Potentials of Digital Business Models – Empirical investigation of data driven impacts in industry

An elaborate business model is the fundament of every firm as it describes the manner of functioning. In the course of the new developments of digitization technologies such as Big Data and Data Science, business models and processes have changed tremendously and new business models pop up as never before. Although theory and practice show increasingly interest in the potentials of new business models through digitization, prior research has not demonstrated yet the main driver of its significantly use. To close this research gap, the authors implemented an empirical study based on a theoretical foundation and found four main driver (with five items each) regarding potentials of digital business models: Key Performance Indicators, Individualization, Efficiency and Communication. The results of the structural equation model (SEM) approach show that all four determinants do have a positive as well as significant influence on the potentials of digital business models. Interestingly, the main impact on the potentials of digital business models comes from Key Performance Indicators.