2 Traditional business model The traditional organizational business model [developed more than a century ago in Britain as 'the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself – that is to generate revenue' (Rappa, 2001)]' was driven by pre-specific plans and goals, aimed to ensure optimisation based primarily on building consensus, convergence and compliance' (Malhotra 2000b). In this traditional model ['tightly bound command-and-control hierarchy with headquarters staff calling the shots from the top' (Viscio and Pasternack 1996)], organizational information and control systems, performance and behaviour were modelled on the same paradigm, to enable convergence by ensuring adherence to the organizational tried-and-true model, the company way, rules of thumb, procedures, processes and archived best practices to ensure profits and sustainability. As described by Malhotra in his article, A Framework for Business Model Innovation, this routinization of organizational goals for realizing increased efficiencies is suitable for that era, which is marked by a relatively stable and predictable business environment (Malhotra 2000b). 'The pace of change was relatively predictable with some level of certainty', while the components to sustain success ('information, control and performance systems; the procedure manuals, rules of thumbs and best practices in the minds of managers and workers who have comfort in following "tried and tested" business practices') is safely and comfortably embedded in the company's recipe for success (Malhotra 2000a). In the traditional economy, business dictated to customers and customers had to buy what organizations had to offer them to suit their needs. Customers' needs were artificially created and manipulated; therefore, the service and products rendered to them could be planned in advance. It is clear that the old world of business, with its predefined recipes for success and pre-determined strategies and business conduct, was focused on its inner self and its products. Business existed in a comfort zone and organizations were able to programme and archive their business procedures and know-how in databases and human minds for any significant duration of time as 'programmed logic' (Malhotra 2000a).

Firms have to constantly develop or innovate in order to stay competitive. Within the fields of marketing, product development and service development studies have examined how the customer can be a resource for development or innovation. Recently, customer value has been examined within the business model concept, which has emerged as a new unit of analysis and has steadily gained interest during the past 20 years. Linked to the concept of business model is the concept of business model development or innovation. Within this field of research there are very few studies on customer involvement. This is the starting point of our study. The few studies that exist regarding customer involvement in business model innovation have mainly focused on the customer as a resource for screening ideas. In our study, we focus on the customer as resource for idea generation. We also go in to detail and examines in what dimensions different customer groups can be a resource for business model innovation. Our theoretical framework consists of ten different studies that examine business model dimensions, from which we identify nine dimensions relevant for our context. We also use theories regarding business model innovation, business model design and customer involvement. We have conducted the study in the context of a small medical instrument firm. Our empirical data consists of fifteen interviews with customers and company representatives. The customers represent different customer groups: patients, nurses, doctors and managers.  Our analysis originates from the business model dimensions identified in the theoretical framework. We use the theoretical framework to understand in which dimensions the customer can be a resource for business model innovation. We also use the theoretical framework to look for differences and similarities within and between the customer groups.  The study concludes that the customer can be a resource for business model innovation in a number of business model dimensions. Furthermore, the majority of the ideas the customer has is similar or identical to the ideas that the company has. The ideas the customer has seem to be effected by their relationship to the business model. There are also some individuals that have substantially more ideas than others.

