Timmers Proposed Business Models - Essay Example

He gave the definition of a business model as being an architecture for the business, a description of benefits for the business actors and a description of a source of revenues (Timmers, 1998). His business models were e-shop, e-procurement, e-auction, e-mall, third-party marketplace, virtual communities, value-chain service provider, value-chain integrators, collaboration platforms, and information brokerage, trust and other services (Timmers, 1998). The e-shop model was envisioned by Timmers to be the Web marketing of a company or a shop.

The Internet portion of this business was marketing. Timmers also stated that the Internet may also be used to order the goods and services, as well as pay for the goods and services. E-procurement is the procurement of goods and services. At that time, large companies and public authorities were the ones procuring in this manner. E-auction is another business model. This is where individuals bid on goods, much like E-Bay. E-mall was envisioned as an electronic mall, which would consist of e-shops connected by a common umbrella, like a well-known brand.

A third-party marketplace is where companies leave the Internet marketing to a third party, such as a marketing event such as e-Christmas. Virtual communities is another business model, which can generate both advertising revenues and membership fees as its income source. Amazon.com was cited as a virtual community by Timmers, as well as communities offering apparel and technology. Value-chain service provider is another e-commerce business model, and this is where a company specializes in a specific part of the value chain, such as electronic payments.

Value-chain integrators are business which integrate the value chain. The collaboration platform provides tools and information for collaboration between enterprises. Information brokerage, trust and services are business which add value to the data available on open networks, such as information search, customer profiling, investment advice and the like (Timmers, 1998). Critique of Timmers' Business Models Wirtz et al. integrates some of Timmers' concepts, stating that there are four broad internet business models - content oriented business models, which provide on-line access to content, such as magazines and newspapers on-line; commerce oriented, which offer goods and services on-line; context-oriented, which structures the information found on the web, as opposed to providing content, goods or services; and connection-oriented, which provide the infrastructure which enables the user's participation in online networks (Wirtz et al., 2010, p. 4).

Likewise, Tvrkiova and Koubek (2010) integrate the ways that firms may do business and put them into broader categories than did Timmers. They state that electronic business models may be classified as e-business, which means that communication and commerce uses the Internet as the main instrument; e-commerce, in which modern communication technologies are used to increase the effectiveness of relationships between companies and consumers; e-marketplace, which is a marketplace, much like an e-mall; e-procurement, which is a business model where business obtain or provide something over the Internet; and e-marketing, where business sell products through a network (Tvrdikova & Koubek, 2010, p. 271). Rao et al.

Classifies e-business applications into three major categories. The first category is electronic marketplaces, where goods and services are bought and sold; interorganizational systems, which facilitate the flow of goods, services, communication and collaboration; and customer service, which provide customer service, such as handling complaints and tracking orders (Rao &