Modeling Business Models: A cross-disciplinary Analysis of Business Model Modeling Languages and Directions for Future Research

Modeling languages for business models are a powerful and flexible means of representing and communicating knowledge related to business models. More than fifteen years after Osterwalder et al. (2005) clarified the ontology for the business model concept in this journal, we offer a systematic and cross-disciplinary assessment of the literature on business model modeling languages (BMMLs) that facilitate the visualization of this concept. In so doing, we synthesize and organize the knowledge dispersed across different disciplines in which BMMLs have originated and highlight the potential weaknesses in this literature to offer solid insights for future research. Our analysis reveals the existence of 17 BMMLs that have originated in traditional domains such as strategy and information systems, but also emerging domains such as sustainability. We contrast and compare these BMMLs along three dimensions: semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. We also analyze research that has made use of these BMMLs, differentiating between research that is conducted with a given BMML and research that is conducted about a given BMML. We conclude by offering a research agenda in which we illustrate the main challenges associated with the lack of well-accepted semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic foundations of BMMLs and outline opportunities for future research

How Economy Becomes Situated in Local Place; Understanding the Location of Economy From the Perspective of Urban Social Ecology

One of the pressing issues in today discussion about globalization and urban and regional development concerns about the role of local space in ‘situating’ the global economy. That every bit of ‘local’ economic activities has become subsumed into ‘the global’ is something we know already, but what is the role of local spatial conditions in ‘translating’ (following the definition in Law, 2002) the global economy to site and by doing so making firms able to operate effectively at the global scale while sitting in a particularly local space? The motive of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it explores the relation between urban form and economy by taking Amsterdam as case study. It attempts to show a consistent relationship between a topological spatiality and the distribution and organisation of economic functions (i.e. locations of firms, particularly those operating at the global scale) –a premise which partly developed out of Space Syntax. Secondly, it tries to develop an instrument for urban analysis by recasting the issue of economy from spatial/urban perspectives, rather than putting forward economic arguments. Drawing mainly from Amin & Thrift (2002), it is being argued that the global economy becomes situated in local space through the everyday spatial performances of people who perform the work of ‘relay’ and ‘translation’ of the fluid global processes. We offer a proposition that the location of urban economic functions in cities can be explained by analysing the way their circuits mesh with diverse other (including those driven by economic motives at much lesser degree, for example social and family life) which help to create ‘situatedness’ in a particular local site This paper starts with briefly presenting the theoretical framework and then concentrating on the analysis of case study using a series of spatial and temporal mapping. As empirical demonstration, we will present analysis on a particular urban field (1x1 km2) in the city of Amsterdam, which has the intention to allow us to start capturing the circuits cutting across between what commonly seen as two or more discontinuous economies or different set of activities. This analysis is then presented as an alternative approach to recast the issue of economic spaces in terms of ‘ecology of presence’

De/construction sites: Romans and the digital playground

The Roman world as attested to archaeologically and as interacted with today has its expression in a great many computational and other media. The place of visualisation within this has been paramount. This paper argues that the process of digitally constructing the Roman world and the exploration of the resultant models are useful methods for interpretation and influential factors in the creation of a popular Roman aesthetic. Furthermore, it suggests ways in which novel computational techniques enable the systematic deconstruction of such models, in turn re-purposing the many extant representations of Roman architecture and material culture

Actor-network theory in information systems research

INTRODUCTION. The use of actor-network theory is becoming increasingly common amongst information systems researchers. This study argues that the utility of actor-network theory as a conceptual tool for information systems research can be increased by expressing actor-network theory in a graphical format. To this end, a graphical syntax was designed based on a comprehensive conceptualisation of actor-network theory. METHOD. Design science research was used to produce an artefact (the graphical syntax) which is believed to be of practical use (relevant), innovative and based on a rigorous body of knowledge. ANALYSIS. The graphical syntax is illustrated in this paper only by means of a fictitious example in order to maintain focus on the syntax and the concepts depicted by the syntax. RESULTS. The strengths and weaknesses of the syntax are related to those of actor-network theory itself. The principal strength is the inclusion of heterogeneous actors in the analysis, and the main weakness relates to the vague boundaries of the theory. This weakness is addressed by the ability of the syntax to identify the primary research foci. CONCLUSIONS. It is proposed that actor-network theory can be successfully represented by a graphical syntax and that it can increase the utility of actor-network theory as a conceptual tool for information systems research.http://www.informationr.nethb201

Involving users in the development of a modeling language for customer journeys

Although numerous methods for handling the technical aspects of developing domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs) have been formalized, user needs and usability aspects are often addressed late in the development process and in an ad hoc manner. To this concern, this paper presents the development of the customer journey modeling language (CJML), a DSML for modeling service processes from the end-user’s perspective. Because CJML targets a wide and heterogeneous group of users, its usability can be challenging to plan and assess. This paper describes how an industry-relevant DSML was systematically improved by using a variety of user-centered design techniques in close collaboration with the target group, whose feedback was used to refine and evolve the syntax and semantics of CJML. We also suggest how a service-providing organization may benefit from adopting CJML as a unifying language for documentation purposes, compliance analysis, and service innovation. Finally, we distill what we learned into general lessons and methodological guidelines.publishedVersio

A formal verification framework and associated tools for enterprise modeling : application to UEML

The aim of this paper is to propose and apply a verification and validation approach to Enterprise Modeling that enables the user to improve the relevance and correctness, the suitability and coherence of a model by using properties specification and formal proof of properties