Leveraging digitalization opportunities to improve the business model

Abstract

The opportunities of digitalization and the digital revolution are opening up completely new ways of doing business, producing and distributing services, and creating a significant threat to incumbent businesses that remain attached to the old business models. Expertise, business processes, and analytics are increasingly automated, and the skills and competences of employees and subcontractors are becoming increasingly important. Almost all information is going digital, services are going electronic, and data can be processed into new business. The digital transformation and disruption will lead to organizational shifts toward a more data-driven business model and processes.

The study’s research focus was to identify how digitalization could influence business model and process development. The study’s empirical data were collected through an online survey in 2015. The data were also collected in theme interviews and a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews with selected data-intensive Finnish companies. The data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The dissertation includes a collection of four mutually supportive scientific journal and conference articles. The articles are presented in the publication section of this dissertation. The first article discusses the current state of data utilization and opportunities in the Finnish water supply industry. The second article concludes the big data research by presenting the role of innovation capabilities in the big data value creation process and business model. The third article examines digital financial management innovations and digitalization opportunities from a blockchain perspective. The fourth article describes how e-service businesses use cloud-based information technologies to support virtual organization and enable different strategic choices for the business model.

The dissertation illustrates the current state of data utilization and digitalization opportunities in selected areas, and develops frameworks for further study and analysis. The leverage of digitalization is also reviewed from the perspectives of servitization and service-dominant logic on value creation. The results indicate that there is much room for improvement in the utilization of both open and big data. Data-intensive and agile management approaches definitely require new leadership and data management skills and competences. Solid and enthusiastic leadership is essential to succeed in efficiently developing data-intensive approaches and data-driven innovations in the business model.