Content uploaded by Catalin M. Barbu
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Catalin M. Barbu on Jan 24, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
154 Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018
Business Models of the Sharing Economy
Cătălin Mihail BARBU
1
Răducu Ştefan BRATU
2
Elena Mădălina SÎRBU
3
Keywords: sharing economy, business models, innovation, value creation.
JEL classification: M10, O33.
DOI: 10.24818/RMCI.2018.2.154
1. Introduction
Sharing economy is an economic and social system that relies on the
concept of shared-use of physical and human resources (Lamberton and Rose,
2012). This system is transposed into a multitude of forms and beneficiates from
technology advances to match individuals and organizations, allowing for the
sharing and distribution of surplus goods and services. The technical support of the
collaborative economy is represented by a platform through which people who
need a product/service are connected with other providers of that product/service.
1
Cătălin Mihail Barbu, University of Craiova, Romania, Faculty of Economics and
Business Administration, E-mail: catarom@yahoo.com
2
Răducu Ştefan Bratu, University of Craiova, Romania, Faculty of Economics and
Business Administration, E-mail: braturaducu@yahoo.com
3
Elena Mădălina Sîrbu, University of Craiova, Romania, Faculty of Economics and
Business Administration, E-mail: elenamadalina82@yahoo.com
Abstract
Sharing economy is a process of consumption and production in which the
accent goes on shared access to resource, recirculation and reutilization of resources.
As consumers embraced this concept, sharing economy has led to the development of
innovative businesses that compete with traditional businesses.
The aim of the paper is twofold. Firstly, it discusses the business models of the
sharing economy. Based on a research on twelve representative companies of the
sharing economy we analyse three representative business models: access-based,
marketplace, on-demand service provider. Each business model is examined regarding
three dimensions: value creation, value delivery and value capture. Secondly, the
implications for the traditional companies are analysed are emphasized, with an accent
on practical approaches and course of actions. Traditional companies need to
incorporate innovation and technology in their business models in order to gain and
maintain consumer engagement.
Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018 155
Although forms of association for the purchase of high value goods have
been observed since ancient times, within groups of people who knew each other
very well, the current participative economy has the advantage of bringing in
contact people who do not know each other and share the same product. Thus, a
service previously provided by an accredited firm is now provided by a person.
Contact between people is mediated by technology and a specific platform
operated by an entity. The sharing economy thus becomes a method to satisfy the
needs of individuals and organizations and it might lead to sustainable use of
resources. The activities that take place in the sharing economy are: the production,
creation, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services by
organizations and individuals in a common framework (Belk, 2014).
The paper is organized as follows: we provide a literature review of the
sharing economy and business models. Then we discuss the most representative
business models of the sharing economy and we highlight the implications for the
traditional companies.
2. Literature review
2.1 The concept of sharing economy
The concept of sharing economy is not yet fully clarified in the literature.
There are a number of concepts that designate sharing practices: sharing-economy,
peer-to-peer economy, collaborative economy, access-based consumption, co-
creation, prosumption, etc. Without claiming to make a complete review, we will
try to bring a light on these concepts.
The concept and practice of sharing economy and collaborative
consumption suggest the use of market information to promote a more
collaborative and sustainable society. These systems can be met on a variety of
forms and allows individuals, corporations, non-profit organizations and the
government to access information in a promptly manner, so that they can share and
re-use the overcapacity of goods and services (Heinrichs, 2013).
The digital sharing economy offers individuals opportunities to find
temporary jobs, generate additional revenue, increase reciprocity, increase social
interaction, and access resources that cannot otherwise be achieved. The sharing
economy, also called the peer-to-peer economy and collaboration economy,
involves the sharing of physical assets and services between people. Websites and
apps such as Uber, Airbnb, and Lyft are platforms that support a sharing economy
where individuals can buy and share products or services (Dillahunt and Malone,
2015). Sharing economy is a phenomenon that generates access to goods and
services that are not utilized, and which prioritizes accessibility over of ownership.