Esta pesquisa tem como pano de fundo o setor de moda, que passou por diversas transformações ao longo das últimas décadas, estabelecendo o fast fashion como seu principal modus operandi. Apesar do crescimento possibilitado por esse modelo, houve um consequente aumento de impactos ambientais e sociais no setor. Em função disso, há uma crescente demanda por produtos e serviços que gerem menores impactos, modificando os modelos de negócios do setor. Portanto, o problema de pesquisa abordado neste trabalho é “como desenvolver modelos de negócio inovadores e sustentáveis no setor da moda?”. Deste questionamento derivam os objetivos da pesquisa, que são: (i) avaliar como ocorrem as inovações em sustentabilidade no setor; (ii) analisar de que maneira essas inovações se manifestam para o mercado; (iii) identificar, em nível agregado, oportunidades e desafios que tipicamente influenciam o sucesso de modelos de negócio inovadores e sustentáveis na indústria da moda; e (iv) realizar uma análise quantitativa de inovação sustentável em empresas da indústria da moda. Para atingir esses objetivos, a pesquisa foi dividida em duas grandes etapas A primeira delas, apresentada no artigo 1, buscou na literatura e na prática conceitos relacionados a modelos de negócios que buscam a sustentabilidade na moda. Foram feitas uma revisão sistemática da literatura, entrevistas com especialistas e consultas a sites especializados, gerando-se um framework de tendências e direcionadores de inovação sustentável. Oito estudos de casos de empresas brasileiras e italianas ilustraram o funcionamento desses drivers. Ao final, foram levantados desafios e oportunidades para negócios que buscam a sustentabilidade na moda. Na segunda etapa, presente no artigo 2, buscou-se analisar casos de empresas que utilizam os direcionadores apontados no artigo 1 numa análise quantitativa baseada em uma escala de inovatividade em sustentabilidade. Os resultados apontam para uma maior facilidade dos negócios em incorporar conceitos de responsabilidade social e economia circular e uma dificuldade em escalar modelos de negócios que utilizam matérias-primas naturais. Ao final, um framework de caminho ilustrativo para a sustentabilidade foi gerado para negócios do setor. / This research has as a background the fashion industry, which has undergone several transformations over the last decades, establishing fast fashion as its main business model. Despite the growth that this model made possible, there was an increase in environmental and social impacts caused by this expansion. As a result, there is an increasing demand for products and services that generate smaller impacts, causing changes in the business models of the sector. Therefore, the research problem addressed in this paper is "how to develop innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry?". From this question, the objectives of the research are derived, which are: (i) to evaluate how innovations in sustainability occur in the sector; (ii) to analyze how these innovations are manifested to the market; (iii) to identify in an aggregate level opportunities and challenges that typically influence the success of innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry; and (iv) to generate a quantitative analysis of sustainable innovation in companies in the fashion industry. To achieve these goals, the research was divided into two major steps. The first one, presented in article 1, sought in the literature and in practice work some concepts related to sustainable business models in fashion A systematic review of the literature, interviews with specialists and consultations with specialized websites were carried out, generating a framework of trends and drivers of sustainable innovation for this sector. Eight case studies of Brazilian and Italian companies illustrated the operation of these drivers. In the end, challenges and opportunities for businesses that seek sustainability in fashion were raised. In the second stage, presented in article 2, we sought to analyze cases of companies that use the drivers pointed out in article 1 in a quantitative analysis based on a scale of innovation in sustainability. The results show a greater ease for business to incorporate concepts of social responsibility and circular economy and a difficulty in scaling business models that use natural raw materials. In the end, an illustrative framework of a pathway for sustainability was generated for business in this sector.

The theme of the thesis is Franchising as a form of company development. The main aim of the work lies in the development of the franchising business model and its procedure that would be applicable to any other company. Another goal is to design the individual process steps and measures to ensure the proper functioning of the whole franchise system.

The economic development of the world in the last centuries has brought manypositive things, but also some new problems. The linear approach long used isbased on a long-term, unsustainable approach to economic activity and newmodels are required. The purpose of this report is to investigate newsustainability requirements that drive innovation with regard to business modelsand product development.A case study was carried out at the company Ecostrate, which is launching anew product with clear sustainability ambitions. A Triple Layered BusinessModel Canvas (TLBMC) is made for their product and from this case the roleof Circular Economics (CE) and sustainability in the formation of new businessmodels is evaluated. The case study was based on interviews made withcompany employees and other people in a focus group and on secondary dataprovided primarily from Ecostrate, but also other organizations and companies.From the case study, it can be seen how the business model of the product was,from start, designed in accordance with circular economic principles and with afocus on sustainability, where the starting point was a used material that wasthen altered to once again provide the consumer with a value offer. Accordingto profitability estimates, the product will competitive while significantenvironmental and social savings are possible. General conclusions can bedrawn that CE and sustainability are an important part of future business modeldesign, without which companies will not be competitive in the future andfuture markets with increasing raw material prices, stricter regulations and moreaware and sustainability-prioritizing customers.The primary limitation has been the calculations, which were not carried out asexhaustively as would have been needed in order to give the case study a morestable empirical foundation. In this study, they have been used as approximativevalues to draw generalizable conclusions so to understand the product, itsimpact and in order to get more precise implications for the rest of the market,there exists possible future research.

