This thesis is aimed at digital content business models. Business model is a broad area comprised of variety of activities and strategies in order to fulfill the business target. In the past two decades user's requirements to digital media underwent many dramatic changes. Business model that would be broadly accepted as profit-making model still has not been discovered. Given that this thesis can serve as current business models and their influential factors overview. One part of the business models description is devoted to historical business models that gave the foundation to business models as we know them at present. Business models are categorized according to fundamental operating principles. These fundamental operating principles are utilized in so-called pillars of business models that symbolize the main characteristics of model and that are how the profit is generated. Described business modes always comprised of main pillar of business model -- main profit generator -- and another additional pillar(s) that helps to complete the unique business model characteristic. Next part of this thesis deals with initiators of new business model and technology they are depended to. Surprisingly the new business models initiators in history were not a commercials subject but the most innovative ideas came from highly profiled communities of IT enthusiasts. The final part of this work brings the basic information about the current status in profitable business model development as well as it offers manager's opinions regarded to the current and future business models development. This part includes description of most common problems in the process of changing company into digital company type.

Adapting a circular system through business model experimentation can generate profit and sustainable growth for fashion firms. Business model experimentation explores novel opportunities to be at the forefront of transforming existing markets. Remanufacturing is one circular strategy that entails the process of recovering both raw material and value from end-of-life products for the production of new items. Remanufacturing in the context of business model experimentation is a promising solution in the fashion and textile industry to drive the transition into a circular economy. Through case study research the phenomenon of remanufacturing business model experimentation within the fashion and textile industry is investigated. The case phenomenon is investigated by means of the Re:workwear project, in which the brand Cheap Monday uses discarded workwear for a remanufactured collection next to its common collection. The focus of the study is on remanufacturing business model experimentation alongside the brand’s business-as-usual and decisive factors of this phenomenon. The processes and -steps within experimentation were analysed through semi-structured interviews with various involved parties of the supply chain. A framework combining the Business Model Canvas and the stepwise approach of business model experimentation by Bocken et al. (2017) is developed and applied throughout the research. It is found that (1) motivation and scope, (2) input material, (3) flexibility, (4) stakeholder collaboration and (5) system development are decisive factors for remanufacturing business model experimentation. Further research is necessary to investigate the phenomenon in other settings and within a variety of other firms in the industry in order to test the findings and validate the generalisability.

The aim of this research is two-folded. On the one hand, it attempts to assist employers of Catalan micro-retailers in designing, implementing and developing their Social Media strategy as a complementary channel of communication. On the other hand, it attempts to contribute to the research community with a better understanding on both which building block of the micro-retailer¿s Business Model is more influenced by the customer level of interaction by means of the Social Media and how a transformation can be observed in the micro-retailers¿ Business Models as a result of the Social Media implementation. The research question to be answered in this paper is how the transformation of the activity system of the micro-retailers¿ Business Model would allow the emergence of a Participatory Business Model by means of Social Media. To carry out this research the Participatory Action Research methodology was used, whose contribution has two results: the one is more practitioner oriented and the other is more academic. The incipient results of the research showed a scarce transformation of Catalan microretailer¿s business model as a consequence of the implementation of social media. However, it is significant enough to be considered as more than just a simple adoption of an alternative channel of communication. One of the main contributions is related to how customer influences the activity system of the micro-retailer¿s business model beyond four levels of customer interaction (communication, interaction, participation and collaboration) by means of social media. On the one hand, the activity system of a business model is referred to the eight building blocks of Osterwalder, Pigneur and Tucci (2005) research that includes customer segment, customer relationship, distribution channel, capabilities, partner, value configuration, value proposition, profit and cost. On the other hand, the four defined levels of customer interaction are based on the literature of group collaboration systems. The results showed that not all the building blocks forming the business model are influenced by consumer interaction. The only building blocks influenced by an initial communication level in the current social media strategy implementation stage of our sample (five micro-retailers) are the following: customer segment, customer relationship, distribution channel, value proposition and cost. This incipient stage of transformation can be justified by a lack of effort made due to the small size of the business and a lack of team working inside the companies, easily adapting to changes. It can also be justified by the fact it was carried out by the micro-retailers only during a short period of time (14 month). Another contribution of the paper shows that Social Media transformation drives a BM innovation according to the following mediator elements: (1) the dynamic capabilities, (2) the ability of learning, (3) the dedicated effort, (4) the implementation time and (5) the level of customer participation.