The sharing economy is based on the use of information technology to provide
people with resource optimization information, by shifting the excessive capacity
into goods and services (Fang et al., 2016). Sharing economy or collaborative
156 Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018
economy is the ideal place for reconciling passions and interests (Lougher and
Kalmanowicz, 2016).
The morality of the sharing economy is not based on money sharing, but
on cooperation and generosity, on common goods and services, on mutual aid and
on support for a moral economy involving a very different change from a market
economy (Molz, 2013). A number of authors believe that at the base of the sharing
economy there is a more responsible attitude of people on consumption practices.
Sheth, et al., (2011) proposed the concept of mindful consumption based
on a conscious action on the consequences of consumption. Conscious mindfulness
involves concern about the implications and consequences of consumption. In
particular, consumers want to avoid wasting and destroying the environment they
live in. By engaging in sharing-economy activities, consumers experience a state of
well-being by returning something positive to society (Albinsson et al., 2012).
Sharing is a key element of collaborative consumption. Belk (2007) define sharing
as the act and the process of distributing an item in our property for the benefit of
and for use by others. Sharing takes place in multiple contexts, for multiple reasons
and multiple results.
Sharing economy involves both collaborative production and collaborative
consumption.
Collaborative production require networks of people to design, produce, or
distribute goods. Collaborative production activities include collaborative design
and collaborative distribution. The economic perspective of the producer involves
efforts that are initiated and led by individuals and communities, and not by
corporations (Probst et al., 2015). The key elements needed to carry out this
activity are sharing economy platforms, which effectively generate sharing markets
by facilitating exchanges, but the purpose of generating profits influences the way
in which sharing and allocation of revenues takes place. Profitable platforms drive
growth in revenue and assets (Schor, 2014). While traditional business people buy,
rent or sell products and services, those working in the sharing economy
collaborate, facilitate and build relationships based on trust.
Sharing is a pro-social behaviour. Social sharing and sharing are becoming
a common way to produce valuable outcomes (Benkler, 2004). A collaborative
lifestyle has emerged: people with similar interests combine to share and change
less tangible assets such as time, space, skills and money (Botsman and Rogers
2010). Online collaborative commerce is based on the peer-to-peer interactive
platforms operating policy. Collaborative commerce is defined as a form of
balanced trade that uses social media to support social interactions and user
contributions to engage in purchasing and selling online products and services
(Wang and Zhang, 2012).
Collective consumption, often associated with the sharing economy, takes
place in organized systems or networks, where the participants carry out sharing
activities such as renting, lending, trading, exchanging goods, services, transport
solutions, space or money (Möhlmann, 2015).
Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018 157
Collaborative consumption is a system for sharing, hiring, and
commercializing goods, reducing personal costs and diminishing environmental
impact. In the literature, three forms of collaborative consumption were identified:
goods as leased services, pre-existing or worn-out redistribution markets, and
collaborative life-styles (Botsman and Rogers, 2010).
2.2 Business models
The emergence of the business model concept is relatively recent in nature,
being related to the diversification of traditional resources and processes used by
organizations to provide value propositions for consumers in profitable conditions.
Often, the business model is synonymous with an alternative to a traditional
business. Many new information and communication technologies are often
embedded or used in a business model.
The business model is the way an organization chooses to generate revenue
and how it creates value for customers (Timmers, 1998). The business model is
important because it ensure the identity of an organization. The business model
should not be confused with the business strategy or the marketing strategy. In their
study, Zott et al. (2011) examine the literature on business models by analysing
over 100 relevant papers. They show that the business model can be conceptualized
as the way to conduct the businesses of a company, focusing on the description of
the activity and the structure of costs and revenues. The business model used by a
company may represent the source of competitive advantage (Markides and
Charitou, 2004). Based on the business model, a strategy can be formulated to
guide the activity of an organization (Richardson, 2008).
