Patterns of business model innovation for advancing IoT platforms

Abstract

Purpose The emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) platforms in product companies opens up new data-driven business opportunities. This paper looks at the emergence of these IoT platforms from a business-model perspective. Design/methodology/approach The study applies a mixed method with two research studies: Study I–a cluster analysis based on a quantitative survey, and Study II–case studies based on qualitative interviews. Findings The findings reveal that there is no gradual shift in a company's business model, but in fact three distinct and sequential patterns of business model innovations: (1) platform skimming, (2) platform revenue generation and (3) platform orchestration. Research limitations/implications The results are subject to the typical limitations of both quantitative and qualitative studies. Practical implications The results provide guidance to managers on how to modify the components of the business model (value proposition, value creation and/or delivery and profit equation) in order to enable platforms to advance. Social implications As IoT platforms continue to advance, product companies achieve better performance in terms of productivity and profitability, and more easily secure competitive advantages and jobs. Originality/value The paper makes three original contributions: (1) it is the first quantitative study on IoT platforms in product companies, (2) identifies three patterns of business model innovations and (3) offers a first process perspective for understanding the sequence of these patterns as IoT platforms advance.

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