Weaving Business Model Patterns
Understanding Business Models
Mar
´
ıa Camila Romero, Mario S
´
anchez and Jorge Villalobos
Systems and Computing Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Bogot
´
a, Colombia
Keywords:
Business Model, Structural View, Behavioral View, Business Model Pattern.
Abstract:
A business model describes the way in which an organization acquires raw materials, transforms them into a
product or service that is delivered to a client, and gains money in exchange. In consequence, it is possible to
decompose the model into four core processes: supply, transformation, delivery, and monetization, which have
both structural and behavioral dependencies among them. Unfortunately, most business model representations
focus only on the structural part and leave aside the interactions between said processes. The objective of this
paper is twofold. Firstly, it presents a conceptualization and representation for business models that is capable
of handling their components and interactions. Secondly, it uses the proposed representation to introduce a
catalog of business patterns applicable in the design and analysis of business models. Each pattern includes
the basic participants, resources, activities and interactions that must be accounted for in order to perform the
core process.
1 INTRODUCTION
Business models describe the way in which an or-
ganization transforms, delivers and monetizes value.
Though this definition is quite simple, it has led to
different interpretations and consequently, a great
variety of models that try to embrace the concept.
However, this broad selection of models has also
contributed to a lack of formality in the idea itself
(Lindgren and Rasmussen, 2013). It is no longer
clear how business models are supposed to be used,
designed, or described. In addition to the scarcity of
standards, there is a dearth of means to define and
communicate business models, so that they can be
understood, analyzed, and improved upon.
With a precise definition of a business model,
small and medium enterprises (SME) could perceive
various benefits. Since their main concern is staying
afloat in the market, long term decisions are not part
of their priorities, leading to two possible outcomes:
either they grow and manage to position in the
market, or they fail, cease to exist (Frick and Ali,
2013) and stop contributing to the economic growth,
innovation and employment of their country (Robu,
2013).With a well defined business model, SMEs
would be able to recognize the different relationships
present in their business and plan ahead, in order to
execute a successful strategy.
The critical problem with current business model
representations is the focus on a structural dimen-
sion (e.g., Osterwalder’s Canvas (Osterwalder and
Pigneur, 2010), or Gordijns e3-value (Gordijn and
Akkermans, 2001). In particular, they leave (mostly)
aside the specification of how business models
components interact and behave in order to make the
model work. Therefore, only a partial understanding
of the business can be achieved with these business
models. Additional artifacts are thus required,
especially to achieve the goals behind Enterprise
Modeling and Enterprise Engineering efforts.
This paper proposes two contributions. Firstly,
it presents a conceptualization and representation of
business models that includes all of their elements
and allows further and more advanced analysis and
understanding. Secondly, it introduces a catalog of
business patterns which targets all the aspects of a
business model. These patterns are intended to be
the starting point for understanding and improving
business models, especially in small and medium
enterprises.
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 dis-
cusses the current understanding and representation
of business models. Then, Section 3 presents our pro-
posal for understanding business models by showing
all its elements and the way in which they can be
graphically represented. Next, the designed catalog
of business patterns is introduced, and a few selected
patterns are presented. Finally, related work is presented
496
Romero, M., Sánchez, M. and Villalobos, J.
Weaving Business Model Patterns - Understanding Business Models.
In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS 2016) - Volume 2, pages 496-505
ISBN: 978-989-758-187-8
Copyright
c
2016 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
in Section 5, and in Section 6 the paper is concluded
.
2 UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS
MODELS
A business is defined as a commercial activity in
which one engages in, in exchange for money. Re-
gardless of the product or service that is being ex-
changed, to produce the desired revenue every busi-
ness transforms, delivers, and monetizes value. The
way in which they do so, is known as a business
model.
Several attempts to define what a business model
is, have led to a diversity of interpretations. In turn,
the concept has become blurry and there are no formal
representations for it. This scenario explains the suc-
cess of tools such as Alexander Osterwalder’s Busi-
ness Model Canvas (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010).
The simple yet complete representation of the busi-
ness model, has been adopted worldwide for describ-
ing businesses. By identifying 9 key elements, a can-
vas is able to communicate how a business works on a
superficial level, and even propose alternative designs
in order to adjust the model in a changing environ-
ment. Thus, these 9 elements allow the description of
the business model, by defining its structural compo-
nents.
2.1 Core Processes
Supply
Transform
Monetize
Deliver
Figure 1: Business Model Processes.