In this thesis major challenges of creating business models at incumbents within mature industries are identified along with a mitigation plan. Pressure is upon incumbent organizations in order to keep up with the latest rapid technological advancements, the launching of startups that almost cover every field of business and the continuous change in customers’ tastes and needs. That along with various factors either forced organizations to continually reevaluate their current business models or miss out on great opportunities. How some incumbents have dealt and are dealing with business model innovation challenges over the past few years is demonstrated through several cases of incumbents. The sources surveyed include recent scientific articles, books, firsthand accounts with executives in the area of business models, innovation and business development, online sources and contemporary business publications. In order to overcome those challenges, we propose a framework which is derived mainly from the sources mentioned above. In order to overcome such challenges, thesis propose a framework that can be used to successfully engender new business models and make a transition from current to new business model. By successful business model innovation, firms can increase the extent of their offerings, meet yet unmet market demands and untapped customer segments. Additionally, organizations can create new value propositions and gain highly sustainable competitive position through business model innovation which is not easy to imitate or copy by the competition. Our findings attest to the fact that business models are highly situational however there are general steps for incumbent organizations that would lead to a successful business model innovation approach. First an organization must have a clear strategy. Establishing separate innovation centers for firms do enhance and foster the mindset of innovation as they take innovation outside the parent organization’s logic. Other approaches include open innovation, partnerships and ensuring that resources are constantly allocated to create disruptive innovations internally and is led by the right personalities. Solving customer needs should be the core of any business and finally there are no best practices in business model innovation. The significance of our findings gives insights on how to overcome some challenges in practice for incumbents to create suitable business models and contributes to theory since there were some empirical findings that weren’t pronounced in literature.

In this thesis major challenges of creating business models at incumbents within mature industries are identified along with a mitigation plan. Pressure is upon incumbent organizations in order to keep up with the latest rapid technological advancements, the launching of startups that almost cover every field of business and the continuous change in customers’ tastes and needs. That along with various factors either forced organizations to continually reevaluate their current business models or miss out on great opportunities.How some incumbents have dealt and are dealing with business model innovation challenges over the past few years is demonstrated through several cases of incumbents. The sources surveyed include recent scientific articles, books, firsthand accounts with executives in the area of business models, innovation and business development, online sources and contemporary business publications. In order to overcome those challenges, we propose a framework which is derived mainly from the sources mentioned above.In order to overcome such challenges, thesis propose a framework that can be used to successfully engender new business models and make a transition from current to new business model. By successful business model innovation, firms can increase the extent of their offerings, meet yet unmet market demands and untapped customer segments. Additionally, organizations can create new value propositions and gain highly sustainable competitive position through business model innovation which is not easy to imitate or copy by the competition.Our findings attest to the fact that business models are highly situational however there are general steps for incumbent organizations that would lead to a successful business model innovation approach. First an organization must have a clear strategy. Establishing separate innovation centers for firms do enhance and foster the mindset of innovation as they take innovation outside the parent organization’s logic. Other approaches include open innovation, partnerships and ensuring that resources are constantly allocated to create disruptive innovations internally and is led by the right personalities. Solving customer needs should be the core of any business and finally there are no best practices in business model innovation. The significance of our findings gives insights on how to overcome some challenges in practice for incumbents to create suitable business models and contributes to theory since there were some empirical findings that weren’t pronounced in literature.

