Zott et al. The Business Model 1023 Business model articles in the business/ management field 1975198019851990199520002005 year PnAJ PAJ Note: This area graph shows trends in the number of business model articles. PnAJ= articles published in monaca- demic journals: PAJ= articles published in academic journals. Source: Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost database, January 1975-December 2009 This lack of definitional clarity represents a potential source of confusion, promoting spersion rather than convergence of perspectives and obstructing cumulative research progress on business models. Table I summarizes some of the most prevalent definitions suggested for the business model and shows which articles have adopted these definitions. Our review further revealed that the business model has been employed mainly in trying to address or explain three phenomena: (1)e-business and the use of information technology in organizations; (2)strategic issues, such as value creation, competitive advantage, and firm performance; and (3) innovation and technology management. Although we do not wish to claim mutual exclusivity among these categories, we believe that they allow us to broadly classify the business model literature. Therefore, we use them as organizing principles for his review Business Models for e-Business The research stream that, to date, has devoted the greatest attention to business models concerns e-business. The term e-business means"doing business electronically. "It encom passes e-commerce, e-markets, and Internet-based business and refers to firms that conduct Downloadedfromjom.sagepub.comaFudaNUnivLibonMarch13,2012Zott et al. / The Business Model 1023 This lack of definitional clarity represents a potential source of confusion, promoting dispersion rather than convergence of perspectives and obstructing cumulative research progress on business models. Table 1 summarizes some of the most prevalent definitions suggested for the business model and shows which articles have adopted these definitions. Our review further revealed that the business model has been employed mainly in trying to address or explain three phenomena: (1) e-business and the use of information technology in organizations; (2) strategic issues, such as value creation, competitive advantage, and firm performance; and (3) innovation and technology management. Although we do not wish to claim mutual exclusivity among these categories, we believe that they allow us to broadly classify the business model literature. Therefore, we use them as organizing principles for this review. Business Models for e-Business The research stream that, to date, has devoted the greatest attention to business models concerns e-business. The term e-business means “doing business electronically.” It encom￾passes e-commerce, e-markets, and Internet-based business and refers to firms that conduct Note: This area graph shows trends in the number of business model articles. PnAJ = articles published in nonaca￾demic journals; PAJ = articles published in academic journals. Source: Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost database, January 1975–December 2009. 0 200 400 600 800 number of publications (by year) 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 year PnAJ PAJ 1000 Figure 1 Business Model Articles in the Business/Management Field Downloaded from jom.sagepub.com at FUDAN UNIV LIB on March 13, 2012