De Mey and De Ridder's Business Model Framework

 

Short description of framework: A framework illustrating how value is created and captured in the interaction between organizations through relationships and transactions.

Main strengths: The framework captures relationships, monetary and non-monetary transactions between organizations, and provides a snapshot of the interactions and dependencies on certain external actors. Transactions between several organizations in multiple steps can be illustrated, enabling a good understanding for the different revenue streams.

Background

The framework was originally created by De Mey and De Ridder (www.boardofinnovation.com) in 2009 to create a common visual language and consisted of 10 framework elements initially focusing on the sales side of a business with the only actors being the company itself and its client. The remaining 8 framework elements was items that can be transferred between the company and its client; product, service, experience, reputation, exposure, attention, money and less money.

In 2010 the business model framework was revisited and updated to include 16 framework elements to capture more aspects of a business case. Still, De Mey and De Ridder argues that they prefer not to include what they call secondary stakeholders, showing the supplier side of a business case.

Framework details

The 2010 version contains 16 framework elements, divided into players and objects to exchange further described below. De Mey and De Ridder do not provide their own definitions of the framework elements, so the definitions below are of the general meaning of the terms, based on how the objects are used by De Mey and De Ridder.

Example using the framework

In the illustration below De Mey and De Ridder illustrates the business model of Niiu, a German start-up providing customized physical newspapers. Niiu will provide personalized and customized newspapers based on content from a variety of different news companies enabling the consumer to combine different sections from different newspapers. By using print-on-demand technology Niiu will create a unique paper version and deliver to each subscriber. The reader will pay for the newspaper and be exposed to targeted advertising based on their content preferences.

List of Key Terms

The term ‘business model’ has historically been defined differently by different academics and consultants, with no common consensus being established. It is not until the last few years that a common definition of what a ‘business model’ is has started to emerge, with an increasing number of authors emphasizing the concepts of value creation and value capture as central to the definition.

One challenge is that frameworks developed from the perspective of enabling business model innovation, are often equated with a definition of the concept of the business model itself. This creates considerable confusion in terms of the differences between the business model of a company, the business model concept as such, and ways of describing business models by adopting different perspectives and frameworks.

In order to provide posts that are easy to follow and to reduce the risk of misunderstandings and confusion, I use the definitions below:

• Business model – the way an organization creates and captures value

• Business model concept – the general idea of illustrating how value is created and captured

• Business model element – a component of how value is created and captured by an organization

• Business model framework – an abstraction to describe and represent different business models

• Business model framework element (or framework element) – a component of a business model framework

• Business model innovation – an innovative business model or the process of innovating a business model

• Business modeling – the process of testing and simulating different business models

Please consult the list above when confused about my use of any of the terms.

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