E-Cars challenge prevailing business practices, especially in industrial sectors that heavily depend on the use of fossil fuels such as the automobile industry. The sustainable powertrain has to fight against prejudices towards a lack of performance, long charging times, the fear of too short driving ranges and a long list of other concerns. However, hazardous environmental pollution in Chinese megacities as well as changes among the consumers’ mindsets and purchasing behavior claim for a change in the product portfolios of today´s car manufacturers. In the western world we can see a successive (although hesitant) penetration of the markets by E-Cars. However, the Chinese market is still almost untouched and car manufacturers have just started to show the first signs of action. This phenomenon is mainly based on differences among the markets, especially the customer segment, partnerships and the proposition of value in China differ compared to the western markets. Furthermore, there are dissimilarities between China and the western car markets when it comes to political, legal and social aspects. To successfully introduce E-Cars to China, car manufacturers have to develop business models that transform the specific characteristics of E-mobility to create economic value and overcome the barriers that preclude them from penetrating the market. Of course, not an entirely new Business Model is needed. However, car manufacturers have to consider various aspects to innovate among their existing ones. A key prerequisite to enter a market with new products or services is to understand it. Based on a qualitative analysis about the introduction of E-Cars to China we therefore conducted an in-depth PESTEL-Analysis by hand of secondary data as well as an interview with a Shanghainese Business Manager of the Auto Components Working Group from the European Chamber of Commerce in China. After this market description we analyzed the Business Models of two German car manufacturers from the premium segment, which on the one hand operate successfully in the Chinese market and on the other hand, already show some movement in terms of E-Cars – the BMW AG and the Daimler AG. In our analysis we give valuable information about the two companies’ current Business Models, according the nine building blocks of the business model canvas and in regard to the data emerging from the PESTEL-Analysis. The conclusion chapter gives an overall discussion of the most important findings emerging from the analysis with regard to the business operations and the existing business models of the two car manufacturers. Findings have been evaluated on a global level and substantially transferred to a national level on the Chinese market by hand of the information from the PESTEL-Analysis. Furthermore, we offer important implications for the adaption and adjustment of high consideration areas of a car manufacturer Business Model as well as the future of the Business Models of a car manufacturer to successfully introduce E-Cars to China.

Business model and Business model innovation are highly crucial aspects for incumbent firms in today’s very fast paced and dynamic environment. In this thesis, we seek to integrate strategic entrepreneurship theory with business model innovation. By doing so, we show how entrepreneurship, strategy and business models all lies squarely at the intersection of innovation and change. Most of the research on business models have been in the context of startups. In this study, we, however, decide to explore the context of incumbent firms and how they explore and exploit opportunities to innovate their business model.  This study contributes to a better understanding of how incumbent firms innovate their business models. It does this by answering three fundamental questions;  - How does the incumbent firm explore and exploit opportunities to innovate their business model?  - What are the drivers for innovating the incumbent firms business model?  - How does the decision-making process look like during the business model innovation processes in the incumbent firm?  To answer these questions, we have conducted a thorough literature review of the business model literature, business model innovation literature, as well as strategic entrepreneurship literature. By doing this, we highlight the most relevant aspects of these three concepts and theories, also providing the reader with a historical development of the concepts. To further build on towards answering our research questions we compliment the three central concepts with supporting theories of strategic management and innovation theory. We have answered these questions by conducting a qualitative study that is mainly explorative. Interviewing four incumbent firms that act in different industries; Banking Co, Technology Co, Productivity Co, and Software Co. Moreover, we interviewed two experts that together have over 70 years of experience in leading and consulting incumbent firms through different significant market changes. Thus, the six interviews together with internal and external organizational documents, triangulation has been used to produce the empirical results and analysis of this study.  With the empirical findings, we contribute to a comprehensive picture of how incumbent firms can efficiently adopt strategic entrepreneurship together with their business model innovation process. By doing so incumbent firms can find an optimal balance between opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking behavior. Our findings show that incumbent firms today have a culture and structure that does not optimally promote business model innovation. The empirical findings provide two different viewpoints; one from the incumbent firm showing the current process and culture. The other viewpoint shows how the experts describe the incumbent firms and how they should change. Thus, these two different perspectives provide two different realities that we connect back to the theoretical frameworks. Moreover, this thesis contributes by showing that strategic entrepreneurship and business model innovation needs to be combined for incumbent firms to succeed in today’s fast-paced and dynamic environment.

