how the value is created. Lastly, we checked the value proposition of this business model. The conclusions of this study include, with added value of technical service, the mentioned business model is able to create a new market；integrating supply chain is able to create complementary and long term profit in different methods。 One stop shop, innovative service and customization will be its competitive strategies. Keywords: Digital Signage, Business Model

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The environment within which most organisations operate is ever-changing. In such a dynamic environment the only way an organisation is able to not just survive but thrive is by continuously, effectively and efficiently transforming/re-engineering itself (Hammer & Champy, 2001). Luckily, many organisations have realised and accepted this fact. The problem, however, is that the majority of transformation initiatives, launched by organisations, are unsuccessful. In fact, according to (Blanchard K. , 2010), 70% of change initiatives fail. There can only be two possible reasons for the existence of this very serious problem. Organisations either implement the wrong kinds of change initiatives or they ineffectively manage and execute the transformation efforts that they initiate. To solve this problem, an organisation needs to make use of a structured and integrated enterprise engineering methodology that enables it to effectively manage and execute the right kind of change initiatives (Martin, 1995). In the literature that was reviewed, very few structured and integrated enterprise engineering methodologies were found to exist. The objective of this study was to bridge this research gap. In other words, the objective of this study was to develop a structured and integrated enterprise engineering methodology. Developing the enterprise engineering methodology was done by following a basic system engineering process consisting of the following four steps: requirements analysis, system design, system development and system validation. During the requirements analysis step the functional characteristics that the enterprise engineering methodology needed to possess were identified. The purpose of the system design step was to firstly identify the set of methods that the enterprise engineering methodology should consist of and secondly to determine how these methods fit together to form an integrated methodology. The purpose of the system development step was to describe each of the methods that the enterprise engineering methodology needed to consist of in terms of how it is utilised as well as who should be involved during its utilisation. Lastly, during the system validation step the enterprise engineering methodology was evaluated based on how well it satisfies its functional requirements. Expert interviews as well as a case study were used to do this. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die meerderheid organisasies, huidiglik in bestaan, wroeg met die konstante veranderinge wat plaasvind in die omgewing rondom hulle. In so ‘n dinamiese omgewing is ‘n organisasie se toekomstige winsgewendheid en groei hewiglik afhanklik van sy bevoegdheid om aaneenlopend en effektief veranderinge aan te bring (Hammer & Champy, 2001). Die probleem is dat 70% van transformasie-inisiatiewe wat geloots word nie die voordele wat van hulle verwag word suksesvol lewer nie (Blanchard K. , 2010). Hoekom gebeur dit? Hoekom is net 30% van transformasie-inisiatiewe wat geloots word suksesvol? Daar is net twee moontlike redes vir die bestaan van hierdie probleem. Organisasies loots óf die verkeerde tipe transformasie-inisiatiewe óf hulle bestuur hulle transformasie-inisiatiewe op ‘n oneffektiewe manier. Om te verseker dat ‘n organisasie nie in hierdie strik trap nie, moet dit gebruik maak van ‘n gestruktureerde en geїntegreerde besigheidstransformasie-metodologie wat die proses van verandering vergemaklik (Martin, 1995). In die literatuur wat tot dusver nagevors is, kon daar maar ‘n handjievol besigheidstransformasie-metodologiëe opgespoor word. Die doel van hierdie studie was om hierdie gaping in die literatuur te vul. Met ander woorde, die doel van hierdie studie was om ‘n gestruktureerde en geїntegreerde besigheidstransformasie-metodologie te ontwikkel. ‘n Stelselontwikkelingsproses is gevolg om hierdie metodologie te ontwikkel. Die vier stappe wat deel gevorm het van hierdie stelselontwikkelingsproses is die