Business Meta-Models and the Saga of Business-IT Strategic Alignment

Proceedings of the Fifteenth Americas Conference on Information Systems, San Francisco, California, August 6th-9th, 2009

10 Pages Posted: 16 Nov 2009 Last revised: 19 Nov 2009

See all articles by Chris Kimble

Chris Kimble

Kedge Business School; MRM

Isabelle Bourdon

Université Montpellier II

Laurence Lehmann-Ortega

GSCM - Montpellier Business School

Date Written: August 16, 2009

Abstract

This paper argues that applying the idea of a meta-model, derived from modeling in computer science, to the more informal notions of business models found in the management literature provides researchers with a useful lens through which to view the relationship between IT and business strategy. It provides a brief description of the concepts of a business model and a meta-model and presents four case studies using a particular meta-model for organizations that have achieved strategic innovations. Three of the cases, Amazon, Dell and eBay are well known and are based on secondary sources; the fourth case, a wedding list service called '1001 Listes', is less widely known and is based on both literature and primary research. The paper concludes with some observations on the role played by IT in business strategy and some suggestions about how the approach of using meta-models could be developed further.

Keywords: Business model, Meta-model, Strategic alignment, Strategic innovation

JEL Classification: L1

Suggested Citation

Kimble, Chris and Bourdon, Isabelle and Lehmann-Ortega, Laurence, Business Meta-Models and the Saga of Business-IT Strategic Alignment (August 16, 2009). Proceedings of the Fifteenth Americas Conference on Information Systems, San Francisco, California, August 6th-9th, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1507208

Chris Kimble (Contact Author)

Kedge Business School ( email )

Domaine de Luminy
Marseille, Côte d'Azur 13288
France
+33 (0)4 91 82 79 83 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.chris-kimble.com/

MRM ( email )

Place Eugène Bataillon
Montpellier, 34095
France

Isabelle Bourdon

Université Montpellier II ( email )

Place eugène Bataillon
Montpellier, 34000
France

Laurence Lehmann-Ortega

GSCM - Montpellier Business School ( email )

2300, Avenue des Moulins
Montpellier, 34185
France

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