Esta pesquisa tem como pano de fundo o setor de moda, que passou por diversas transformações ao longo das últimas décadas, estabelecendo o fast fashion como seu principal modus operandi. Apesar do crescimento possibilitado por esse modelo, houve um consequente aumento de impactos ambientais e sociais no setor. Em função disso, há uma crescente demanda por produtos e serviços que gerem menores impactos, modificando os modelos de negócios do setor. Portanto, o problema de pesquisa abordado neste trabalho é “como desenvolver modelos de negócio inovadores e sustentáveis no setor da moda?”. Deste questionamento derivam os objetivos da pesquisa, que são: (i) avaliar como ocorrem as inovações em sustentabilidade no setor; (ii) analisar de que maneira essas inovações se manifestam para o mercado; (iii) identificar, em nível agregado, oportunidades e desafios que tipicamente influenciam o sucesso de modelos de negócio inovadores e sustentáveis na indústria da moda; e (iv) realizar uma análise quantitativa de inovação sustentável em empresas da indústria da moda. Para atingir esses objetivos, a pesquisa foi dividida em duas grandes etapas A primeira delas, apresentada no artigo 1, buscou na literatura e na prática conceitos relacionados a modelos de negócios que buscam a sustentabilidade na moda. Foram feitas uma revisão sistemática da literatura, entrevistas com especialistas e consultas a sites especializados, gerando-se um framework de tendências e direcionadores de inovação sustentável. Oito estudos de casos de empresas brasileiras e italianas ilustraram o funcionamento desses drivers. Ao final, foram levantados desafios e oportunidades para negócios que buscam a sustentabilidade na moda. Na segunda etapa, presente no artigo 2, buscou-se analisar casos de empresas que utilizam os direcionadores apontados no artigo 1 numa análise quantitativa baseada em uma escala de inovatividade em sustentabilidade. Os resultados apontam para uma maior facilidade dos negócios em incorporar conceitos de responsabilidade social e economia circular e uma dificuldade em escalar modelos de negócios que utilizam matérias-primas naturais. Ao final, um framework de caminho ilustrativo para a sustentabilidade foi gerado para negócios do setor. / This research has as a background the fashion industry, which has undergone several transformations over the last decades, establishing fast fashion as its main business model. Despite the growth that this model made possible, there was an increase in environmental and social impacts caused by this expansion. As a result, there is an increasing demand for products and services that generate smaller impacts, causing changes in the business models of the sector. Therefore, the research problem addressed in this paper is "how to develop innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry?". From this question, the objectives of the research are derived, which are: (i) to evaluate how innovations in sustainability occur in the sector; (ii) to analyze how these innovations are manifested to the market; (iii) to identify in an aggregate level opportunities and challenges that typically influence the success of innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry; and (iv) to generate a quantitative analysis of sustainable innovation in companies in the fashion industry. To achieve these goals, the research was divided into two major steps. The first one, presented in article 1, sought in the literature and in practice work some concepts related to sustainable business models in fashion A systematic review of the literature, interviews with specialists and consultations with specialized websites were carried out, generating a framework of trends and drivers of sustainable innovation for this sector. Eight case studies of Brazilian and Italian companies illustrated the operation of these drivers. In the end, challenges and opportunities for businesses that seek sustainability in fashion were raised. In the second stage, presented in article 2, we sought to analyze cases of companies that use the drivers pointed out in article 1 in a quantitative analysis based on a scale of innovation in sustainability. The results show a greater ease for business to incorporate concepts of social responsibility and circular economy and a difficulty in scaling business models that use natural raw materials. In the end, an illustrative framework of a pathway for sustainability was generated for business in this sector.

The main goal of this thesis is to discover how an emerging technological megatrend, the Internet of Things, changes the business model of the Microsoft OEM team. OEM business is fully dependent on sales of Windows licenses; however, the PC market is declining and whole Microsoft is shifting into offering of cloud services while being financed by the OEM revenues. Nevertheless, the strategy of how the OEM team fits into the future of cloud offerings is clearly missing. To discover what changes should be made inside the current business model, 13 interviews with managers across Microsoft were conducted and analyzed. Identified themes were assigned to business model building blocks, ranked by the importance, and supported by relevant quotes from interviews as well as the theoretical background. The most important subjects of changes were identified as partners, activities and value proposition; however, changes will be seen in every aspect of the OEM business. As a result, specific changes in building blocks are described and the first steps towards the Internet of Things strategy suggested. That will ensure the relevance of the conservative OEM team in the connected future.

The purpose of this thesis is to uncover and examine the processes that start-up entrepreneurs go through while designing and then developing their business models. This is done with the intent of deciphering the kind of development that might ultimately lead to a unique or innovative business model. This study uses primary qualitative data generated from interviews with founding entrepreneurs and managers who still participate in running the organization. Each of these organizations participates in the men’s retail market. The research design and methodology of this research uses a grounded-theory coding procedure to analyze the data. Three questions guide this research forward and the findings are threefold. First, for these organizations two business model design paths were followed, herein referred to as the path to ‘Alleviate Pain’ and as the path to ‘Adopt and Modify.’ Second, entrepreneurial leaders tended to act as arbiters when developing their business models, mediating between the set of information accrued during operations and three identified factors. Thirdly, new research into whether or not business model innovations are the result of ex-ante insights or ex-post operational learning is presented. And the findings tend to indicate that both ex-ante insights and ex-post learning are important, but their importance is temporally induced. Lastly, a brief discussion is carried out on how this research informs the entrepreneurial business model creation process (see entrepreneurial practicum) and how it adds to the current literature on business models and business model innovation.

