Looking beyond the dot com bubble: exploring the form and function of business models in the electronic marketplace

Abstract

The recent so-called dot corn crash cast many doubts on the future of electronic commerce, but it also highlighted business models as an issue. This paper begins by assessing the dot corn crash critically, suggesting that e-commerce came through the crash in a much better condition than often is supposed. It then defines business modelling in terms of the amalgamation or integration of various economic processes, process and organisational models with technological architectures. Drawing upon recent original research, the paper then examines the role of business models in the electronic marketplace. It proposes that business models play a complex range of roles and that they can even become products in their own right, often creating or transforming markets, but at the same time increasing investment risks. The case is made that developing a better understanding of business model dynamics may help to moderate investment volatility in Internet-enterprises as well as provide new avenues for commercial activity.