Business Model Innovation for Industry 4.0

A business model is understood to be the logic for “creating, delivering and capturing value” (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010, p. 14) and the logic that connects the architecture of organizational and financial structures of a business with the realization of economic value (Chesbrough and Rosenbloom, 2002). The term “Industry 4.0”, has become a widely used synonym for the rise of a new digital industrial technology and cyber physical systems that enable many innovative functionalities through their networking and their access to the cyber world, thus changing the way we live, think, and relate each other. In this context, new business models, work processes and business operations development that are currently unimaginable will arise. These changes will also influence the society, and the entire structure of the world economy. Industry 4.0 demands more than just a technology-based approach: a thorough rethinking of companies’ value chain and value proposition is required, since established business models may no longer guarantee successful performance.

This track aims at deepening the understanding of Industry 4.0 and its challenges and opportunities for the emerging business models. It invites both, theoretical and empirical papers, that contribute to business model innovations in the context of Industry 4.0.

Contributions may for example focus on topics such as:

  • Business models for innovation and smart growth in Industry 4.0
  • Peculiarities of business models in the context of Industry 4.0: how organizations approach business model innovation in the course of Industry 4.0 i.e., which processes, structures, and tools they use to take advantage of the opportunity
  • Challenges and best practices for businesses in Industry 4.0
  • Potential value of innovative technology as an important purpose of business models
  • Business model addressed as process of reshaping and creating new opportunities to deliver value
  • The emergence of new “business model dimensions” and “business model elements” in the context of Industry 4.0
  • How organizations address the challenge of systematically developing new business models in the age of Industry 4.0, and what these business models will look like

 

Track Chairs

José Maria Viedma
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain
icms.viedma@telefonica.net

Maria do Rosário Cabrita
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
mcabrita@fct.unl.pt