A Framework for Modeling Value in Service-Oriented Business Models - Conceptualizations and Graphical Representation

Many firms redesign their business models to be service-oriented in light of the increasingly central role that services play in their businesses and strategies. Two fundamental questions should be addressed in designing service-oriented business models: "how is value created for and with the customers by the service provider?" and, "how is the value captured by the service provider?" The first question deals with "value reation" while the second addresses "value capture"-both of which are important facets of any business model. Thus, we suggest that a service-oriented business model that addresses these two questions can sustain the viability and competitiveness of the firm as a service provider. The extant research mainly focuses on the service design from the value creation perspective. Thereby, service providers' value capture and its trade off with value created for and with service customers have been inadequately addressed. In this paper, adopting a holistic perspective, we introduce a modeling framework that can assist in understanding, analysis and design of value (i.e. value creation and capture and their interplay) in service-oriented business models. Our modeling framework consists of a set of conceptualizations and a graphical representation. The conceptualizations are derived from insights of the extant theories, constructs and frameworks on value creation and capture in business and service-oriented business models. We illustrate the applicability of our framework by conducting a descriptive case study of the value creation and capture in Amazon's business model in the period between 1997 and 2001.