New Business Models: Examining the Role of Principles Relating to Transactions and Interactions

Different sources indicate signals that our current economic ideas no longer function. New ways of organizing are emerging in which sustainability is often central. This chapter presents the results of exploratory research initiated by Radboud University Nijmegen on new business models (NBMs). The research demonstrates that NBMs appear to be ‘hot’ and ‘happening’. But what is a business model and in what sense is it sustainable? This study focuses on business models that create so-called ‘multiple value(s)’, which refers to a way of organizing that not only focuses on the task of organization itself, but also on organization between organizations—or better: organizing entities. This approach to organizing generates social and ecological value, in addition to economic value. For the purpose of this research, a series of interviews were conducted in order to gain insight into the phenomenon of NBMs. The aim was to combine this fresh empirical evidence with theoretical underpinnings from previous scholarship in order to explore the field, discover the nature of NBMs, their features, and how they function in (micro-)practice. Ultimately, this examination revealed the phenomenon of an altered balance between the simultaneous organization of different values such as nature, care, attention, and money. While many roads lead to interesting discoveries with respect to these aspects, and the research is still at an early stage, the first results from the study indicate some initial clear common denominators emerging from this journey. These preliminary findings suggest that early NBMs can be generally categorized into different streams based on the practice of sharing, trading, and creating. Most significantly, the results indicate that the ability to connect holds increasing social and economic value, and that these connections create all sorts of new consortia and constituent configurations.