Background – In today´s globalized environment, a stronger emphasis on moving production to low-cost environments is present. Assembling a complex product usually involves multiple smaller manufacturing firms across the globe. As a result, smaller specialized firms have an important role in the market but are also strongly dependent on the demand for the final product. Hence, their business model can be dependent on a specific patch which inhibit innovation and evidently leaving them vulnerable to changes in the environment. One main challenge for companies´ business model is the question of continuous flexibility and adaption to an ever changing business context. Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to explore dynamic capabilities as a source of business model innovation in manufacturing subcontractor SMEs in Jönköping County. The studies aim is to explore how these firms develop dynamic capabilities in order to identify and then overcome barriers for business model innovation. Method – Primary data was collected through a multiple case study of three manufacturing companies in Jönköping County. The data was later coded and findings cross-case compared with a lens of dynamic capability view in order to find similarities and dissimilarities. Conclusion- The findings from the three case companies indicates that dynamic capabilities are interdependent to each other, meaning all need to be taken into consideration for continuously successful business model innovation. Disregarding the development of one business model component can restrain others, thereby resulting in inadequate innovations. A sensing capability was identified however yet the abilities to seize and reconfigure opportunities taking the whole BM into consideration were not present for all of the three case companies. By lack of a coherent development of the BM, barriers become present and a sustained competitive advantage is unreachable. All three cases agreed upon the human resource management to be the major challenge for their organization to sustain a healthy growth.

Il concetto di business model ha acquisito la sua popolarità durante l'ultimo decennio del secolo scorso e continua ancora oggi ad essere uno degli argomenti più rilevanti per la ricerca. Il presente lavoro è composto da tre articoli che si focalizzano su uno dei temi meno esplorati, ossia il business model nelle industrie creative. Il primo paper offre un'analisi del dibattito accademico e sulla base delle pubblicazioni suggerisce le tappe temporali della ricerca sul tema del business model, identificando le aree che hanno ricevuto ancora limitata attenzione. Il secondo articolo è composto da due studi: sulla base di 142 siti web, esso identifica dei cluster di business models online per le aziende operanti nell'industria della moda. Il terzo paper si focalizza invece sull'industria musicale ed esplora per la prima volta la relazione tra il concetto emergente di modello di business individuale e il business model dell'organizzazione. / Business model concept started to acquire its popularity during the last decade of the twentieth century and continues to be an intriguing field of study. This thesis is composed by three autonomous papers and focuses on the less explored theme of the business models in creative industries. The first paper provides the comprehensive analysis of vivid academic discussion present within the publications, suggesting time-related paths in business model research and identifying areas that - despite the growth of the business model literature - yet received little attention. The second paper is composed by two studies: on the base of 142 websites, it identifies specific clusters of online business models in the fashion industry. The third paper moves to the music industry and explores for the first time the relationship between the emerging concept of individual business model and the business model of the organization

Additive Manufacturing is a fast-developing technology that is considered to be a game changer in the manufacturing industry. However, a technological innovation itself has no single objective value for a company. Indeed, it is widely acknowledged that the key aspect of a successful commercialization of a technological innovation is the linkage of the technology and the business model. Based on a qualitative study, which presents how companies have to develop their business model to commercialize AM, we conducted interviews with two Swedish small and medium-sized enterprises, which plan to invest in Additive Manufacturing. These two companies are HGF, a manufacturer of thermoplastic elastomers and rubber products, and Tylö, a manufacturer of heaters, steam generators, saunas, steam showers, and infrared saunas. In our analysis, we decided to analyse the cases successively, according to the nine building blocks of the Business Model Canvas. Firstly, we conducted a within-case analysis to analyse each case isolated from each other, and secondly a cross-case analysis to find possible nexuses, relations or, contrasts. The chapter conclusion provides an overall discussion of the most important findings emerging from the analysis with regard to the required changes within the current business model to capture value from the technology. We could find some disparities for two building blocks (channels and revenue streams). Thus, this implies that there is no universal approach to develop the business model to introduce Additive Manufacturing. Nevertheless, most of the required adjustments show accordance. While three building blocks turned out to remain largely the same (key partnerships, cost structure, and customer segments), four building blocks require important changes (key activities, key resources, value propositions, and customer relationships. The most important implications for those building blocks are presented in the following: Key activities: Upgrade product development Key resources: Establish additional production facilities (3D-printers, etc.) Gather new knowledge about AM Value propositions: Offer customized products Customer relationships: Closer relationship with the (end) customer  Enhance customer co-creation