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business model theory
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Business ecosystems as a way to activate lock-in in business models link.springer.com Mar 28, 2025 21 facts
referenceThe original version of business model theory, established by Amit and Zott in 2001, integrated theories regarding a firm's value chain (Porter, 1985), resources (Barney, 1991), transaction costs (Williamson, 1975), strategic networks (Gulati et al., 2000), and Schumpeterian innovation (Schumpeter, 1934).
claimCurrent business model theory identifies mechanisms for managers to leverage lock-in, including sunk costs, direct and indirect network effects, and data network effects.
claimIntegrating business model theory with business ecosystem theory is designed to help managers establish successful lock-in, prevent imitation, and reduce competitive threats.
claimBusiness model theory was originally developed to account for the rapid wealth creation by technology-enabled firms, as noted by Parker et al. in 2016.
referenceBusiness model theory, as conceptualized by Amit and Zott (2001) and documented by Climent et al. (2024), identifies brand loyalty, sunk costs, direct network effects, indirect network effects, and data network effects as mechanisms for achieving lock-in.
referenceThe theory of the business ecosystem, as introduced by Jacobides et al. (2018), is a standalone theory that can be integrated with business model theory to expand the list of lock-in mechanisms.
claimAmit & Zott (2001) and Climent & Haftor (2021) established that business model theory primarily focuses on dyadic relationships between firms and their stakeholders.
claimThe integration of business ecosystem theory with business model theory enhances the potency of the business model concept.
claimThe paper 'Business ecosystems as a way to activate lock-in in business models' contributes to theory building by outlining how ecosystem configurations can be designed to activate lock-in mechanisms, synthesizing business model theory and business ecosystem literature.
referenceCurrent business model theory identifies five primary methods to establish lock-in: loyalty, sunk costs, direct network effects, indirect network effects, and data network effects.
perspectiveThe role of ecosystem-driven lock-in, where firms create multilateral dependencies among suppliers, partners, and complementors, remains underexplored in current business model theory, limiting the understanding of how ecosystem configurations protect against imitation.
claimBusiness model theory identifies four primary themes of value creation and appropriation: novelty, efficiency, complementarity, and lock-in.
referenceJacobides et al. (2018) advanced the theory of the business ecosystem, which identifies a novel method for locking in actors that differs from the bilateral firm-customer dynamics typically focused on in business model theory.
claimThe concept of data network effects, introduced by Gregory et al. in 2021, was integrated into business model theory by Costa et al. in 2023 to account for advances in machine learning technologies.
claimBusiness model theory, which began with Amit and Zott in 2001, has historically focused on dyadic or bilateral lock-in effects, such as customer loyalty and direct network effects.
claimThe framework proposed in 'Business ecosystems as a way to activate lock-in in business models' integrates business model theory with ecosystem theory to explain how multilateral relationships among actors, including suppliers, partners, and complementors, reinforce lock-in mechanisms.
claimBusiness model theory identifies five primary lock-in mechanisms to protect pioneering firms against imitation: brand loyalty, sunk costs, direct network effects, indirect network effects, and data network effects.
claimThis study extends business model theory by integrating business ecosystem theory to explain how firms can activate ecosystem-driven lock-in mechanisms to sustain competitive advantage.
claimThe paper 'Business ecosystems as a way to activate lock-in in business models' proposes an extension of business model theory to provide managers with guidance on innovating business models and evolving toward lock-in mechanisms.
claimBusiness model theory identifies six mechanisms for activating lock-in: brand loyalty, sunk costs, direct network effects, indirect network effects, data network effects, and the business ecosystem.
claimThe theory of the business ecosystem integrated with business model theory presented in the paper lacks empirical support as a whole, relying only on anecdotal illustrations.