volgende: vereistebeskrywing, stelselontwerp, stelselontwikkeling en stelselvalidasie. Tydens die vereistebeskrywingstap van die proses is die funksionele eienskappe wat die besigheidstransformasie-metodologie moet besit geïdentifiseer. Die doel van die stelselontwerpstap was eerstens om die metodes waaruit die metodologie moet bestaan te identifiseer en tweedens om die wisselwerking tussen die metodes te bepaal. Die doel van die stelselontwikkelingstap was om elkeen van die metodes waaruit die metodologie moet bestaan te beskryf in terme van hoe dit toegepas word, asook wie betrokke behoort te wees tydens die gebruik daarvan. Tydens die stelselvalidasiestap is die metodologie geëvalueer in terme van hoe effektief dit die geïdentifiseerde funksionele behoeftes bevredig. Onderhoude met deskundiges asook ‘n gevallestudie is gebruik om dit te doen.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: "The goal of university research is the creation, dissemination, and preservation of knowledge." – Steven E. Hyman, Provost of Harvard University 2001–2011 The Department of Trade and Industry recently identified the media and entertainment industry as a strategic sector in South Africa because of its growing contribution to economic development through both local and foreign investments, export opportunities and job creation potential, as well as the significant spill-over possibilities in industries like tourism and retail usually associated with emergent industries. However, deficient research and development has been identified as one of the notable constraints to ensuring sustainability and competitiveness of local cultural industries, in which annual expenditure currently amounts to R100 billion. This emergent nature of South Africa’s cultural industries, their strategic importance as part of South Africa’s growth path as dictated by the government and the current dearth of academic literature concerning entertainment technology innovations instigated a three-tiered research objective: First, to determine whether this industry is a legitimate subject for engineering management study by examining its technology-foundation; second, to examine the impact which technological change has historically had on the industry, building on theories by Meza (2007) and Burgelman and Grove (2007); and thirdly, to provide an analysis of the global trend of contention and convergence between content creators and technology companies. Integrating these objectives into one deliverable, the ultimate aim of this study is to establish a synthesised knowledge base on the media and entertainment industry for the Department of Industrial Engineering with specific emphasis on the intersection between technological innovation and business model innovation. A hybrid multiple-case study research approach is utilised to answer eight research questions which contribute to this research goal. Four notable insights gained from answering these are (1) entertainment companies have historically reacted to technological change in a very particular manner, reducible to a four-phase process: invention, ascension, contention and sensation – referring to the observation that incumbent organisations’ response to disruptive innovations is usually one of trepidation, a reaction which leads to legal battles and subsequent contention between technology and media content companies yet simultaneously providing opportunity for inter- and intra-industry convergence and for new business models to be developed; (2) cross-boundary disruptors are those organisations which have the capability of influencing not only inter-industry organisations but also how business is conducted in entirely-different industries; (3) industry effects account for more than 60% of profit variance in the Entertainment and Lodging economic sector, justifying a study of entertainment companies from an industry perspective; and (4) because of digitalisation, the Internet, exponentially increasing computing power and the proliferation of networking capabilities, the media and entertainment industry is transitioning from a business model which is based on media-directed “push” relationships, fragmented audiences and the provision of passive consumption to one which provides ubiquitous immersive experiences, multi-device operability and value-based content which may be customised to consumer requirements. As Porter (2008b) suggests, a historical analysis may prove to be not only informative but also instructive. The synthesised knowledge base and deductions made from this historical examination of disruptive innovation management in the media and entertainment industry may consequently be used as a basis for future research, for which a few possibilities are offered. