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Scaling Digital Business Models: A Case from the Automotive Industry

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The emerging trends of digitalization and servitization offer new opportunities for product centric companies to innovate their business model. The interaction between the innovation of business models, the increasing service orientation and the ongoing digitalization of business models raise questions regarding a methodical approach. To the best of our knowledge, there is a research gap addressing the innovation of business models by means of digital and service aspects. We therefore propose an iterative process model to scale digital service business models by the ongoing integration of digital services in each iteration phase. The process model consists of four phases: the maturity assessment of the initial business model, the ideation of new service proposals, an impact analysis, and the business model design. The process follows the Design-Research-Methodology and was validated in a case study at Mercedes-Benz-Vans.
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This paper was presented at The ISPIM Innovation Conference Innovating Our Common Future, Berlin, Germany on 7-10
June 2020.
1
Scaling Digital Business Models: A Case from the Automotive
Industry
Julia Becker1*
Klemens Joachim2
Christian Koldewey1
Jannik Reinhold1
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Roman Dumitrescu1,3
1Heinz Nixdorf Insitut, University of Paderborn, Fuerstenallee 11, Paderborn, 33102, Germany
E-mail: jkbecker@mail.upb.de;
{christian.koldewey, jannik.reinhold, roman.dumitrescu}@hni.upb.de
2Daimler AG, Hedelfingerstraße 58, 70327 Stuttgart
E-mail: Klemens.Joachim@daimler.com
3Fraunhofer-Institute IEM, Zukunftsmeile 1, Paderborn, Germany
E-Mail: roman.dumitrescu@iem.fraunhofer.de
* Corresponding author
Abstract: The emerging trends of digitalization and servitization offer new opportunities for product
centric companies to innovate their business model. The interaction between the innovation of business
models, the increasing service orientation and the ongoing digitalization of business models raise questions
regarding a methodical approach. To the best of our knowledge, there is a research gap addressing the
innovation of business models by means of digital and service aspects. We therefore propose an iterative
process model to scale digital service business models by the ongoing integration of digital services in
each iteration phase. The process model consists of four phases: the maturity assessment of the initial
business model, the ideation of new service proposals, an impact analysis, and the business model design.
The process follows the Design-Research-Methodology and was validated in a case study at Mercedes-
Benz-Vans.
Keywords: scaling, business model innovation, digitalization, servitization, digital services, cyclical
process, Design-Research-Methodology
1 Introduction
The concept of the “service-infusion in manufacturing firms” (Kindström and Kowalkowski, 2014) changes the
way in which companies create value by adding services to their physical products (Baines et al., 2009), (Gebauer,
2008). The service orientation is increasingly driven by the digitalization and leads to the development of new
digital services but also to the adaptation of previously established business models of a company (Visnjic et al.,
2014), (Martinez et al., 2017), (Ayala et al., 2017). Nevertheless, it is not obvious for product-centric companies
how to integrate these new service offerings into their business models (Zolnowski et al., 2014). In particular, the
changes in the business model elements are one of the main reasons why the integration of numerous services
mismatch (Kindström and Kowalkowski, 2014). Regarding these factors, three research streams are addressed
when digital services are integrated in an initial business model: business model innovation, servitization and
digitalization. The paper at hand focuses on scaling business models by means of the integration of digital services.
However, the term scaling is widely discussed in different contexts, for example from an IT perspective (Duboc
et al., 2012) or from a business model perspective (Hallowell et al., 2001).
The term scaling for the paper at hand is determined by the influence of the three research streams.
Therefore, scaling is defined as a process of adapting single elements or the whole business model when digital
services are continuously integrated in order to generate additional revenue, solve further customer problems or
reach new customer segments.
This paper was presented at The ISPIM Innovation Conference Innovating Our Common Future, Berlin, Germany on 7-10
June 2020.
2
The company under investigation is currently facing the challenge to tackle the “digital servitization” of their
business model. Based on their recently released logistic service the company intends to scale their business model
further but lacks methods to integrate additional digital services. Figure 1 illustrates the company’s business model
“In-Van-Delivery-and-Return”. The business model is based on a digital solution that connects delivery providers
and companies with service fleets by digitizing an analog logistic process.
Figure 1 The business model In-Van-Delivery-and-Return: Pipeline from the delivery provider to the
service-fleet
Henceforth, the research question arises how can companies gradually integrate digital services into their initial
business model in order to scale. This question must be answered by developing a suitable process model that
companies can follow scaling their business models.
