The business model: Present and future—beyond a skeumorph

In this essay, we address the research question of when is the business model idea useful? We argue that the use of the term “business model” as a “description” of how a traditional venture operates is strong on redundancy and weak on theoretical grounding. We argue that the idea behind a “model” of value creation, especially involving nonmonetary exchanges is, however, of great importance moving forward. Up to this point, there has been a quite practical approach used in understanding the idea and its effects. But now, there is a need to transition from the “idea-as-given” perspective to a “not-given” perspective in order to place the business model in a theoretical perspective where it can be understood in more abstract terms and then applied in new ways. That transition leads to new research questions, a new determination of the idea’s value in nontraditional contexts, and new effects on existing related theories and on policies to control potential effects.