Developing a common understanding of business models from the product development perspective

With the Solar Roof, Tesla offers a roof in which photovoltaic cells are integrated into the tiles. Tesla can generate revenue streams through the development, production and sale of the Solar Roof. The customer of the Solar Roof can protect his building from the weather and at the same time generate revenue through the operation of the solar cells. The example shows that in addition to Tesla’s business model, the customer of the Solar Roof also has a business model. Tesla’s business model can be assigned to the strategic level and represents a focus of current research. The Solar Roof customer’s business model can be assigned to the product level. Business models at the product level have not yet been comprehensively researched. Therefore, this article proposes perspectives into which business models in product development can be divided and how these can be explained and described. For business models in product development, the three perspectives business models for products, business models as part of products and business models as products were proposed. Furthermore, a model was proposed to explain the difference between business models for products and business models as part of products. Moreover, a model for a product with a business model as part of the product was proposed. Additionally, six case studies were used to show how business models as part of products can lead to additional benefits for providers, customers and users. The proposed models can support product developers in systematically developing market differentiating products through a business models as part of the product.