Title: Openness in innovation and business models: lessons from the newspaper industry

Authors: Anna B. Holm; Franziska Günzel; John Parm Ulhøi

Addresses: School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 10, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark ' School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 10, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark ' School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 10, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

Abstract: The literature on open innovation portrays open business models as a contemporary and extremely useful tool, which can be used by companies to create and capture value in collaboration with external partners. This paper takes the discussion a step further by examining the effect of opening business models in the newspaper industry. Based on interviews with key informants from the two largest media groups in Denmark, together with archival data from 2002 to 2011, we show how the internet and related technology developments have disrupted the long-standing successful business model of the industry. Our findings suggest that a more nuanced view and balanced understanding of the term 'openness' as regards business models is needed, since open business models may have other manifestations and implications for business model viability than have been reported in the literature so far.

Keywords: business model innovation; open business models; internet; newspaper industry; open innovation; technological discontinuities; business model openness; collaboration; media groups; Denmark.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2013.052674

International Journal of Technology Management, 2013 Vol.61 No.3/4, pp.324 - 348

Published online: 23 Apr 2013 *

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