Exploring Dynamic Capabilities in Open Business Models: The Case of a Public-Private Sector Partnership

The case explores and offers insight into the boundary-spanning dynamic capabilities evidenced by the entrepreneurial CEO of a private-sector family-owned firm from the sensing, seizing and transforming/reconfiguring perspectives during the opportunity identification, evaluation and pursuit of the co-creation of a public-private sector partnership in collaboration with the CEO of a public-sector firm. This partnership, which is situated in a city-region in the North of England, is seen through the lens of an open business model whereby value is co-created and captured outside the boundary of a single firm, and which involves significant financial uncertainty being assigned from the public to the private sector

Toward Auto-netnography in Consumer Studies

The purpose of this paper is to offer an argument for a wider acceptance and adoption of online auto-ethnography - or auto-netnography as an alternative social media research method to online ethnography - or netnography - when undertaking consumer research. As an online research method, netnographies have attracted increasing attention from researchers in various inter-disciplinary studies during recent years but the method is still not considered mainstream. Whilst the proliferation of online communities using various social media platforms is increasingly supporting consumers when making product/service choices, the adoption of netnographies appears to leave room for an extension towards the consideration by consumer researchers of how auto-netnography could highlight these researchers' own personal experiences in online communities. Auto-netnography allows the researcher to capture their own online experiences as a consumer would through social observation, reflexive note taking, and other forms of data. Contemporary technology can also provide a more innovative approach with artificial intelligence offering an alternative dimension. We contend there is a need for consumer researchers - both academic and practitioner - to further reflect on and discuss the deployment of auto-netnography in order to contribute to further exploration of online communities through the qualitative lens

An empirical study of a cross-industry and cross-sectoral (public-private) open business model : a journey through the value creating open practices and praxis of boundary-spanning practitioners

This study is grounded in the perspective of strategy-as-practice and draws, principally, on literature from strategy, industrial marketing (IM) and business models (BMs). In recent years, the BM concept has attracted increasing attention from scholars in a variety of academic disciplines and areas of professional practice. Much empirical BM research across all disciplines appears to focus on single organisation studies. This approach, arguably, provides a rather parochial view of BMs. In this study, I contend that a BM represents more than just the revenue model of a single firm, but rather views BMs as a broader, pluralistic concept that has the potential to be deployed by practitioners in a network context. I present an early contribution to open business model (OBM) literature - those BMs in which value is created/co-created and captured between actors outside the boundaries of a single firm - in this thesis. The empirical setting for the study is centred on three firms that form a single (focal) cross-industry and cross-sectoral (public-private) OBM (focal OBM). In particular, the three firms, which comprise a lead (hub) firm as an OBM innovator, a supplier firm and a buyer firm, form a supply chain through from upstream supplier to downstream end user. This supply chain takes in and considers a public and private sector downstream dyadic, a vertical upstream supply chain buyer-supplier dyad, as well as the broader strategic network and business ecosystem contexts of the three firms in a solutions provision arrangement. A qualitative, inductive, case study methodology is deployed to examine the three firms as embedded units of analysis. The data sources consist of twenty-five semi-structured interviews supplemented by archives of publications. In this study, I make theoretical contributions to OBM literature by advancing current understanding of OBMs in a cross-industry and cross-sectoral (public-private) context. The underlying assumption that existing studies provide only single-level insight into BMs is challenged. In particular, I contribute to BM literature by offering multi-level insight into an OBM as a regional strategic network, a network that also forms part of a national platform ecosystem. Furthermore, as a challenge to this predominant static understanding of BMs, I also make practical contributions by advancing current understanding by examining OBMs as strategic practice, thus breaking with the rhetorical nature of much BM literature. By focusing on practitioners and their capabilities in OBMs, this approach, therefore, addresses partially the under-socialisation of current BM research and adds insight into the open practices of these practitioners within OBMs. In particular, I offer insight into value creation/co-creation and value capture, as strategic practice. As the focal OBM crosses industry and sectoral boundaries, I also advance knowledge where it is currently lacking into the influence of boundary-spanning practitioners in OBMs.[Includes published article available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2013.05.005

Arab consumer attitutes towards international marketing as a result of the ongoing Arab Spring : a systematic literature review

Paper from the International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues (ICCI), Thessaloniki, 13-15 June 2012 The Middle East has been recently and continues to be affected by a phenomenon referred to popularly as the ‘Arab Spring’. The phenomenon appears to have sparked a wave of candidness amongst Arab consumers in a way that hitherto was not apparent. A question as to whether the uprisings are about the pursuit of democracy, political reform or freedom of speech remains to be settled. The purpose of this discussion paper is to ask what effects the Arab Spring may have on marketing theory and practice. To that end, the paper presents the results of a systematic literature review pertaining to marketing in the Middle East. A quantitative bibliometric method of citation analysis is deployed to identify the range of themes that have been previously researched. From this review, the paper identifies the particular relevance of the Arab Spring phenomenon to international marketing theory and practice. Thus, this study makes the first attempt to conceptualize what the Arab Spring means for future international marketing theory and practice and marks the start of a first investigation, and potential beginning of a longitudinal study into the phenomenon as it continues to unfold, grounded firmly in the marketing discipline

Open Business Models and Industrial Marketing: A Multiple Industry-Practice Perspective