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: "Ons sal nie ophou verken nie, en die einde van al ons verkenning sal wees om te arriveer waar ons begin het maar om dan die plek vir die eerste keer te verstaan." — T. S. Eliot Die media- en vermaaklikheidsbedryf is onlangs deur die Departement van Handel en Nywerheid geïdentifiseer as 'n strategiese sektor in Suid-Afrika as gevolg van die groeiende bydrae wat hierdie industrie lewer tot ekonomiese ontwikkeling deur middle van plaaslike en buitelandse beleggings, uitvoergeleenthede en werkskeppingpotensiaal. Hierdie industrie beskik ook oor beduidende oorloopmoontlikhede in bedrywe soos toerisme en kleinhandel. Gebrekkige navorsing en ontwikkeling is egter geïdentifiseer as een van die vernaamste beperkings tot volhoubaarheid en mededingendheid van plaaslike kulturele industrieë, `n bedryf waarin jaarlikse besteding reeds R100 biljoen beloop. Die kombinasie van hierdie ontluikende aard van Suid-Afrika se kulturele industrieë, hul strategiese belangrikheid as deel van Suid-Afrika se Industriele Aksieplan en die gebrekkige akademiese literatuur met betrekking tot vermaaklikheidstegnologië het gelei tot 'n drie-ledige navorsingsdoelwit: Eerstens, om vas te stel of hierdie bedryf 'n legitieme akademiese onderwerp vir die ingenieursbestuur-dissipline is deur die aard en tegnologie-fondasie van die industrie te bestudeer; tweedens, om die impak wat tegnologiese verandering histories op die bedryf gehad het te ondersoek, met Meza (2007) en Burgelman en Grove (2007) se teorieë as fondasietekste; en derdens, om 'n analise te verskaf omtrent die wêreldwye mededinging en konvergensie tussen inhoudverskaffers en tegnologie-maatskappye. Geïntegreerd in een aflewerbare is die uiteindelike doel van hierdie studie om ‘n saamgestelde kennisbasis aangaande die media- en die vermaaklikheidsbedryf vir die Departement Bedryfsingenieurswese te lewer, met spesifieke klem op die ontmoetingspunt tussen tegnologiese innovasie en die innovasie van besigheidsmodelle. 'n Hibriede meervoudige-gevallestudie navorsingsbenadering is aangewend om uiteindelik agt navorsingsvrae te beantwoord. Hierdie vrae het gedien as riglyne om die doel van die tesis te bereik. Vier noemenswaardige insigte wat uit die beantwoording van hierdie vrae gekom het is (1) die vermaaklikheidsbedryf het histories op `n besondere wyse gereageer op 'n tegnologiese verandering, een wat gereduseer kan word tot 'n vier-fase proses: uitvinding, aanvaarding, mededinging en sensasie. Hierdie proses verwys na die waarneming dat bestaande organisasies aanvanklik met angs reageer tot ontwrigtende innovasies, 'n reaksie wat lei tot wetlike gevegte en daaropvolgende twis tussen tegnologie maatskappye en inhoudverskaffers, maar tegelykertyd geleentheid bied vir inter- en intra-industrie konvergensie sowel as vir die ontwikkeling van nuwe sake-modelle; (2) ontwrigtende innovasies bied geleentheid vir kruis-grens ontwrigters om die manier te beïnvloed wat ander organisasies, insluitende diegene in geheel-verskillende industrieë, besigheid doen (3) bedryfsfaktore is verantwoordelik vir meer as 60% van winsvariansie in die vermaaklikheidsbedryf, `n waarneming wat 'n studie van vermaaklikheidsbedryf vanuit 'n industrie-perspektief regverdig, en (4) digitalisering, die Internet, eksponensieel-groeiende berekeningspoed en die vermenigvuldiging van netwerke het veroorsaak dat die media- en vermaaklikheidsbedryf `n besigheidsmodelaanpassing moes ondergaan vanaf een wat gebaseer is op media-gerigte "stoot" verhoudings, gefragmenteerde gehore en die verskaffing van passiewe verbruik na een waar aanpasbare, waarde-gebaseerde inhoud alomteenwoordig beskikbaar is en verbruik kan word op veelvuldige toestelle volgens verbruikers se behoeftes. Porter (2008b) noem dat 'n maatskappy se geskiedenis nie slegs informatief is nie, maar selfs ook voorskriftelik. Gevolglik kan die afleidings wat gemaak is uit hierdie historiese ondersoek aangaande ontwrigtende innovasies in die media- en vermaaklikheidsindustrie gebruik word as `n fondasie vir toekomstige navorsing –`n paar aanbevelings hiervoor word in die gevolgtrekking van hierdie dokument gelys.

