Novel business models formanufacturing firms

Abstract

In this work, a series of novel business models, employed in modern manufacturing firms, are investigated. Their structure and operation are presented and analyzed. Traditional business models have been pursued with minor variations for a long time. The economic recession, however, has now intrigued stakeholders to think over some of the elements found in the current business models. Flexibility on manufacturing, pricing, research and development, supply and marketing are reconsidered. In order to evaluate the applicability of the proposed business models, they are studied in the shoe manufacturing sector, where both automated machining and labour intensive manufacturing activities are present.