To develop such a process model, the Design Research Methodology (DRM) according to Blessing and
Chakrabarti (2009) is applied. DRM is chosen because it allows to transform the scientific investigations of the
research challenges into practical applications. The first phase of the DRM consists of the clarification of the
research goal that includes the definition of the theoretical foundation (chapter 2). For that, a literature analysis in
the research streams of business model innovation, digitalization and servitization is performed in order to derive
requirements for the proposed process model. The requirements have been improved in a workshop held by the
researchers and with participants from the IT- and Business Development team of the company. In the second
phase, the first descriptive study, the need for action is derived by analyzing existing approaches of the research
streams business model innovation, servitization and digitalization (chapter 3). In the third phase, the prescriptive
study, the methodology is developed based on the need for action and the requirements. The result is a first
prototype of the process model that is tested in a second workshop in the company. The outcome is an improved
process model (chapter 4). In the last phase, the second descriptive study, the methodology has been evaluated in
practice one last time. Further need for improvement has been derived that is partially included in the methodology
or led to further discussion in the outlook (chapter 5).
2 Scientific background and method requirements
At first, the research goal is clarified by analyzing the scientific background. The following chapter is divided into
three parts each considering one of the research streams mentioned already above. Based on these research results
requirements for the proposed method are derived.
Business model innovation
Business Models are often discussed from a static perspective in literature (Frankenberger et al., 2013). However,
business models are under current pressure to change (Linder and Cantrell, 2000). Therefore, they must react to a
dynamic business environment by their systematically adaptation (Schallmo, 2013), (Breuer and Ketabdar, 2012).
According to Gassmann et al. (2013), the future competition will be mainly influenced by innovative business
models rather than innovative products or services. Thus, business model innovation will be a key lever for
companies to thrive in a highly competitive environment by targeting unmet customer demands (Lindgardt et al.,
2009), (Johnson et al., 2008).
Nevertheless, companies face difficulties when changing their business model. Depending on the kind of
innovation the value proposition, the operating model, the associated resources, or the customer relation might
change (Lindgardt et al., 2009). Moreover, the interdependencies between business model elements need to be
considered when individual elements change. According to Krumeich et al. (2017) and Schallmo et al. (2010),
mostly every single element of the business model is directly or indirectly interlinked with each other, so that
changes in one element cause changes in another one. Therefore, the internal consistency of the adapted business
model needs to be retained (Gassmann et al., 2013), (Kindström and Kowalkowski, 2014).
Servitization of product-centric business models
In many industries product-oriented companies are increasingly expanding their offerings by services and thereby
changing the way in which value is created (Kowalkowski and Kinström, 2017), (Gebauer, 2008), (Baines et al.
2009). However, a lot of companies already have services in their portfolio for a long time, but they primary have
been a necessity for marketing purposes (Baines et al., 2009). With the beginning of the emerging trend of
servitization (Vandermerwe and Rada, 1988) or servicification” (Normann, 2001) services are increasingly
becoming one of the distinguishing factors, so that their relevance for a competitive advantage increases
significantly (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003), (Gebauer et al., 2006). The transition from a product-centric to a
service-orientated company is conceptualized by Oliva and Kallenberg (2003) through a product-service
continuum. Depending on the type of service and their relation to the product, companies can be positioned at one
extreme point of the continuum where services are add-ons or at the other extreme point where services are an
integral part of the business. In order structure the diversity of services and to reduce the complexity of the service
integration into the business model a variety of service categorizations are offered in the literature, see exemplary
Ulaga and Reinartz (2011), Kowalkowski and Kindström (2014), or Cusumano et al. (2015).
Digitalization of business models
The digitalization is radically changing numerous industries and is seen as one of the main drivers for the
innovation of business models which is due to the increasing importance of information and communication
technologies in production, logistics, or in the value chain (Fichman et al., 2014), (Geisberger and Broy, 2012),
(Klötzer and Pflaum, 2015). Thereby, a business model is considered as digital if the use of digital technologies
has a significant influence on the design of the value creation as well as on the revenue model (Veit et al., 2014).
In the context of digital business models platform concepts spark a lot of interest especially due to their high
scalability, low transactional costs and network effects (Engelhardt et al., 2017), (Van Alstyne et al., 2016),
(Choudray, 2015), (Parker et al., 2016). Nevertheless, traditional pipeline business models are still of high interest
since they can benefit from the digitalization by applying digital technologies to rise their efficiency. When
business models become digital the core logic of the business changes. Especially, the value dimension of the
business model is radically influenced for example by its individualization for each customer segment (Bauer et
al., 2014), (Emmerich et al., 2015) or the optimization effects due to the use of data (Arnold et al., 2016),
(Kagermann et al., 2013). Nevertheless, not all business model elements are affected at the same extent, since not
every element can be digitalized (Werani et al.,2017).