Sammanfattning Affärsmodeller utgår från att företag ska vinstmaximera, vilket kan göra att affärsmodeller inte passar de företag som inte har vinstmaximering som utgångspunkt eller fokus. Vinsten i dessa företag ses “bara” som något sekundärt som måste finnas för att företaget ska finnas kvar. Detta synsätt på vinst är ofta kopplat till småföretagares sätt att driva företag. Småföretagare har ofta en nära koppling till sitt företag och det kan närmast beskrivas som deras identitet. Det är därför viktigt för dem att verksamheten finns kvar trots ett högt pris i form av att de arbetar mycket och hårt, för relativt liten ekonomisk vinst. Det viktigaste för dessa individer är inte pengar, utan det är livet som småföretagare de vill ha. De värderar ett liv där de är fria och självständiga att bestämma hur de vill ha det. Detta är även en orsak till att de inte vill att deras verksamhet ska växa eller utvecklas i storlek. De vill behålla verksamheten liten eftersom de vill ha kvar kontrollen samt att de vill fortsätta verka i det lokala området på grund av deras personliga anknytning dit. Affärsmodellen skulle kunna omformuleras eller breddas i sitt fokus för att fånga upp och beskriva fler verksamheter än de som vinstmaximerar. I modellen skulle det kunna tas hänsyn till hur en individ, alltså företagaren, lever sitt liv och det är därför olika livsformer används i denna studie. Kopplingen mellan individ och företag är ofta stark när det handlar om småföretag och därför vore det önskvärt att fokuset flyttas från företaget till individen i affärsmodellen. När fokuset är bytt, eller åtminstone mer nyanserat, skulle en affärsmodell kunna användas för att på ett meningsfullt sätt beskriva en småföretagares verksamhet. Det största bidraget i denna studie är att ett perspektiv som utgår från individen istället för företaget används för att försöka förstå att en affärsmodell skulle kunna utvecklas till att omfatta fler fokusområden än vinstmaximering. Individen och dennes sätt att leva sitt liv påverkar hur företaget drivs och utifrån det vore det lämpligt att affärsmodeller anpassas för att beskriva verksamheten på ett mer användbart och rättvisande sätt. Nyckelord: småföretag, affärsmodell, livsstil, individualistisk, / Abstract Business models are based on that the company will maximize its profits, which may make the business models fit bad with companies who do not focus on profit maximization. The profit in these companies is seen as something secondary that needs to exist to make the company survive. This view on profit is connected to small business owners’ way to run a business. Small business owners often have a close connection to their company and it can almost be described as their identity. It is important for them that the business exists even if they need to pay a high price because they work hard and only get a small economic profit in return. The most important thing for these individuals is not money, but the life as a small business owner that they want to have. They value a life where they are free and independent to decide how they want to live their life. This is also a reason to why they do not want their business to develop or grow in size. They want to keep the business small because they want to keep their control and at the same time stay in the local area because of their personal connection to that place. The business model therefore could be reformulated or widened in its focus to describe more businesses than they who maximizes its profits. In the model it could be taken into account to how an individual, in this case the business owner, lives his/her life and that is why different life shapes are used in this study. The connection between the individual and the company is often strong when it comes to small businesses and that is why the focus could be moved away from the business itself to the individual itself in the business model. When the focus has been changed, or at least are more nuanced, a business model could be used to describe a small business owners business in a meaningful way. The biggest contribution with this study is that a perspective that originates from the individual instead of the business is used to try to understand that a business model could be developed to include more areas than profit maximization. The individual and its way to live life affect how the company is being run, and by that the business models could be adjusted to describe the business in a more useful and correct way. Keywords: small businesses, business model, lifestyle, individualistic.

