Identifying and Shaping Digital Business Models

The WIFU Foundation’s publication WIFU_compact_12: Identifying and Shaping Digital Business Models (2023) provides a systematic overview of how digitalisation can have an impact at the business model level, going beyond individual measures. The starting point is the observation that, whilst many companies do use digital technologies, they often fail to integrate them strategically into value creation, their service offering and value preservation.

The publication categorises digitalisation according to three core dimensions – internal processes, external interaction, and digital products and services – and links this to a three-phase understanding of transformation (digitisation, digitalisation, digital transformation). Building on this, the business model is analysed as an aggregation of the three value dimensions – value creation, value proposition and value preservation – and the publication highlights when a business model can be described as genuinely digital.

Particular emphasis is placed on the specific challenges faced by family businesses. Six key areas for action are identified, ranging from active support from owners and management through to suitable cooperation models and iterative learning and adaptation processes. This edition is based on the practical guide *Digital Business Models in Family Businesses* by Clauß and Scheffler and applies its findings in a concise form to strategic decision-making within entrepreneurial families.