The open long tail model between new culture and digital technology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7433/s93.2014.06Keywords:
accessibility, feasibility, manufacturing industry, open business model, 3-D printingAbstract
Purpose of the paper: The aim of this paper is to describe an emerging business model that comes from the digitization of the world of tangible products.
Methodology: The creation of niche products, their production and sales in an open business model is analyzed through the literature review of bth models and sustained by the analysis of practice cases.
Findings: This new business model, defined by the authors as the open long tail model, includes the features of both the open business model and the long tail model because it sustains the collaborative trend of the web generation and creates a large number of niche, physical things rather that “just pixels on screens”.
Research limits: Given its focus on the empirical evidence from the diffusion of new digital and flexible technologies, our analysis has identified a new trend in the manufacturing industry business model that seems to have a positive effect on the organization as well as the customer.
Practical implications: The future of this emerging business model looks promising thanks to its democratization of creativity and manufacturing trajectory and its capability to create more revenue for anyone willing to undertake this venture.
Originality of the paper: This new stream of creativity, democratization and innovation is possible thanks to the open long tail model based on the new user that wants to make objects, the emergence of digital tools for design and production, the collaboration between actors.
References
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PISANO G.P., VERGANTI R. (2008), “Which Kind of Collaboration is Right for You?”, Harvard Business Review, vol. 86, n. 12, pp. 78-86.
PORTER M.E. (1980), Competitive Strategy, The Free Press, New York.
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SANDERSON S., UZUMERI M. (1995), “Managing product families: The case of the Sony Walkman”, Research Policy, vol. 24, n. 5, pp. 761-782.
SENNETH R. (2009), The Craftsman, Yale University Press, 1 edition, New Haven, London.
SHAN W., WALKER G., KOGUT B. (1994), “Interfirm cooperation and startup innovation in the biotechnology industry”, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 15, n. 5, pp. 387-94.
SHON D.A. (1984), The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think In Action, Basic Books (1st Edition).
SIGGELKOW N. (2007), “Persuasion with case studies”, Academy of Management Journal, n. 50, pp. 20-24.
STUART T.E. (2000), “Interorganizational alliances and the performance of firms: a study of growth and innovation rates in high-technology industry”, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 21, n. 8, pp. 791-811.
VON HIPPEL E. (2009), “Democratizing innovation: the evolving phenomenon of user innovation”, International Journal of Innovation Science, vol. 1, n. 1, pp. 29-40.
YAIR K., TOMES A., PRESS M. (1999), “Design through making: crafts knowledge as facilitator to collaborative new product development”, Design Studies, vol. 20, n. 6, pp. 495-515.
YIN R.K. (1994), Case study research: Design and methods (2nd ed. ), Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
YIN R.K. (2008), Case study research: Design and methods. Vol. 5, Sage Publications, Incorporated
AHUJA G. (2000), “Collaboration networks, structural holes and innovation: a longitudinal study”, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 45, n. 3, pp. 425-455.
AMIT R., ZOTT C. (2001), “Value creation in E-business”, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 22, n. 6-7, pp. 493-520.
ANDERSON C. (2006), The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, Hyperion, New York.
ANDERSON C. (2013), “Maker movement”, Wired, May.
BAUM J.A.C., CALABRESE T., SILVERMAN B.S. (2000), “Don’t go it alone: Alliance network composition and startups’ performance in Canadian biotechnology”, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 21, n. 23, pp. 267-294.
BAUM J. A. C. , OLIVER C. (1991), “Institutional linkages and organisational mortality”, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 36, n. 2, pp. 187-218.
BINDER T., BRANDT E. (2008), The Design: Lab as platform in participatory design research. CoDesign, vol. 4, n. 2, pp. 75-92.
CHESBROUGH H., (2006a), Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge (MA).
CHESBROUGH H., (2006b), “New puzzles and new findings”, in Chesbrough H., Vanhaverbeke W., West J. (Eds), Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
CHESBROUGH H., SCHWARTZ K. (2007), “Innovating business models with co-development partnerships”, Research-Technology Management, vol. 50, n. 1, pp. 55-59.
EDMONDSON A.C., BOHMER R.M., PISANO G.P. (2001), “Disrupted routines: Team learning and new technology implementation in hospitals”, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 46, n. 4, pp. 685-716.
EHN P. (2005), “Participation in Interaction Design: Actors and Artifacts in Interaction” in Bagnara S. , Crampton Smith J. (eds), Theories and Practices in Interaction Design, Laurence Erlbaum Associates, London.
EISENHARDT K.M. (1989a), “Making fast strategic decisions in high-velocity environments”, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 32, n. 3, pp. 543-576.