Since the early 1990s, the rapid growth of international hotel chains and its effects on managerial work have drawn the attention of researchers (Gilbert & Guerrier, 1997 and Ladkin & Juwaheer 2000). There is a current need to investigate how management in hotels is adapting to the significant change in the last decade (McKenney, 2016). The contemporary Hotel General Manager’s (HGM’s) role, responsibility, and ultimately autonomy, are seen to be largely influenced by the owners, management companies or the franchise the hotel is operating under. “Understanding the scope and limits of HGMs decision autonomy is an understudied yet important topic for hospitality research” Hodari & Sturman, 2014 p.434 How management is practiced at the highest level in the hotel is the research problem to be investigated. Kotter (2010), Whitley (1989) and Hales (1986) emphasised how the nature of managerial work is closely linked to its organisational context. Accepting that managerial work is shaped and exercised in context (Dierdorff et al, 2009; Akrivos, Ladkin and Reklitis 2007), the aim of this research is to explore and understand the way in which contemporary HGMs manage and what influences how they manage. This work aims to shed light on hotel general management across three contemporary business models in the operating environment of Aberdeen city and Aberdeenshire. The research strategy will be interpretivist, with a qualitative approach taken to elicit HGMs’ experiences about their working life and chosen activity to understand the influences on their management practice. Dann (1990), credits Hales (1987) with providing a methodology, which allows the conduct of managerial work to be placed within the context of the management process. On account of this Hale’s five broad questions are built into the interview schedule. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews are held with HGMs who were members of the Aberdeen City and Shire Hotel Association. This Association has a membership of thirty-eight hotels operating through private, chain and franchise models. In total 21 HGMs are interviewed. From this data a profile of the HGM is provided, as found in each of the three ownership/business models (private, chain and franchise). The data were analysed by the constant comparison method. This study contributes to the body of research through looking at what HGM’s actually do, and how these individuals practice management. This work provides new knowledge in the form of a model, which maps out the identified management context (characteristics) that influence HGM behaviour/activity and the consequences for management across business models surveyed. The business model under which the HGM manages is found to be the primary influence on HGM activity and behaviour. The work sheds light on the meaning of work, and why it is the way it is. At the first level of analysis management context across three business models is identified. These then map onto the second level of analysis, which explains how these influences shape management behaviour and activity. The model identifies consequences for management across the business models. The proposition in the study is that HGMs have not been de-skilled; they have instead prioritised skills and activity in line with the demands of the business model and the ownership style under which they manage. In effect new skills have been learnt, and behaviour and activity tailored to meet the contemporary demands in context of the business model. This research has found that although HGMs have the same title, they are found to be very different managers that are managing different things. Not only do the HGMs manage differently the priorities of management are also quite different. The contribution to knowledge is considered at theoretical and practical levels. At the theoretical level a modern take on Taylorism shows that specialisation is relevant to contemporary hotel management. Silos are created on account of the business models, with markedly different ways of hotel services being delivered. The priorities of HGMs, dictated by the business model, are different. The extreme cases being the people centric, long term focus of the private sector manager juxtaposed with the short financial term focus by the chain HGMs. At the practical level, accepting that hotel general management is not homogeneous, and driven by the business model, hotel organisations need to develop their own organisationspecific competency framework for their HGMs. Success across the business models is measured differently; for chain and franchise HGMs there is a need to generate higher gross profits and for results to reported frequently, and for the private sector HGMs success is linked to long term sustainability, serving the community and providing a personal service. A challenge for each HGM in each of the models is managing stakeholders. These stakeholders vary with the model; managing the owners and operating company superiors are vital in chains, while the customers and staff are more important to HGMs in private model. For HGMs in both chain and franchise business models activity and behaviour is influenced by the need to ensure brand compliance through standard operating procedures.

Background Wearable technology, which is a part of the Internet of Things (IoT), appears to be an upcoming trend with increasing importance within the business world. Nevertheless, no clear business model for companies working with wearables had been defined yet taking the influences wearables have on businesses and especially their value proposition into consideration. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to offer input to the lack of existing literature within business models and wearables technology. The aim is to unfold a general business model that can be used within wearable companies/IoT businesses and show the influence these technologies have on them. Methodology In order to conduct an empirical research a multiple case study has been conducted, based on semi-structured interviews with eight companies, which core business consists out of wearable technology. The frameworks on business models by Gassmann et al (2014) and Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010) serve as the basis for this study and its analysis, which is based on a grounded theory approach. Results It appears that a great amount of similarities can be found through the cross-case analysis between the cases. This makes the construction of a new business model possible. The unfolded model gives also a new contribution to the theory of Hui (2014) regarding a new area of value creation and value capture within IoT businesses.

