Business Models and Digital Transformation

Track Description

Emerging and innovative digital business models are the most impactful disruption industry has witnessed since industrialization. A decade ago, the most valuable companies dominating the stock exchanges were raw materials conglomerates. In contrast, the highest market valuations today are held by a number of companies whose core value propositions are platform ecosystems, deep analytical skills, the ability to radically transform industry sectors, and familiarity and access to customer data. Indeed, these firms have acquired their own acronyms, such as the FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google), reflecting their market power. Of course, ongoing digital transformation has led to refinements of these terms, the latest being WANG stocks (Walmart, Apple, Netflix, Google). The advent of these technology companies and technology-enabled business models has led to significant shifts in competitive dynamics, including the basis of competitive advantage, across diverse industries. An understanding of these shifts is important for organizations, business leaders as well as policy makers seeking to foster innovation and add economic welfare.

Concomitantly, in recent years, a number of researchers in information systems have begun to investigate the causalities underlying these digital disruptions by innovative business models (Veit et al. 2014). While many research streams in the past have focused on individual aspects of this disruption, few researchers have investigated the underlying nature of network externalities, lock-in and switching costs and its effect for incumbent business models.

Bharadwaj et al. (2013) questioned the causal direction of influence between digital strategy and business strategy. Yet, this call has not yet sufficiently been answered by information systems scholars in subsequent years. We invite submissions that study the transformative process that is caused by digital technologies, and the resulting business models that evolve and thrive. At the industry or firm level, these business models may thrive or fail – we believe there is theoretical value in understanding both successes and failures, and invite papers that study both aspects of digital transformation.

Beyond the organizational level, there is increasing recognition of the need to focus on the micro-foundations of strategic processes that underlie such transformation (Felin and Foss 2005). Though firms are transformative and develop new business models, fundamentally these are processes involving individuals that act on their own incentives and motivations (Greenwood et al. 2018). Therefore, we also invite submissions which contribute in the arena of digital business models and/or digital transformation of businesses from an individual level, thereby establishing micro-foundations. We primarily invite empirical pieces but also welcome conceptual work as well as action design-oriented research.

Track Chairs
Anandasivam Gopal
Deepa Mani
Daniel Veit