This paper presents an early contribution to the concept of open business models (OBMs) - those business models (BMs) in which value is co-created between practitioners outside the boundaries of a single firm. Whilst the BM concept has become well established in industrial marketing (IM) scholarship, only a small number of empirical papers have focussed on the concept of open business models (OBMs). This paper reports an empirical study into an open-business model. Further, as a challenge to the predominant static or processual understanding of BMs and OBMs, the findings presented here advance current understanding by examining OBMs as strategic practice. By focussing on practitioners and their capabilities in OBMs, this approach therefore addresses the undersocialisation of current BM research and adds micro-level insight into the functioning of OBMs. Insight is offered into value capture and value co-creation as strategic practices. As the focal OBM crosses industry and sectoral boundaries, the research also adds knowledge where it is currently lacking into the importance of boundary-spanning practitioners in OBMs. Keywords: Open Business Models, Industrial marketing, Business ecosystems, Value co-creation, Strategy-as-practice

Open Business Models and Practitioner Capabilities: A Regional Strategic Network Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical insight into the operationalisation of the practitioner capabilities that are critical to value co-creation and capture within a public-private sector open business model. The concept of business models is becoming increasingly established in industrial marketing scholarship. However, only a small number of empirical studies have focused on the concept of open business models - those business models in which value is created/co-created between practitioners outside the boundaries of a single firm - and research into the dynamic and ordinary capabilities of boundary-spanning practitioners within open business models appears absent. The empirical setting for the study is centred on three firms that form a public-private sector solutions open business model; which also forms a regional strategic network. A qualitative, single case study methodology is deployed to examine the firms as three embedded units of analysis. The data sources consist of twenty-five semi-structured interviews supplemented by archives of publications. We advance understanding of practitioner capabilities in public-private sector solutions open business models within regional strategic networks that are critical to support value creation/co-creation. As a challenge to the predominant static understanding of business models, we also make practical contributions by advancing understanding where it is currently lacking by focusing on the dynamic and ordinary capabilities of boundary-spanning practitioners in open business models, thus breaking with the rhetorical nature of much business model literature. This approach, therefore, addresses partially the under-socialisation of current business model research

Open business models and industrial marketing : a multiple industry-practice perspective

This paper presents an early contribution to the concept of open business models (OBMs) - those business models (BMs) in which value is co-created between practitioners outside the boundaries of a single firm. Whilst the BM concept has become well established in industrial marketing (IM) scholarship, only a small number of empirical papers have focussed on the concept of open business models (OBMs). This paper reports an empirical study into an open-business model. Further, as a challenge to the predominant static or processual understanding of BMs and OBMs, the findings presented here advance current understanding by examining OBMs as strategic practice. By focussing on practitioners and their capabilities in OBMs, this approach therefore addresses the undersocialisation of current BM research and adds micro-level insight into the functioning of OBMs. Insight is offered into value capture and value co-creation as strategic practices. As the focal OBM crosses industry and sectoral boundaries, the research also adds knowledge where it is currently lacking into the importance of boundary-spanning practitioners in OBMs

The evolution and structure of internet-based consumer research : a citation analysis

The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic literature review into the evolution and structure of internet-based ethnographic consumer research during the twenty-year period between 1996 and 2015. The results of a quantitative citation analysis and a qualitative synthesis are presented which demonstrate the limited engagement that marketing researchers have had with the discipline and the limited degree to which the discipline has influenced that literature. This hitherto lack of research presents a significant lacuna and a significant opportunity for marketing scholarship to engage further with that literature. Similarly, there are particular thematic areas where knowledge is currently lacking. Taken together, the quantitative citation analysis and qualitative synthesis demonstrate that netnography is very much an emerging trend in the consumer research literature and there are many theoretical, empirical and practical bases upon which it may be applied, especially in the context of future studies. Keywords: citation analysis, consumer research, netnography, systematic literature revie

Life in Anticipation of Wind Power Development: Three Cases from Coastal Norway

Wind power development, whilst welcomed by many as a potentially green source of energy, also gives rise to considerable local resistance. Drawing on three case studies from coastal Norway (Frøya, Haramsøy, and Egersund), the present article sets out to reflect on life in anticipation of wind power development. Reflecting on the nature of life in anticipation of undesired wind power developments, with implications for how life is lived in dread of imminent adversities in general (such as climate change, pandemics, and disaster risks), these case studies focus on how communities relate to the future and how they perceive and strive to organise so as to shape outcomes. A central point raised in this article is that wind power projects could become more socially, environmentally and economically sustainable if greater attention is paid to working with communities to reduce distrust and uncertainties before, during and after such projects. Hence, relational work carried out that may shape the affective state of anticipation prior to and during wind farm construction can be understood as crucial to the sustainability of large-scale green infrastructure projects.publishedVersio

A review of business model research: what next for industrial marketing scholarship?

Purpose - The findings of a bibliometric analysis of the evolution and structure of business model research in industrial marketing scholarship during the period between 2011 and 2020 is presented and potential directions for future empirical research are discussed. Design/methodology/approach – Bibliometric methodologies are deployed to objectively evaluate the business model research that has made the most impact within industrial marketing scholarship as well as the prominent scholars and key topics driving the discipline at points in time. Findings – The findings demonstrate the formative but increasing engagement that industrial marketing scholarship has had with business model literature and the limited but increasing degree that business models have influenced industrial marketing literature. Potential directions for the empirical development of business model literature are argued to lie in the areas of collaboration and coopetition by examining the notion of value within the relationships, interactions, and/or networks evidenced in European seaports business models. Research limitations/implications – Bibliometric analysis is retrospective in nature so developments in the literature appear only after some time has elapsed. Different keyword selection when formulating search strings for sampling may have brought some deviations in the analysis. Originality/value – Research that investigates the link between business models and industrial marketing is still scarce. This paper is among the few that analyze objectively the evolution and structure of business model literature in industrial marketing scholarship from a longitudinal perspective with a particular emphasis on the period between 2011 and 2020