Clarifying digital business model innovation : a structured literature review on the construct and implications for implementation

Abstract

The use of digital technology to innovate business models by firms has become commonplace in today’s digital economy. Central to this phenomenon is a firm’s business model that gets transformed through the adoption and integration of digital technologies into a firm’s value architecture. There persists a scholarship gap in terms of a distinct construct to explain this phenomenon due to a conflated state of extant literature on digital transformation related topics. To understand the phenomenon at hand more directly, this review undertakes an analysis of current literature on the use of digital technologies to digitally transform firm business models. Specifically, the researcher has conducted a scoping review to uncover the most prominent theoretical foundations and insights, culminating in a compelling discourse introducing digital business model innovation as the construct best suited to explicating the phenomenon. In the review articles dealing directly with digitally transforming firms’ business models for increased firm competitiveness were assessed and through induction construct clarity is offered along with the critical insights that could guide firm digital business model innovation implementation. Importantly the extant literature highlights the digital paradox as a unique practical problem that could be elucidated and ameliorated through this review. In the review DBMI antecedents are synthesised, digital technology conceptualisations and their role in DBMI are elucidated, adjacent enabling constructs and concepts are explained naturally in a DBMI context, predominant theoretical underpinnings and theories in extant literature are discussed and indeed the review offers an expanded consensus definition and conceptualisation for digital business model innovation, while additionally tabling insights on key guidelines for DBMI success.