The Online World

The birth of an entirely new industry is usually the result of a visionary idea for a new product, service or industrial process. Evolving the idea into a viable commercial proposition will often involve solving significant scientific or technological problems. Zott and Amit (2007) noted that in the early years of a new industry there is only limited understanding of what market opportunities exist and how these might be exploited. Over time, as summarised in Figure 1.1, interaction between identified opportunities, the nature of the technology and organisational capability leads to the emergence of one or more new business models. Open image in new window Figure 1.1 Business model emergence