Scaling digital business models and associated requirements
Based on the scientific background requirements are derived which need to be fulfilled by the process model in
chapter 4. The requirements are divided into three categories: overarching requirements, requirements concerning
the digital service and requirements for the business model. All requirements were validated in the case study
holding a workshop with specialists from the company. It was performed aiming to align the literature-based
requirements with the practical applicability. Participants of the workshop were confronted with a first set-up of
requirements and were asked to rank their relevance. Every single requirement has been discussed afterwards and
single improvements have been conducted. Therefore, the requirements are suitable for the development of the
proposed process model (see figure 2).
This paper was presented at The ISPIM Innovation Conference Innovating Our Common Future, Berlin, Germany on 7-10
June 2020.
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Figure 2 Requirements for scaling digital business models by the integration of digital services
The first requirement is based on the necessity to retain the competitiveness of a business model by its continuous
innovation. The proposed method focuses on scaling digital pipeline business models by integrating additional
services in order to exploit the possibilities of an ever-changing environment (R1). In the context of business
model innovation, servitization and digitalization the agility of processes is often seen as a necessary success factor
(Mitchell and Coles, 2003), (Schneider and Spieth, 2013). Therefore, companies should adapt their business model
iteratively. Moreover, it is highly important considering the business model and the service integration
integratively (R2).
The first requirement of the next sub-category targets the idea generation of digital services (R3). The next
requirement addresses the categorization of the identified services which can be beneficial in order to structure
their diversity (R4). Afterwards, the service ideas must be evaluated based on suitable criteria fulfilling
servitization as well as digitalization necessities (R5). The last requirement of this category addresses the need of
an impact analysis of the digital service including the direct and indirect influences on the business model (R6).
The first requirement in the last sub-category targets the structuring of the initial business model and its content
(R7). Afterwards, the necessary adaptations which results from onboarding additional services need to be
identified and integrated (R8). After adapting the business model, the internal and external consistency must be
ensured (R9). The last requirement addresses the transition of adaptations into concrete actions in order plan the
implementation of the revised business model (R10).
3 State of the art and need for action
The literature offers a variety of methods how companies should approach business model innovation. One of
them is the St. Galler Business Model Navigator which consists of four phases starting from an analysis of the
current business model until the integration of the changes (Gassmann et al., 2013). Another process model is a
roadmapping approach which consists of concrete actions and a transformation path of the business model (de
Reuver et al., 2013). In contrast to other process models, the Business Model Re-Engineering according to the
consultancy KMPG takes the ability to change the business model into account and evaluates different business
model scenarios by their effects and efforts to change (Ebert and Deutsch, 2016). Almost none of the literature
approaches focus on the innovation of business models when digital services are integrated. Moreover, they do
not address the implications and necessary adaptations when an initial business model change.
Existing methods in the literature in the context of servitization mainly focuses on the development of service
business models like Kindström and Kowalkowski (2014) or Zolnowski et al. (2014). In contrast, Bouwman et al.
(2005) propose a step-by-step method on how to develop a service concept consisting of four steps: The quick-
scan of the service idea, the evaluation based on concrete success factors, the concretization of the business model
and a final robustness check. Even though existing methods of servitization concentrate on the impact of services
on the business model, they lack the perspective of a continuous adaptation on the one hand and the digital property
of the service on the other hand.
In the context of digitalization Schallmo et al. (2017) conclude the transformation of business models in a
roadmapping approach. In other publications, maturity models are suitable methods to tackle the digital
transformation, e.g. in Klötzer and Pflaum (2017).
In conclusion, there are many different approaches for each research stream. However, research regarding the
aspect of scaling business models by means of digital aspects as well as service aspects is scarce in the literature.
To the best of our knowledge there is a research gap for an approach to scale digital service business models by
integrating digital services in practice. Therefore, we here propose a method to target this research gap.