The business model is a concept that has the ability to mobilize the
technical potential to transform it into a profitable economic business. The business
model mediates the relationship between technology and economic value
(Chesbrough and Rosenbloom, 2002). The business model is a framework to make
money. It is the set of activities that a firm carries out, how it performs its tasks, so
as to give customers the benefits they want and implicitly to obtain a profit (Afuah,
2004, pp.415).
The business model is a useful framework for linking ideas and
technologies to economic outcomes (Chesbrough, 2006). A business model is the
tool by which a business plans to generate revenue and profits. It is a summary of
how a company attempts to serve its clients and involves both strategy and
implementation (Debelak, 2006). The business model is a profit formula, a
business system and learning system. The business model is a mechanism for
transforming ideas into income through acceptable costs (Baden-Fuller and
Morgan, 2010).
A business model describes the company's operations, including all its
components, functions and processes, which determine the costs for itself and the
value for the client (Watson, 2005). The business model defines how a company
delivers value to customers and transforms payments to profit (Teece, 2010). The
158 Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018
business model is the way through which a company can generate revenue. The
business model specifies how a company earns money by detailing its position in
the value chain (Rappa, 2010).
The business model is an example of a scheme, defined as a cognitive
structure that consists of concepts and relationships, organizing managerial
understandings about project design and exchanges that reflect critical
interdependencies and value creation relationships in organizations' exchange
networks (Martins et al., 2015). A business networking model guides how a
network of firms will create value for customers and the network by developing
collective understanding of business opportunities and modelling their actions
(Palo and Tähtinen, 2013).
A business model is a conceptual tool that contains a set of elements and
relationships between them, allowing the expression of an organization's business
logic. It is a description of the value a company offers for one or more customer
segments, the company architecture, and its partner networks for creating,
marketing and delivering this value and relationship capital, in order to generate
streams of profitable and sustainable incomes (Osterwalder et al., 2005).
In the literature, a number of authors have attempted to detail the structure
of a business model, its essential elements (table 1). Chesbrough and Rosenbloom
(2002) consider that a business model should include: value proposition, market
segment, value network, value chain, revenue generation, cost structure and profit
potential. Kaplan (2012) appreciates that a business model should not omit: value
creation, value delivery and value capture. Johnson et al. (2008) include in a
business model: customer value proposition, key resources, key processes and
profit formula. According to Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010) a business model
includes the following: value proposition, customer segments, customer
relationships, key partners, key resources, channels, key activities, cost structure
and revenue streams. For Morris et al. (2005) a business model has six
components: value proposition, customer, internal processes, external positioning,
economic model and personal factors.
Table 1. Structure of business model
Authors
Key
elements
Chesbrough
and
Rosenbloom
(2002)
Morris et
al. (2005)
Johnson et
al. (2008)
Osterwalder
and Pigneur
(2010)
Kaplan
(2012)
Value proposition
Value
proposition
Customer
value
proposition
Value
proposition
Value
creation
Market segment
Customers
Key
resources
Customer
segments
Value
delivery
Value network
Internal
processes
Key
processes
Customer
relationships
Value
capture
Value chain
External
Profit
Key partners
Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018 159
Authors
Key
elements
Chesbrough
and
Rosenbloom
(2002)
Morris et
al. (2005)
Johnson et
al. (2008)
Osterwalder
and Pigneur
(2010)
Kaplan
(2012)
positioning
formula
Revenue generation
Economic
model
Key resources
Cost structure
Personal
factors
Channels
Profit potential
Key activities
Cost structure
Revenue
streams
For the purpose of our paper we will use the structure of a business model
emphasized by Kaplan (2012).
3. Business models of the sharing economy
To describe the business models proposed by the sharing economy, we
analysed a total of 12 representative company for the sharing economy. The
documentary research involved consulting companies' sites, media and scientific
articles. The list of companies investigated is presented in Appendix 1. We cannot
say that the companies analysed fit into the characteristics of just a single business
model. There are many points of overlap between the business models developed
by these companies. The main business models of the sharing economy,
documented in the literature are (Demary, 2015):
• Access-based business model;
• Marketplace/platform economy;
• On-demand service provider.
