Ze14 - Improving Computer Support For Collaborative Business Model Design And Exploration

Finding a viable and sustainable business model is a major challenge not only for startup companies. Estab- lished companies are re-thinking their existing business models and explore new business opportunities. The Business Model Canvas is currently one of the most popular frameworks for business model innovation. While computer-aided design (CAD) tools are well-established in mechanical engineering, business model design is still mostly done using pen-and-paper methods. In this paper, we (1) discuss benefits and shortcomings of the Business Model Canvas approach, (2) show how it can borrow techniques from General Morphological Analysis to overcome shortcomings, and (3) derive three key requirements for future collaborative CAD tools for business model design. Our analysis contributes to an understanding of how software support can improve collaborative design and evaluation of business models.