4 Proposed method for scaling digital business models
The proposed method of scaling digital business models is developed using the identified requirements and parts
of the methods of the state of the art. The process model visualized in figure 3 is a circular process, which consists
of four phases: assessment, ideation, impact analysis, and business model design. The first phase is the assessment
of the initial business model with the goal to identify strategic thrusts for new digital services. Since an already
existing business model is given as an input for the process, it is necessary to standardize it by structuring it in a
framework. Afterwards, the digital maturity of the business model as well as of the organization is determined by
using a questionnaire. In the second phase of the process new service ideas are generated. The services are then
evaluated by their market relevance as well as their fit to the company’s maturity in order to pre-select adequate
services. In the third phase, an extensive impact analysis is performed in order to evaluate the consequences on
the business model when integrating the service. Additionally, the service attractiveness is seen as another
evaluation criteria. Combining the degree of alteration of the business model with the service attractiveness results
in an evaluation matrix consisting of four options: integration of the service into the business model, separation
into a another business unit, rejection of the service idea or its storage in an idea pool. Then, the selected service
for the integration is promoted into the last phase of the process model. In the last phase, the necessary adaptations
are determined and integrated into the business model. Afterwards, the internal and external consistencies of the
adapted business model are investigated. If the consistency of the adapted business model is proven the adaptations
are translated into concrete actions and planned in an implementation roadmap. The result of the process is the
expanded business model. The circular process can start now again from the assessment phase and leads to the
continuous scaling of the initial business model by means of the systematic integration of new digital services one
at a time in each iteration of the process. The process model will be explained step-by-step in the following by
first explaining its development and afterwards applying the phases to the initial business model “In-Van-
Delivery-and-Return” of Mercedes-Benz-Vans.
Figure 3 Iterative process for scaling digital business models
Assessment
The process model follows the idea of integrating digital services into an initial business model based on a maturity
assessment. Therefore, the business model will first be structured into a particular framework, in this case the
Business Model Canvas according to Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010).
Afterwards, the maturity of the business model as well as of the organization is determined. The maturity of
the organization is seen as an important factor because it allows to identify, e.g., additional resources needed for
a potential service which is not yet allocated to the business model. To assess the maturity of the business model
their dimensions are prioritized at first regarding the service focus and then regarding the digitalization capability
of the business model elements (Werani et al., 2017). This results in three focused elements: market offering,
customer relationship and distribution channel.
To determine the maturity of the organization three subcategories are chosen by comparing different maturity
models in the literature. This includes the Digital Maturity Model 4.0 according to Forrester (2016), the Industry
4.0 Readiness according to the Impuls-Stiftung (2015), Deloitte’s Digital Maturity Model (2018) and the one by
This paper was presented at The ISPIM Innovation Conference Innovating Our Common Future, Berlin, Germany on 7-10
June 2020.
6
PWC (2014). This results in three subcategories to determine the maturity of the organization: competencies and
resources, processes, and culture.
The two maturity dimensions with three subcategories each are evaluated based on a questionnaire. Every
subcategory consists of five questions which are derived based on relevant literature for servitization and
digitalization. Based on the result of the questionnaire, the maturity level of the business model and the
organization is calculated. Afterwards, the maturity score is assigned into one maturity level inspired by the
maturity model according to the Impuls-Stiftung (2015):
Newcomers: Are companies in the lowest maturity level that have not dealt with digitalization themes at all
or only to a limited extent.
Beginners: Are companies in the medium maturity level that have already taken advantage of first digital
technologies in their products, services or for optimizing internal processes. Companies of this level form
the broad middle field.
Pioneers: Are companies with the highest level of maturity that are already very advanced in the
implementation of industry 4.0 or other digital technologies. These companies set the benchmark and have
so far been scarcely represented.
The maturity assessment is applied in the case study and the result is shown in figure 4. It shows that the current
maturity of the business model of the company and of the organization is allocated to the maturity level beginner.
The identified maturity helps companies to derive strategic thrusts for generating service ideas. This follows the
idea of using search fields which enable companies to only generate digital services which suit to their maturity
level. In total, three search fields are determined depending on the localization in a matrix consisting of the
maturity of the organization and of the business model, see figure 5. The three search fields set an upper limitation
for the complexity of services to be searched for. In our case study, service ideas with an upper limitation of a
medium digitalization level should be generated. These are services using, e.g., digital technologies such as APPs,
cloud computing or embedded software that add value to the customer (Frank et al., 2019).
Figure 4 Maturity assessment of the business model "In-Van-Delivery-and-Return"
Figure 5 Search fields for the service idea generation
Ideation
The goal of the ideation phase is the identification of service ideas and their pre-selection for the next phase of the
process model. New service ideas can be generated based on a market-pull or technology-push. There are a lot of
different techniques in the literature and most of the companies already have their own approaches in place.