The access-based business model
This models is based on underutilized resources, for this reason being also
known as the “surplus capacity” business model. The access business model is
consolidated on the principle of access to various goods and services through an
online platform. The consumer, instead of buying the product, will access it when
he needs it (Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012). The platform holder provides tangible and
intangible assets that can be leased by interested users. The products are provided
by the owner of the platform or by other partner organizations. An example in this
regard is the Luxembourg company FLOOW2 or the car rental service Getpony in
Romania.
The implications of the Access-based model are important as it leads to a
reorientation of customers towards a new way of thinking and behaviour, in which
access to the product is more important than the product ownership. This translates
from ownership to usage. Value creation within this model is achieved through the
160 Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018
economy that consumers receive due to the fact that they no longer become
owners. Delivery value is made through the platform and the locations where the
requested product can be accessed. Value capture is done by charging users,
service beneficiary a fee, most often for the time they use the product. Traditional
companies realized the potential of this business-model and they developed what is
recognized under the name of “product as a service” business model.
The marketplace business model
The channel or platform is the basics that are part of the business
marketplace model, where customer relationships are in most cases automated. The
operator of the marketplace platform succeeds in facilitating access to transactions.
An example of this is Airbnb connecting homeowners with those who want to stay
or BlaBlaCar, a company that facilitates the transport of people between localities.
Depending on the stakeholders and the specificity and nature of the
business, the key activities of the marketplace organizations can be varied. The
marketplace model offers advantages to all involved parties, gaining an important
significance, since without these services the value cannot be passed to the target
group. The marketplace value creation model is achieved by ensuring faster and
safer market access for participants. Essentially, the marketplace connects demand
and supply. Delivery value is met through the on-line platform. Value capture is
obtained by charging the parties involved in the exchange, rental or purchase of
goods or services. The Marketplace business model broadens the market for
traditional products and services. By supplying the market with existing
overcapacity to individuals, this model generates competition for the traditional
sectors such as transport, accommodation, etc.
On-demand service provider
Within the on-demand service provider business model, customer-focused
service activities are deployed. The users require specific services to be provided
by other persons or by specialized companies. The exchange is beneficial for both
parties. Channels are the basic tools of the on-demand service provider business
model. This pattern is different depending on the distribution campaign. Due to the
contact between the service provider and the service requester, within this business
model the relationships that are established and developing get a higher level of
confidence. Within this model there are two categories of participants: service
providers and those in need of such services. Value creation is achieved by quickly
matching the two categories. Value delivery is made through the application. Value
capture is done by charging service users.
The match of service providers and service users within the sharing
economy is done through a software platform and Internet access. The platform has
the role of ensuring the efficiency of the transactions, but at the same time it offers
Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018 161
the opportunity to evaluate both the provider and consumers through a rating
system.
4. Implications for traditional businesses
The success of business of the sharing economy can be explained by the
fact that the business model proposed by them is able to create, deliver and capture
value. The business models of the sharing economy discussed in this paper have
great potential for development and enhancement in the future. The results of our
study are also consistent with the results of other authors who have shown that
sharing economy business models are compatible with sustainable development
(Daunorienė et al., 2015). Traditional companies have to question whether their
business models are not affected by sharing economy (Kathan et al., 2016). In
addition, many traditional companies have adapted their offer to meet changes in
consumer behaviour. For example, there are car companies offering cars based on
access, by providing the car as a rental service and not as a property transfer (eg
The DriveNow service by BMW). We appreciate that traditional businesses need to
focus on five elements to take advantage of the sharing economy models:
continuous learning, adaptability and flexibility, digitalization, consumer
experience and innovation.
Continuous learning is essential to enable businesses to generate an
appropriate value proposition. Continuous learning is based on the continuous
scanning of the environment to keep up to date with the latest developments in the
field (Nistorescu and Barbu, 2008). Human resources are important in the process
of continuous learning, and businesses need to provide both soft skills and hard
skills training. Knowledge management and the integration of this knowledge is
also very important. Organizations must establish channels to acquire and
implement knowledge (Crăciun and Scrioşteanu, 2008).
