Dipartimento di Ingegneria Gestionale

Digitally-enabled business model design, validation and innovation

About the project

The ongoing project investigates how incumbents and startups leverage digital technologies and recombine them with their extant resources within an overarching Digital Strategy to: (i) design their new digital business models (BMs) – e.g. multisided platforms BMs, data-driven BMs, sharing economy BMs; (ii) validate the BMs through scientific and experimental methods – e.g. Lean Startup Approaches (LSAs); and (iii) innovate existing BMs in their value creation, delivery and capture elements.

Principal Investigators:  Raffaello Balocco, Antonio Ghezzi, Alessandro Perego, Andrea Rangone

Researcher team:  Raffaello Balocco, Eliana Bentivegna, Angelo Cavallo, Filippo Frangi, Antonio Ghezzi, Alessandra Luksch, Cristina Marengon, Alessandro Perego, Andrea Rangone, Silvia Sanasi

Duration: ongoing (since 2010)

KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS
OUTPUTS & IMPACT

KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The “Digitally-enabled Business Model Design, Validation and Innovation” project investigates how incumbents and startups formulate and execute an overarching Digital Strategy that leverages emerging digital technologies – e.g. internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, blockchain – and recombines them with their extant resources and competencies, in order to: (i) design their new digital business models (BMs) – e.g. multisided platforms BMs, data-driven BMs, sharing economy BMs; (ii) validate their BMs through scientific and experimental methods – e.g. Lean Startup Approaches (LSAs); and (ii) innovate existing BMs in their value creation, delivery and capture elements. The project puts forth these main research questions:

  1. What is the role of Digital Innovation, in the form of different digital technologies and trends, as an enabler (or barrier) for BM Design, Validation and Innovation?
  2. What are the multifaceted impacts of digital technologies on an incumbent’s or a startup’s value generation, delivery and capture mechanisms and complementarities?
  3. How can incumbents and startups adopt experimental and scientific methods – e.g. Lean Startup Approaches (LSAs) to validate their digital BM?
  4. What are the antecedents, moderators, mediators and outcomes of Digitally-enabled BM Design, Validation and Innovation?
  5. What is the relationship between a company’s Digitally-enabled Business Model and its overarching Digital Strategy?
  6. How are Digital Innovation, Digital Transformation and Digital Strategy (executed through a digital BM) conceptually and practically connected?
  7. How can incumbents and startups strategically cooperate to co-design and co-innovate digital BMs?

OUTPUTS & IMPACTS

Main scientific publications:

  • Ghezzi, A. (2018). Digital Startups and the adoption and implementation of Lean Startup Approaches: Effectuation, Bricolage and Opportunity Creation in practice. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.09.017 
  • Ghezzi, A., & Cavallo, A. (2018). Agile Business Model Innovation in Digital Entrepreneurship: Lean Startup Approaches. Journal of Business Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.06.013 
  • Bortolini, R.F., Nogueira Cortimiglia, M., de Moura Ferreira Danilevicz, A., Ghezzi, A. (2018). Lean Startup: a comprehensive historical review. Management Decision . https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-07-2017-0663
  • Ghezzi, A., Gabelloni, D., Martini, A., & Natalicchio, A. (2018). Crowdsourcing: a review and suggestions for future research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(2), 343-363
  • Ayala, N. F., Paslauski, C. A., Ghezzi, A., & Frank, A. G. (2017). Knowledge sharing dynamics in service suppliers’ involvement for servitization of manufacturing companies. International Journal of Production Economics, 193, 538-553.
  • Todeschini, B. V., Cortimiglia, M. N., Callegaro-de-Menezes, D., & Ghezzi, A. (2017). Innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry: Entrepreneurial drivers, opportunities, and challenges. Business Horizons, 60(6), pp. 759-770.
  • Ghezzi, A. (2017). “Reinventing the wheel” as an emerging business model innovation paradigm. Strategic Direction, 33(5), 1-4.
  • Ghezzi, A., Dramitinos, M. (2016). Towards a Future Internet Infrastructure: analyzing the multidimensional impacts of Assured Quality Internet Interconnection. Telematics and Informatics. Volume 33, Issue 2, 613-630.
  • Ghezzi, A., Gastaldi, L., Lettieri E., Martini, A., Corso, M. (2016). A role for startups in unleashing the disruptive power of social media. International Journal of Information Management, Volume 36, Issue 6, Part A, 1152–1159, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2016.04.007.
  • Ghezzi, A., Batocchio, A., Rangone (2016). A Method for Evaluating Business Models Implementation Process. Business Process Management Journal, Volume 22, Issue 4,  712 – 735 (Scopus Q1, ABS 2, CNRS 2, AiIG SILVER).
  • Ghezzi, A., Cortimiglia, M., Frank, A. (2016). Business Model Innovation and strategy making nexus: evidences from a cross-industry mixed methods study. R&D Management, Volume 46, Issue 3, 414-432.
  • Ghezzi, A., Balocco, R., Rangone, A. (2016). The Open Innovation – Strategy nexus: findings from the Mobile Telecommunications Industry. Management Research Review , Volume 39, Issue 5
  • Ghezzi, A., Cortimiglia, M., Frank, A. (2015). Strategy and business model design in dynamic Telecommunications industries: a study on Italian Mobile Network Operators. Technological Forecasting and Social Change Vol. 90, Part A, 346-354.
  • Ghezzi, A., Balocco, R., Rangone, A. (2015). A fuzzy framework assessing corporate resources management for the mobile content industry. Technological Forecasting and Social Change Volume 96, July 2015, Pages 153–172, doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2015.01.004
  • Ghezzi A., Cavallaro, A., Balocco R., Rangone A. (2015). On Business Models, Resources and Exogenous (Dis)Continuous Innovation: Evidences from the Mobile Applications Industry. International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 68, Nos. 1/2
  • Ghezzi A. (2014). The dark side of the Business Model. The risks of strategizing through business models alone. Strategic Direction, Vol. 30, Issue 6, 1-4
  • Ghezzi A. (2013). Revisiting Business Strategy Under Discontinuity. Management Decision, Vol. 51, Issue 7, pp. 1326-1358.
  • Ghezzi A., Balocco R., Rangone A. (2013). Technology diffusion theory revisited: a Regulation, Environment, Strategy, Technology model for technology activation analysis of Mobile ICT. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, Vol. 25, Issue 10, pp. 1223-1249.
  • Ghezzi A., Georgadis M., Reichl P., Di-Cairano Gilfedder C., Mangiaracina R., Le-Sauze N. (2013). Generating Innovative Business Models for the Future Internet. Info, Vol. 15, Issue 4, pp. 43-68