Quality and Innovation

Innovation is what happens when we create new value by meeting needs. Sometimes, this comes in the form of a new process, product, or program. Other times, it comes in the form of reconfiguring the whole ecosystem for creating and sharing that value — also known as “business model innovation.”

A business model is a conceptual tool containing a set of objects, concepts and their relationships with the objective to express the business logic of a specific firm. Therefore we must consider which concepts and relationships allow a simplified description and representation of what value is provided to customers, how this is done and with which financial consequences. — Osterwalder, Pigneur, & Tucci (2005)

But if you’re an academic (or part of the BIF community), where do you find research on business model innovation, and where should you publish research and insights about business model innovation? I have a paper that’s in preparation, and I need to know where I should send it (mostly, just to know how many words I should have before I stop writing). So I went on a little journey to help figure this out, which also yielded a recommendation for three authors that you really should read if you’re publishing in this area.

Step 1: Read Zott, Amit & Massa (2011) – which provides a contemporary literature review of research on business models.

Step 2: Decide whether you’d like to publish in a traditional journal that covers business models and business model innovation, but is not solely dedicated to that pursuit. As its source material, the Zott article drew from 9 academic journals and 3 practitioner journals that meet this criterion. You can start your process by exploring business model research in these journals:

Academic Journals:

• Academy of Management Journal (AMJ),
• Academy of Management Review (AMR),
• Administrative Science Quarterly (ASQ),
• Journal of Management (JOM),
• Journal of Management Studies (JMS),
• Management Science (MS),
• MIS Quarterly,
• Organization Science (OS),
• Strategic Management Journal (SMJ)

Practitioner-oriented journals:

• California Management Review (CMR)
• Harvard Business Review (HBR),
• MIT Sloan Management Review (MSM)

Step 3: Consider journals that are new and/or primarily focused on business model innovation. Here are 3 that I found, with information about their publication and the publishing process. Enjoy exploring.

1. Journal of Business Models
http://journals.aau.dk/index.php/JOBM
Author guidelines at http://journals.aau.dk/index.php/JOBM/about/submissions#authorGuidelines
Sample Issue at: http://journals.aau.dk/index.php/JOBM/issue/view/106
PAGE CHARGES: Yes, but amount not specified

OPEN ACCESS POLICY/Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
Audience: Academics and Consultants
Scope: International
Format: 5000-8000 words, MS Word
References: Harvard style (examples in author guidelines)
Accepts: Research paper, viewpoint, technical paper, conceptual paper, case study, lit review, review

The array of perspectives presented above lead to the identification of 10 key theme areas for which the
Journal of Business Models intends to have a special focus:

1. Business Model Design: designing, rejuvenating, innovating and facilitating
2. Implementing business models: the execution process
3. Commercialization and exploitation of ideas through business models: challenging entrepreneurial processes
4. Seeking the true benefits of a globalised world: how internationalization of activities affects business
models
5. Business model archetypes and key components: integrating building blocks and typologies
6. The strategic partnerships of business models: Roles and relationships within and among business models
7. Business models and high-tech ventures
8. The performance of business models: Dilemmas and paradoxes of performance measurement consequences
9. Defining what business models are about: The epistemological and conceptual roots of business models and
their differences with strategy, strategic management, organisation and business planning
10. Tools and techniques

“Soon we are opening a new section on book reviews. If you are interested in making a book review please send
an e-mail to Christian Nielsen (chn@business.aau.dk). The first review is of Osterwalder and Pigneur’s new
book “Value Proposition Design” which will be published soon.”

2. Long Range Planning (an International Journal of Strategic Management)
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/long-range-planning/
Author guidelines at: http://www.elsevier.com/journals/long-range-planning/0024-6301/guide-for-authors
Sample articles at: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/long-range-planning/open-access-articles/
PAGE CHARGES: Yes, $1800 USD, if you want your article to be open access.

OPEN ACCESS OPTION
Audience: Academics
Scope: International
Format: MS Word, length not specified
References: examples in author guidelines
Accepts: Research paper, technical paper

“The areas of work published by LRP include, among others: corporate strategy and governance, business strategy and new business models, international dimensions of strategy, strategies for emerging markets, entrepreneurship, innovation, organizational structure and design, corporate social responsibility, management of technology, methods for strategy research, and business processes.”

3. Open Journal of Business Model Innovation
http://www.scipublish.com/journals/BMI/
Auhor Guidelines at
Sample Article at: http://www.scipublish.com/journals/BMI/papers/1250 (can download PDF)
PAGE CHARGES: YES, but only after 3/31/05

OPEN ACCESS POLICY/IP sharing license not cited
Audience: Academics and Practitioners
Scope: International
Format: MS Word, “approximately 10 pages” with Cover Letter
References: examples in sample article
Accepts: Research papers, issue analysis, rigorous new insights that will advance the field

The Open Journal of Business Model Innovation is a peer-reviewed journal published by Scientific Online
Publishing. It presents current academic research and practical findings in field of business model
innovation. Topics appropriate and related to business model innovation include the role of business models
within corporations, the process and instruments for business model innovation, business models within
several industries, social business models and business models in emerging markets. Topics also include the
quantitative and qualitative evaluation of business models. The journal addresses issues as: What are the
drivers for business model innovation? How companies innovate their business model? How do companies evaluate
existing and new business models? How do companies integrate business models in their corporation? How do
companies manage multiple business models? Disciplinary boundaries that straddle business model innovation
include strategic management, entrepreneurship, innovation management and others.