Submitted by Noeme Timbo (noeme.timbo@metodista.br) on 2017-03-28T17:59:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Silvia Maria Moretti Morgan.pdf: 919943 bytes, checksum: 3511f82d3e4378cf8ff6524dc9a25724 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-28T17:59:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silvia Maria Moretti Morgan.pdf: 919943 bytes, checksum: 3511f82d3e4378cf8ff6524dc9a25724 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-10-24 / The distance education in Brazil has undergone significant changes in recent years. These changes end up awakening, especially in managers, the search and implementation of new business models for the offering and distribution of content produced emphasizing this mode as easing the provision of higher education in the country.Bekkelund (2011) in his study "Succeding with freemium" suggested a set of eight propositions that should be used as guidance for companies wishing to employ freemium as a business model.The guiding question of this dissertation is: The business model of distance education have been influenced by changes in progress in the creative industry? The overall objective of this study is is to identify possible trends of changes in business models of Distance Education by means of exploratory research of a quantitative nature. This is a quantitative research study with the scale proposed application by Bekkelund via survey. The results show that there are features of replicable freemium business models in the context of business management model oriented for distance education. / A Educação a Distância no Brasil tem passado por mudanças significativas nos últimos anos. Essas mudanças acabam por despertar, principalmente nos gestores, o interesse pela aplicação de novos modelos de negócios para o oferecimento e distribuição do conteúdo produzido nesta modalidade de ensino. Bekkelund (2011), em seu estudo “Succeding with freemium” sugeriu um conjunto de oito proposições que devem ser usadas como orientação para empresas que desejam empregar o freemium como modelo de negócio. A pergunta norteadora do presente estudo é: Os modelos de negócios da Educação a Distância têm sido influenciados pelas mudanças em andamento na indústria criativa? O objetivo geral deste estudo é Identificar eventuais tendências de mudanças nos modelos de negócios da Educação a Distância Superior a Distância por meio de uma pesquisa exploratória de cunho quantitativo. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de caráter quantitativa, com aplicação da escala proposta por Bekkelund via survey. Os resultados encontrados demonstram que há características dos modelos de negócios freemium com tendência a serem replicadas no contexto da gestão de modelos de negócios orientados da Educação a Distância.

Digital Transformation is an on-going process in the logistics industry. Every day, innovative and new technology is developed to streamline products to the customer as fast as they want it. The purpose of our study is to investigate how digital transformation and customer behaviour has affected the business model(s) of smaller companies compared to well established multinational companies in the logistics industry. The authors look and found the aspects of the business model that were impacted and if there should be adjustments made to better suite either the large or small organizations.

Sustainability is a keyword in society today and industries have to contribute to reduce emissions and the use of virgin resources. Every year 90 000 ton old tires are gathered in Sweden. Today mostly used for energy recovery. End-of-life tires has been used in asphalt in the US for almost 50 years and is an effective way to utilize them. There are several possible advantages for rubberized asphalt: noise reduction, higher rutting resistance, increased durability, thinner layers etc. In Sweden, the rubberized asphalt has been tested in 25 different roads, where the Swedish Transport Administration have led the development. Commercially, the product have not yet been successful. There are several different studies for the product in Sweden, but nothing on the business side. The aim in this thesis was to develop a business model for the product on the Swedish market by finding key actors in the value chain, advantages and risks for the rubberized asphalt and studying different market segments. The study has two different research questions, Is there a need for a business model innovation for rubberized asphalt? and How can a business model be created for rubberized asphalt on the Swedish market and what will be the most important factors for establishing the business model? To answer the research questions, qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 different actors in the value chain. The result of the study presents; the value chain for the rubberized asphalt in Sweden, external forces in the industry, a business model and a proposed procurement model. The first question was evaluated and the answer was that business model innovation was needed for rubberized asphalt on the Swedish market, as well as product development and technical statements. The most important factors to penetrate the Swedish market were: spread the information of rubberized asphalt, find segments for market entry, process rubber granulate, handle the product correctly, push for changes in the procurement model and for actors in the value chain to work together. The results can serve as a tool for business model innovation and may be used for other sustainable and recycled products. The report also presents several practical contributions that can be of interest for the asphalt industry.