MEASURING THE BUSINESS MODEL: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL APPLIED TO BOTH EDUCATIONAL FIELD AND UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY COLLABORATION EXPERIENCES

The business model concept emerged during the 90s with the advent of the internet, since then interest in its study has continued to increase among academics and practitioners. Recent studies stress the high impact that Business Models and Business Model Innovation have on business strategy, performance and sustainability. This, in turn, is of great relevance for the university in its role of promoting growth and territorial employment through the "knowledge triangle" (education, research and innovation).

Nevertheless, despite the huge amount of knowledge generated around the definition of the concept, its components, types as well as their impact on a firm’s performance during these years, there is still no reliable frameworks for the applicability of the term, nor a solid basis that enables the assessment of which factors transform and affect business models and their impact on a firm's performance. In addition, more and more authors are highlighting the relevance of metrics that help in the measurement of these elements.

Together with this, the need for more structured knowledge around the business model phenomenon has been identified, in order to apply it to both the educational field and the University-Industry collaboration field.

Thus, this paper describes the ongoing research project that is being carried out to develop a framework for Business Model measurement. This framework will be focused on the study of causal relationships between the drivers influencing Business Models, Business model patterns, Business Model Innovation activities and their impact on business performance.

The results of the study will follow a twofold purpose. On the one hand, it seeks to develop a diagnostic tool that will allow us to measure local firms’ business models so as to develop services focused on innovating their business models with a view to increasing their competitiveness and sustainability. On the other hand, the accumulation of knowledge related to the topic will enable us to develop new teaching material in the fields of innovation management and entrepreneurship, such as Best Practices case studies, simulation tools or playing cards.

To this end, this article presents several contributions. Firstly, the conceptual framework for the measurement of Business Model is described. Secondly, the process behind the development of the diagnostic tool is proposed. Thirdly, the applicability of the tool is studied in both the educational field and the University-Industry collaboration field. Finally, some considerations are given regarding theoretical and practical aspects related to the implementation of the measuring system and future research.