Adaptability and flexibility refers to the pace with which the enterprise
implements change. Modern organizations must be able to operate different
business models according to market requirements. Flexibility also takes into
account the elasticity of organizational structures. Symon (2000) described the
appearance of post-bureaucratic forms of organization that are more elastic, more
flexible and responsive to change.
Digitalization is a condition of keeping in touch with customers, as
consumers spend a good amount of time connected to the Internet. Digitalization
should be present in all process of an organization: value creation, value delivery
and value capture. Digitalization must ultimately offer a personalized offer and a
more personal consumer experience.
Consumer experience will take into account that consumers want to be
surprised with attractive offers. Organizations need to find solutions to reinvent the
consumption of certain products or services. Consumer experience is related to the
establishment of rational and emotional links between the firm and the consumer
162 Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018
(Keller, 2008). Consumer experience should not be neglected at any time when the
consumer comes into contact with the organization.
Innovation is a requirement for businesses to be able to keep consumers'
attention. Innovation is closely related to managing consumer experience and
enhancing brand responses (Florea, 2015). In knowledge-based society,
information is power and organizations must be able to direct knowledge
management towards innovative products and services (Năstase and Hotăran,
2011). Innovation can mean both new products and services, but also
reconfiguration of business models so as to extend customer base in the most
profitable conditions. Innovation of business models must keep pace with adapting
to new trends so that value can be created and delivered using new technologies.
5. Conclusions
As an ongoing process, the sharing economy competes with traditional
economic activities and creates pressure for the traditional companies. For the
consumer, the sharing economy widens the range of available choices. Traditional
businesses are adapting to this trend and offering access-based services instead of
property-based.
Sharing economy enhances competition in traditional markets and
democratizes access to services and products. The success of the sharing economy
initiatives demonstrates the viability of their business models. Since many of the
sharing economy initiatives are associated with innovation (Martin, 2016; Schor
2014), these models deserve the attention of specialists in the field. Although the
business models are not entirely new, the ability of sharing economy firms to
implement these models has led to their success and recognition.
A business model describes the logic of how an organization creates, offers
and controls the value and the way money is earned in a company (Osterwalder and
Pigneur, 2009). A business model is a system of activities that describes how a
company is doing business with its customers, partners, and suppliers. Specifically,
a business model is a package of specific activities that are tailored to meet the
perceived needs of the market, including the specification of the parties conducting
these activities and how these activities are linked (Amit and Zott, 2010). We have
shown that business models are important because they have the ability to integrate
various resources of the organization. In particular, for the purpose of the sharing
economy, the interest for business models is how new technologies combine with
traditional processes or manage to generate commercial applications for new
technologies (Calia et al., 2007; Zott et al., 2011).
The main contributions of our paper refer to the description of the sharing
economy models and the analysis of their success formula. We emphasize the need
for traditional firms to take into account new business models and to try to
incorporate them into their current work. The main limitations of the paper are that
the sample of companies analysed is relatively small and the fact that we have only
taken into account certain elements of the business plan. Future possible directions
Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018 163
for research can be channelled into analysing how business models that are
successful for the sharing economy can be applied by a wider range of
organizations, including small and medium sized enterprises or employed to
develop businesses abroad. Also, the analysis of the business models of the sharing
economy might be realized in-depth by taken into account a more detailed structure
of the business models.
References
1. Afuah, A., 2004. Business Models: A Strategic Management Approach. New
York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
2. Albinsson, P. A., Yasanthi Perera, B., 2012. Alternative marketplaces in the
21st century: Building community through sharing events. Journal of
Consumer Behaviour, 11(4), pp. 303-315.
3. Amit, R., Zott, C. 2010. Business model innovation: creating value in times of
change. IESE Business School, University of Navara. Available online at:
https://www.iese.edu/research/pdfs/di-0870-e.pdf, accessed 22 March 2018.