Therefore, the selection of creativity methods will not be targeted in this paper at hand. In the given case study,
the generation of ideas is based on the customer journey of the delivery provider. The current pain points of this
customer segment result in three service ideas which are briefly described with their targeted pain point, the
solution, the digital technology as well as risks and opportunities.
In the next step, the ideas are evaluated based on their market relevance and their maturity fit. The first
evaluation criterion, the market relevance, is used to identify the customer acceptance of the service idea.
According to Gourville (2006), an idea is particularly successful if it provides a high customer value add and at
the same time requires a small change in behavior. Thus, the service ideas are evaluated with a scale from zero to
three whereas zero means no additional value add and a high change of customer behavior (Echterhoff, 2014).
The next criterion is the maturity fit of the service idea. This evaluation ensures that only services are selected
for the next phase that match the status quo. Therefore, the maturity assessment of the previous phase is taken as
a reference in order to compare the service ideas with the maturity of the business model as well as of the
organization. The service ideas are also evaluated with a scale from zero to three, whereas zero means that the
service idea does not match with the current maturity of the sub-category and three that there is a high agreement
between them.
Due to the high variety of digital services, a categorization can be used in order to facilitate the evaluation.
The given categorization in figure 6 is the result of the combination of different categorization schemes, e.g., the
ones from Coreynen et al. (2017), Cusumano et al. (2015) as well as Ulaga and Reinartz (2011). The categorization
is divided into a service level and a service focus which results in six different categories. This categorization can
then be used for supporting the evaluation of the changes in customer behavior as well as the necessary resources
and capabilities to determine the maturity fit.
This paper was presented at The ISPIM Innovation Conference Innovating Our Common Future, Berlin, Germany on 7-10
June 2020.
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Figure 6 Service categorization by service-level and service-focus according to Coreynen et al. (2017),
Cusumano et al. (2015) and Ulaga and Reinartz (2011)
The combination of the two evaluation criteria result in an evaluation matrix where the service ideas are positioned
according to their results, see figure 7. The ideas are pre-selected based on a prioritization to ensure that only
promising candidates reach the next phase. Therefore, service ideas are preferably selected if they achieve a high
maturity fit as well as a high market relevance. In our case study, all three service ideas reach a high market
relevance and maturity fit.
Figure 7 Evaluation matrix for the pre-selection of service ideas
Impact Analysis
The goal of the impact analysis is the selection of one service to be integrated in the initial business model.
Therefore, the degree of alteration as well as the service attractiveness are used as evaluation criteria.
In the first step, the degree of alteration is calculated. For that, the service consistency with the existing
business model elements of the initial business model are determined. Moreover, new business model elements
required for the service idea are identified and their internal consistency inside their business model dimension is
determined. The consistency of the service with the initial business model elements is calculated by applying a
consistency matrix with an evaluation scale from one to five. An evaluation of one indicates a strong inconsistency
and with five a strong consistency (see legend in figure 8) between the business model element and the service
idea.
In the next step, the need of new business model elements for every business model dimension is investigated
for each service idea. In our case study, one of the services for example implies the extension of the business
model by two additional key partners and three additional key activities. The newly identified business model
elements are evaluated with the same scale from one to five inside their business model dimension. Figure 8
visualizes the distribution of ratings as the total amount of rating numbers resulting from the service consistency
and the consistency of newly identified business model elements.
Figure 8 Exemplary distribution of rating numbers for one service idea. Total sum per consistency degree for
each dimension
However, this kind of visualization is skewed towards dimensions with a high number of elements and can
alternatively be normalized by the number of elements. The degree of alteration reflects the degree of
inconstancies. Therefore, it is determined by dividing the amount of business model dimensions with the total
share of strong and partly inconsistent ratings (red and orange bars in figure 8):

󰇛󰇜 󰇛󰇜
󰇛󰇜


where  is the number of business model dimensions,  is the number of business model elements and
 and  are the numbers of strong and partly inconsistence ratings, respectively.
As already mentioned, the selection of one service is also based on its attractiveness which is obtained by the
profitability, the maturity of the digital technology, and the differentiation from the competitors. The services are
evaluated on a scale from zero to three applying a utility analysis. Additionally, the profitability is weighted higher
compared to the other two evaluation categories. The weighting can be adjusted from case to case, depending on
the priorities of the company.
