Descriptif

Business Models in the Digital Era 

Rationale: Leveraging technological change is a particularly challenging task for several reasons. The first reason relates to the unpredictability of the evolution of the technology. From the time a technology starts emerging, decades can pass until it has become stabilised enough so that subsequent developments are (relatively) predictable. A second reason is that technological change renders existing business models obsolete, and while business model innovation is a necessity, there is not only a strong inertia associated with business models (especially when they have been successful), but also a strong uncertainty, due to a lack of adequate tools. A third reason relates to the fact that leveraging technological change can seldom be done on one’s own. Instead, innovation ecosystems are highly instrumental in enabling firms to take advantage of the opportunities provided by new technologies. A final issue is that scenarios built around the usage of a new technology are generally too much anchored in the past, which means that firms have difficulties to apprehend the most disruptive usages of the new technology. Overcoming the hurdles and traps of technological change thus requires having the tools to overcome simultaneously all these issues.

Objectives: The aim of this course is to provide students with concepts and tools enabling to design effective business models that permit to effectively leverage technological change. Tools provided relate to business models (e.g. business model frameworks), open and user innovation, and foresight methodology.

Upon completion of this course, students:

• Will have an in-depth understanding of business model innovation 
• Will be able to identify precisely the disruptions emerging technologies bring to business models
• Will be able to identify the stakeholders required to build an innovation ecosystem
• Will be able to design innovation strategies that involve users and the crowd at large
• Will be able to use foresight methods to uncover possible usages and scenarios related to the technology
• Will know how to combine foresight scenarios with business model frameworks in order to carry out business models planning. 

Programme:

• Information, Knowledge and Information Goods
• The Nature of Digital Goods

• Business Model Frameworks
• Business Model Innovation

• Value Proposition: Pricing Models
• Value Creation:  Value Networks, Ecosystems, Open & User Innovation
• Value Capture: Revenue Models and IPRs