4. Baden-Fuller, C.H., Morgan, M.S., 2010. Business Models as Models. Long
Range Planning, 43(2), pp. 156-171.
5. Bardhi, F., Eckhardt, M., 2012. Access-Based Consumption: The Case of Car
Sharing. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(4), pp. 881-898.
6. Belk, R., 2007. Why not share rather than own? The Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, 611, pp. 126–140.
7. Belk, R., 2014. You are what you can access: Sharing and collaborative
consumption online. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), pp.1596-1600.
8. Benkler, Y. 2004. Sharing Nicely: On Shareable Goods and the Emergence of
Sharing as a Modality of Economic Production. The Yale Law Journal,
114(2), pp. 273-358.
9. Botsman, R., Rogers, R., 2010. What’s mine is yours – the rise of
collaborative consumption. New York: HarperCollins.
10. Calia, R.C., Guerrini, F.M., & Moura, G.L., 2007. Innovation networks: From
technological development to business model reconfiguration. Technovation,
27, pp. 426-432.
11. Chesbrough, H., 2006. Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New
Innovation Landscape. Business School Press. Boston: Harvard.
12. Chesbrough, H., Rosenbloom, R.S., 2002. The role of the business model in
capturing value from innovation: Evidence from Xerox Corporation’s
technology spin-off firms. Industrial and Corporate Change, 11(3), pp. 529–
555.
13. Cohen, B., Kietzmann, J., 2014. Ride On! Mobility Business Models for the
Sharing Economy. Organization & Environment, 27(3), pp. 279-296.
164 Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018
14. Crăciun, L., Scrioşteanu, A., 2008. How to measure intellectual capital,
Annals of the University of Craiova. Economic Sciences Series 3 (36), pp.
1239-1244.
15. Daunorienė, A., Drakšaite, A., Snieška V., Valodkienė G. 2015. Evaluating
Sustainability of Sharing Economy Business Models. Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 213, pp. 836-841.
16. Debelak, D., 2006. Business model made easy. Wisconsin: CWL Publishing
Enterprises.
17. Demary, V., 2015. Competition in the Sharing Economy. Available online at:
https://www.iwkoeln.de/fileadmin/publikationen/2015/235445/Sharing
_Economy_Policy_Paper.pdf, accessed 18 March 2018.
18. Dillahunt, T., Malone, A., 2015. The Promise of the Sharing Economy among
Disadvantaged Communities. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 33rd
Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Seoul,
Republic of Korea.
19. Fang, B., Ye, Q., Law, R., 2016. Effect of sharing economy on tourism
industry employment. Annals of Tourism Research. vol. 57, issue C, pp. 264-
267.
20. Florea, D., 2015. The Relationship Between Branding and Diffusion of
Innovation. A Systematic Review, Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, pp.
1527-1534.
21. Heinrichs, H., 2013. Sharing economy: A potential new pathway to
sustainability. GAIA, 22(4), pp. 228-231.
22. Johnson, M. W., Christensen, C. M., Kagermann, H., 2008. Reinventing your
business model. Harvard Business Review, 86(12), pp. 50-60.
23. Kaplan, S., 2012. The Business Model Innovation Factory: How to Stay
Relevant When The World is Changing. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
24. Kathan W. Matzler, K., Veider, V., 2016, The sharing economy: Your
business model's friend or foe? Business Horizons, 59(6), pp. 663-672.
25. Keller K., 2008. Strategic brand management. Prentice Hall.
26. Lamberton, C.P., Rose, R.L., 2012. When is ours better than mine? A
framework for understanding and altering participation in commercial sharing
systems. Journal of Marketing, 4(76), pp. 109-125.
27. Lougher, G., Kalmanowicz, S., 2016. EU Competition Law in the Sharing
Economy. Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 7(2), pp. 87-
102.
28. Markides, C., Charitou, C.D., 2004. Competing with dual business models: A
contingency approach. Academy of Management Executive, 18, pp. 22-36.