EISENHARDT K.M. (1989b), “Building theories from case study research”, Academy of Management Review, vol. 14, n. 4, pp. 532-550.
EISENHARDT K.M. (1991), “Better stories and better constructs: The case for rigor and comparative logic”, Academy of Management Review, vol. 16, n. 3, pp. 620-627.
EISENHARDT K.M., GRAEBNER M.E. (2007), “Theory building from cases: opportunities and Challenges”, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 50, n. 1, pp. 25-32.
FLORIDA R. (2003), “Cities and the Creative Class”, City & Community, vol. 2, n. 1, pp. 3-19.
FRIEDMAN T.L. (2010), “Average is over”, International Herald Tribune, 25 October.
GALUNIC D.C., EISENHARDT K.M. (2001), “Architectural innovation and modular corporate forms”, Academy of Management Journal, n. 44, pp. 1229-1249.
GILBERT C.G. (2005), “Unbundling the structure of inertia: Resource versus routine rigidity”, Academy of Management Journal, n. 48, pp. 741-763.
HAGEDOORN J., SCHAKENRAAD J. (1994), “The effect of strategic technology alliances on company performance”, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 15, n. 4, pp. 291-309.
JOHNSON M.W., CHRISTENSEN C.M., KAGERMANN H. (2008), “Reinventing your business model”, Harvard Business Review, vol. 86, n. 12, pp. 59-67.
KEKRE S., SRINIVASAN K. (1990), “Broader Product Line: A Necessity to Achieve Success?”, Management Science, vol. 36, n. 10, pp. 1216-1231.
MCKELVEY M. (2001), “The Economic Dynamics Of Software: Three Competing Business Models Exemplified Through Microsoft, Netscape And Linux”, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, vol. 10, n, 2-3, pp. 199-236.
MICELLI S. (2011), Futuro Artigiano, L’innovazione nelle mani degli Italiani, Marsilio.
MICELLI S., RULLANI E. (2011), “Idee motrici, intelligenza personale, spazio metropolitano: tre proposte per il nuovo Made in Italy nell’economia globale di oggi”, Sinergie, n. 84, Gennaio-Aprile.
MINTZBERG H. (1979), “An emerging strategy of “direct” research”, Administrative science quarterly, vol. 24, n. 4, pp. 582-589.
MINTZBERG H., WATERS J.A. (1982), “Tracking strategy in an entrepreneurial firm”, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 25, n. 3, pp. 465-499.
OSTERWALDER A., PIGNEUR Y. (2010), Business Model Generation, Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey.
PETTIGREW A. (1988), “Longitudinal field research on change: Theory and practice”. Paper presented at the National Science Foundation Conference on Longitudinal Research Methods in Organizations, Austin.
PISANO G.P., VERGANTI R. (2008), “Which Kind of Collaboration is Right for You?”, Harvard Business Review, vol. 86, n. 12, pp. 78-86.
PORTER M.E. (1980), Competitive Strategy, The Free Press, New York.
POWELL W.W., KOPUT K.W., SMITH-DOERR L. (1996), “Interorganisational collaboration and the locus of innovation: networks of learning in biotechnology”, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 41, n. 1, March, pp. 116-45.
PRAHALAD C.K., RAMASWAMY V. (2004), The future of Competition, Co-creating Unique Value with Customers, Harvard Business School Press.
SANDERSON S., UZUMERI M. (1995), “Managing product families: The case of the Sony Walkman”, Research Policy, vol. 24, n. 5, pp. 761-782.
SENNETH R. (2009), The Craftsman, Yale University Press, 1 edition, New Haven, London.
SHAN W., WALKER G., KOGUT B. (1994), “Interfirm cooperation and startup innovation in the biotechnology industry”, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 15, n. 5, pp. 387-94.
SHON D.A. (1984), The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think In Action, Basic Books (1st Edition).
SIGGELKOW N. (2007), “Persuasion with case studies”, Academy of Management Journal, n. 50, pp. 20-24.
STUART T.E. (2000), “Interorganizational alliances and the performance of firms: a study of growth and innovation rates in high-technology industry”, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 21, n. 8, pp. 791-811.
VON HIPPEL E. (2009), “Democratizing innovation: the evolving phenomenon of user innovation”, International Journal of Innovation Science, vol. 1, n. 1, pp. 29-40.
YAIR K., TOMES A., PRESS M. (1999), “Design through making: crafts knowledge as facilitator to collaborative new product development”, Design Studies, vol. 20, n. 6, pp. 495-515.
YIN R.K. (1994), Case study research: Design and methods (2nd ed. ), Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
YIN R.K. (2008), Case study research: Design and methods. Vol. 5, Sage Publications, Incorporated
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Published
2018-10-28
