We’re All in This Together: A Process Perspective on Actors’ Business Model Alignment in Data Ecosystems

Ammann, Jana; Kernstock, Philipp; Hess, Thomas und Krcmar, Helmut (2025): We’re All in This Together: A Process Perspective on Actors’ Business Model Alignment in Data Ecosystems. ICIS 2025: International Conference on Information Systems, Nashville, USA, 14. - 17. Dezember 2025. ICIS2025-2278 Atlanta: AIS.

Abstract

In today’s increasingly digital and data-driven world, business models are recognized as both dynamic and systemic constructs, yet most prior research addresses either their evolution or ecosystem-embeddedness. This study integrates both perspectives by developing a process model of actors’ business model alignment in data ecosystems. Drawing on a two-year longitudinal embedded case study of two operational data ecosystems—Catena-X and the Mobility Data Space—and on 39 qualitative interviews, we examine how actors align their business models over time. We identify an actor’s lifecycle comprising entry, business modeling, and exit. At the core lies a recursive process of implementing, evaluating, and adjusting business models to achieve vertical alignment with the ecosystem’s evolving shared business logic and horizontal alignment with other actors’ models. Our findings contribute to the literature on business models, data ecosystems, and digital platform ecosystems and offer practical guidance for sustaining viable business models in evolving ecosystem contexts.

• Dokumententyp: Konferenzbeitrag (Paper)
• Keywords: Business models ; data ecosystems ; digital platform ecosystems ; process perspective
• Fakultät: Betriebswirtschaft > Institut für Digitales Management und Neue Medien > Daten-basierte Geschäftskonzepte
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 330 Wirtschaft
• Ort: Atlanta
• Sprache: Englisch