Esta pesquisa tem como pano de fundo o setor de moda, que passou por diversas transformações ao longo das últimas décadas, estabelecendo o fast fashion como seu principal modus operandi. Apesar do crescimento possibilitado por esse modelo, houve um consequente aumento de impactos ambientais e sociais no setor. Em função disso, há uma crescente demanda por produtos e serviços que gerem menores impactos, modificando os modelos de negócios do setor. Portanto, o problema de pesquisa abordado neste trabalho é “como desenvolver modelos de negócio inovadores e sustentáveis no setor da moda?”. Deste questionamento derivam os objetivos da pesquisa, que são: (i) avaliar como ocorrem as inovações em sustentabilidade no setor; (ii) analisar de que maneira essas inovações se manifestam para o mercado; (iii) identificar, em nível agregado, oportunidades e desafios que tipicamente influenciam o sucesso de modelos de negócio inovadores e sustentáveis na indústria da moda; e (iv) realizar uma análise quantitativa de inovação sustentável em empresas da indústria da moda. Para atingir esses objetivos, a pesquisa foi dividida em duas grandes etapas A primeira delas, apresentada no artigo 1, buscou na literatura e na prática conceitos relacionados a modelos de negócios que buscam a sustentabilidade na moda. Foram feitas uma revisão sistemática da literatura, entrevistas com especialistas e consultas a sites especializados, gerando-se um framework de tendências e direcionadores de inovação sustentável. Oito estudos de casos de empresas brasileiras e italianas ilustraram o funcionamento desses drivers. Ao final, foram levantados desafios e oportunidades para negócios que buscam a sustentabilidade na moda. Na segunda etapa, presente no artigo 2, buscou-se analisar casos de empresas que utilizam os direcionadores apontados no artigo 1 numa análise quantitativa baseada em uma escala de inovatividade em sustentabilidade. Os resultados apontam para uma maior facilidade dos negócios em incorporar conceitos de responsabilidade social e economia circular e uma dificuldade em escalar modelos de negócios que utilizam matérias-primas naturais. Ao final, um framework de caminho ilustrativo para a sustentabilidade foi gerado para negócios do setor. / This research has as a background the fashion industry, which has undergone several transformations over the last decades, establishing fast fashion as its main business model. Despite the growth that this model made possible, there was an increase in environmental and social impacts caused by this expansion. As a result, there is an increasing demand for products and services that generate smaller impacts, causing changes in the business models of the sector. Therefore, the research problem addressed in this paper is "how to develop innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry?". From this question, the objectives of the research are derived, which are: (i) to evaluate how innovations in sustainability occur in the sector; (ii) to analyze how these innovations are manifested to the market; (iii) to identify in an aggregate level opportunities and challenges that typically influence the success of innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry; and (iv) to generate a quantitative analysis of sustainable innovation in companies in the fashion industry. To achieve these goals, the research was divided into two major steps. The first one, presented in article 1, sought in the literature and in practice work some concepts related to sustainable business models in fashion A systematic review of the literature, interviews with specialists and consultations with specialized websites were carried out, generating a framework of trends and drivers of sustainable innovation for this sector. Eight case studies of Brazilian and Italian companies illustrated the operation of these drivers. In the end, challenges and opportunities for businesses that seek sustainability in fashion were raised. In the second stage, presented in article 2, we sought to analyze cases of companies that use the drivers pointed out in article 1 in a quantitative analysis based on a scale of innovation in sustainability. The results show a greater ease for business to incorporate concepts of social responsibility and circular economy and a difficulty in scaling business models that use natural raw materials. In the end, an illustrative framework of a pathway for sustainability was generated for business in this sector.

The target of the thesis will be to propose a business strategy for a company operating in the field of digital design with emphasis on the use of ICT support for the proposed strategy. The thesis is divided into three basic parts. The first one is the theoretical part which will outline the theoretical basis characterizing the strategy and its implementation in connection with ICT. The second part will be an analysis of the internal and external environment of the company in order to obtain the basis for decision-making in the design part of the thesis. The third, design part will be devoted to the definition of business strategy and implementation of ICT to support it.