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Abstract: Many firms out of 'traditional' industries find themselves moving toward business models based on integrated service offerings and need innovative ways to interact and leverage complementary competences and resources with other firms. Network architectures are thereby increasingly arranged around platforms, with value offered to customers through collaborative innovation with complementary actors. We explore how focal firms can form network architectures for service-oriented business model innovation and how they can systematically identify new business opportunities to build up and sustain larger network architectures. Our case study analyses include 12 focal firms from various industries. We increase the understanding of the development of service-oriented business models by elaborating on firms' underlying platform elements, presenting a heuristic classification of focal network roles, and identifying the relevant technological and market triggers. Furthermore, we show sensing capabilities necessary to develop larger network architectures and provide a promising mean to managers regarding service-oriented business model innovation.
Keywords: Service-oriented business model innovation, network architectures, business platforms, dynamic capabilities, multiple caste study analysis.
1 Introduction
Rapid technological developments, market changes and convergent developments between industries, based on the impetus of technological convergence, represent major driving forces of disruptive new business models in today's business environment (Hacklin et al., 2009). Driven by both technology and new customer demands, many product- and service-based firms, mainly out of 'traditional' i ndustries, find themselves moving from their existing business models toward business models based on integrated service offerings (Hertog et al., 2010; Kindström, 2010). Translating technology and market insights into a service-oriented business model innovation is challenging as firms need innovative ways to interact and leverage complementary resources and capabilities with other firms and create value together (ibid.). In other words, an essential element in service-oriented business model innovation is the networked nature of the integration of products and services or services, which encourages firms with limited resources and capabilities to ally with others.
Hence, in service-oriented business model innovation, a network of both internal and external actors often emerges. In more abstract terms, emerging network architectures are an important element in developing business models for integrated service offerings to utilize the value potential of complementary partners along and beyond the established supply chain of a firm (Amit and Zott, 2001; Zott and Amit,...