Business Model Definition and Boundaries

The second chapter of this book focuses on the conceptualization of a BM and particularly on the definitions and boundaries of BMs that the literature has proposed over the last 15 years. In the first part of this chapter, we propose different definitions of BM categorized according to: the conceptual abstraction (i.e., strategic, narrative, process-based, and cognitive conceptual abstractions); the BM architecture (i.e., BM as a structure; BM as a system; BM as a network); the content of BM components (i.e., strategic activities and managerial decisions; resources; networks and relationships; and value) and to the dynamic approaches (with particular focus on strategic management and organizational studies). Finally, we review all the definitions of BM included in the 156 papers considered for our systematic literature review of BMI. Thus, according to a brief citation analysis, we have identified the most influential works on BM that contributed most to the academic and practice-oriented development of the literature of BMI.