In the last step, the results of the previous analysis are combined in one evaluation matrix consisting of the
degree of alteration and the service attractiveness. A service should therefore be integrated into the business model
if it achieves a high attractiveness and a low degree of alteration. Based on the localization of the service idea in
the matrix in figure 9 the service can be directly integrated into the business model (top right), be separated into
another business unit or carved out (top left), stored into the idea pool (bottom right) or can be rejected (bottom
left). In our case study, two of the service ideas are in the top right quadrant and therefore suitable for the
integration into the business model. The last idea is in the bottom right quadrant so that it should be stored in the
idea pool until the next iteration of the process model when conditions might change. One of the two ideas of the
integration quadrant will now be selected for the last phase of the process model.
This paper was presented at The ISPIM Innovation Conference Innovating Our Common Future, Berlin, Germany on 7-10
June 2020.
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Figure 9 Four options for the service anchoring
Business Model Design
In the last phase of the iterative process the selected service from the previous phase will be integrated into the
initial business model. Therefore, the necessary adaptations resulting from identified inconsistencies as well as
from new identified business model elements need to be consolidated and integrated into the initial Business
Model Canvas. In our case study, eight major adaptations in the business model dimensions key partners, key
resources, key activities, and distribution channels are identified and integrated.
After the Business Model Canvas is adapted the external and internal consistency are analysed before the
implementation of the business model begins. The examination of the external consistency is formulated as K.O.
criteria in the dimensions competition, stakeholder, and market. If one of the criteria is not fulfilled, the
examination will stop and either the service idea needs to be revised or rejected completely. Afterwards, if all
criteria of the external consistency are fulfilled, the evaluation of the internal consistency follows. In our case
study, the external and the internal consistency have been validated. Thus, the implementation of the business
model can now be planned.
Based on the identified adaptations concrete actions are derived with their duration and responsibilities.
Afterwards the dependencies between the measures are determined by applying a Design-Structure-Matrix
(Gärtner, 2011): this allows to identify the processing order of each measure which can be parallel, sequential, or
iterative. In total, the measures are translated into an implementation roadmap considering their processing order
and their duration (see figure 10).
Remarks
After one service has been integrated, the circular process can start from the beginning. This leads to the
continuous scaling of the initial business model by means of the systematic integration of new services one at a
time in each iteration of the process. Based on the adapted business model, the maturity will now be assessed
again by applying the questionnaire. In the second phase of the process model, the idea pool consisting of ideas
from former iterations can be used to generate new service ideas based on the changes in customer demands,
emerging technologies, or new competitors.
Figure 10 Design-Structure-Matrix and implementation roadmap
5 Discussion and Conclusion
The interaction between the three research streams business model innovation, digitalization and servitization
creates new opportunities for companies to systematically adapt and scale their business model. To the best of our
knowledge, there is no suitable and detailed methodology in theory and practice to plan the scaling of business
models by the ongoing integration of digital services as of today. The proposed process model addresses this
research gap. The novelty of this process model is the combination of 1) the iterative scaling approach 2) the use
of a maturity model for the assessment of the business model and 3) the in-depth impact analysis. For that, the
requirements in chapter 2 and existing methods from the state of the art in chapter 3 mainly influenced the
development of the process model.
From the practical perspective, this research tackles the challenge of designing business models embedded in
broader environments or ecosystems. In this context, the proposed process highlights the importance of regarding
the interdependencies of the business model elements as well as their dynamic interactions in contrast to static
business model approaches. In total, the proposed method indicates the high relevance for transforming business
models in an agile context.
The proposed method was developed based on one case study. However, the process itself is generalizable for
different companies with varying starting positions. Additionally, the method has been proven to be easy in use,
comprehensive, and the phases are evaluated as consistent and logical. Therefore, the process model has a high
applicability for other companies in search of a process to scale their initial business model.
When companies intend to scale their business models by the integration of additional services, we make the
following recommendations: 1) First, companies should adapt and react dynamically to a changing environment,
especially in the context of digitalization. 2) Therefore, it is crucial to use rather incremental than long time
orientated approaches for scaling the business model in order to stay flexible. 3) Finally, companies should
approach the “digital servitization” of their business model interdisciplinary in a team in order to scope all aspects
of the transformation.
This paper was presented at The ISPIM Innovation Conference Innovating Our Common Future, Berlin, Germany on 7-10
June 2020.
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References and Notes
Acknowledgment
This work was conducted at the department of Future Transportation Mercedes-Benz-Vans in cooperation with
the Heinz Nixdorf Institute. The authors would like to thank all participants from the company for their
engagement during the workshops and providing insightful feedback to improve and strengthen the process model.
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