29. Martin C., 2016. The sharing economy: A pathway to sustainability or a
nightmarish form of neoliberal capitalism? Ecological Economics, 121,
pp.149-159.
30. Martins, L.L., Rindova, V.P., Greenbaum, B.E., 2015. Unlocking the hidden
value of concepts: A cognitive approach to business model innovation.
Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 9(1), pp. 99-117.
Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018 165
31. Möhlmann, M., 2015. Collaborative consumption: determinants of satisfaction
and the likelihood of using a sharing economy option again. Journal of
Consumer Behaviour, 14(3), pp. 193-207.
32. Molz, J.G., 2013. Social networking technologies and the moral economy of
alternative tourism: The case of couchsurfing.org. Annals of tourism research,
43, pp. 210-230.
33. Morris, M., Schindehutte, M., Allen, J., 2005. The entrepreneur’s business
model: Toward a unified perspective. Journal of Business Research, 58(6), pp.
726-35.
34. Năstase, M., Hotăran, I., 2011. Fostering the Organizational Leadership
within the Knowledge Based Economy. Review of International Comparative
Management, 4(12), pp. 661-672.
35. Nistorescu, T., Barbu, C.M., 2006. A model for enterprises’ environmental
scanning. Management & Marketing, 4(1), pp. 57-62.
36. Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., 2010. Business Model Generation: A Handbook
for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. Hoboken: Wiley.
37. Osterwalder, A. Pigneur, Y., Tucci, C.L., 2005. Clarifying business models:
Origins, present and future of the concept. Communications of the Association
for Information Systems, 16, pp. 1-40.
38. Palo, T., Tähtinen, J., 2013. Networked business model development for
emerging technology-based services. Industrial Marketing Management, 42,
pp. 773–782.
39. Probst, L., Frideres, L., Pedersen, B., & Lidé, S. 2015. Collaborative
Economy. Collaborative production and the maker economy. Brussels:
European Commission, Directorate-General Growth.
40. Rappa, M., 2010. Business Models on the Web. Available online at:
http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html, accessed on 20 March 2018.
41. Richardson, J., 2008. The business model: An integrative framework for
strategy execution. Strategic Change, 17 (5/6), pp. 133-144.
42. Schor, J., 2014. Debating the Sharing Economy. Great Transformation
Initiative. Available online at: http://greattransition.org/publication/
debating-the-sharingeconomy, accessed on 15 March 2018.
43. Sheth J.N. Sethia, N.K. & Srinivas, S., 2011. Mindful consumption: A
customer-centric approach to sustainability. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, 39(1), pp. 21–39.
44. Symon, G. 2000. Information and communication technologies and the
network organization: A critical analysis. Journal of Occupational and
Organizational Psychology, 4(73), pp. 389-414.
45. Teece, J.D., 2010. Business Models, Business Strategy and Innovation. Long
Range Planning, 43(2), pp. 172-194.
46. Timmers, P., 1998. Business models for electronic markets. Electronic
Markets, 8(2), pp. 3-8.
166 Review of International Comparative Management Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2018
47. Wang, C., & Zhang, P., 2012. The evolution of social commerce: The people,
management, technology, and information dimensions. Communications of
the Association for Information Systems, 31(1), pp. 105–127.
48. Watson, D., 2005. Business Models. Petersfield: Harriman House Ltd.
49. Zott, C. Amit, R., & Massa, L., 2011. The business model: recent
developments and future research. Journal of Management, 37(4), pp. 1019-
1042.
Appendix 1. List of analysed companies
Company
Sector
Predominant Business
model
Uber
Transportation
Marketplace
Airbnb
Accommodation
Marketplace
BlaBlaCar
Transportation
Marketplace
Lyft
Transportation
Marketplace
Kickstarter
Financial services
Marketplace
Taskrabbit
Services
On-demand service provider
Getpony
Transportation
Access-based
Getaround
Transportation
Access-based
Mutum
Services
Access-based
Zaarly
Services
On-demand service provider
Poshmark
Fashion
Marketplace
Lending Club
Financial services
Marketplace