Another perspective for understanding business
models is the way in which an organization acquires
supplies, transforms them into products and services,
delivers these products and services, and obtains some
money in exchange i.e., monetizes products and ser-
vices. Accordingly, a business model can be decom-
posed into the four processes shown in Figure 1: Sup-
ply, where the business performs all the activities nec-
essary to acquire raw materials; Transformation, in
which supplies are processed, typically adding value
to them, in order to obtain the desired good or ser-
vice; Delivery, that considers the distribution of the
product or service to the client, and all the activities
that lead to this delivery (e.g., marketing, customer
acquisition); and Monetization, where the business
performs the activities associated to the generation of
revenues.
The order in which these processes are performed
and the specific nature of their activities, varies de-
pending on the type of product or service offered.
Manufacturing businesses with a traditional model,
first acquire their raw materials (Supply) to trans-
form them (Transformation) and deliver the result-
ing products to the client (Delivery) which pays for
them (Monetization) and generate revenue. Other
businesses require a different sequence. For instance,
transformation and delivery may be performed simul-
taneously, if the product or service is transformed as
it is delivered. A business that exemplifies this se-
quence is private education: an educational service
that is provided, is transformed (adding value) as it
is being delivered and it is only at the end, when stu-
dents graduate, that the complete service that was paid
for is perceived.
2.2 Structural and Behavioral
Viewpoints
Business models comprise two aspects which can be
analyzed from two complementary points of view:
structural elements, which include the business model
components and their structural relations; and depen-
dencies and interactions between said components.
When business models are analyzed from the
structural viewpoint, the first elements to study are
their four main processes (Supply, Transform, De-
liver, and Monetize) and their relations. This includes
analyzing the participants in each one of these pro-
cesses and their responsibilities, as well as the activ-
ities that they have to perform. Special attention is
also paid to the resources required to perform the ac-
tivities, such as machines, communication and deliv-
ery channels, as well as financial resources. All these
resources and activities generate costs, which are con-
sidered part of the structural viewpoint as they are at-
tributes that shape the model. Well known representa-
tions, such as Osterwalder’s Canvas, or Gordijin’s e3-
value (Gordijn and Akkermans, 2001), are well suited
to describe a business model from the structural point
of view.
On the other hand, in the behavioral viewpoint the
foremost element is the order in which processes are
performed. This depends on the interactions among
Weaving Business Model Patterns - Understanding Business Models
497
participants and resources, and defines dependencies
between activities: since the outputs of an activity
are the inputs of the next one, flows are thus estab-
lished both within and between the processes. These
flows can be of Cash, Information, or Value: they rep-
resent the main, transversal linkage between compo-
nents in the business model. The study of flows is thus
necessary for the understanding of a business model.
Unfortunately, current representations are not expres-
sive enough for describing them and leave them to be
figured out by the readers intuition. The following
section presents a proposal that tackles precisely this
problem.
3 RE-UNDERSTANDING
BUSINESS MODELS
The conceptualization of a business model which
we propose to fully describe a business model, in-
cluding both the structural and behavioral aspects, is
grounded in the following types of building blocks:
Zones, Flows and Channels, Gateways, and Proces-
sors. These are described in the following pages and
their role in a business model structure is discussed,
along with the way in which they interact with each
other. Together with the description of the concepts,
we present a graphical representation for the business
models.
3.1 Zones
A Zone represents a core process in a business model.
A Zone contains participants, resources, flows, chan-
nels, and gateways (see Figure 2): participants per-
form activities which generate flows and define se-
quences depending on the order of generation, and the
origin and target of each flow. Each zone also has a
frontier to determine the process’ scope and the points
where interactions with other zones are established.
Processors act as mediators between zones and are de-
picted in the frontier of zones.
Figure 3 presents three ways in which the four
zones (S: Supply, T: Transformation, D: Delivery, M:
Monetization) can be organized in order to describe
different interactions in the model. Some models
present more than four zones which means that they
perform one or more of the four core processes in dif-
ferent ways. For instance, a business may gather raw
materials from two different suppliers, involving dif-
ferent activities and participants interacting at differ-
ent times.
Every zone includes participants, resources, activ-
ities, flows, gateways and processors. What varies
Participant 2
Participant 1
Participant 3
2
5
1
4
7
A1
A2
A3 A4
A5 A6
A7
ZONE
ZONE
Gateway
A1
Activity
A2
A3
A4
A5
A6
A7
A8
Time
End
Processor
3
6
Activity
Activity
Activity
Activity
Activity
Activity
Activity
$
In
In
In
In
V
V
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
Figure 2: A Zone and its components.
T
S
D
M
D
T
D
M
S
T
D
M
S
Figure 3: Organization of Zones in a Business Model.
among them are the actual components, which de-
pend on the specific process represented. For exam-
ple, the Supply zone might involve participants such
as suppliers and clients, and activities such as placing
orders, while the Delivery zone contemplates partici-
pants like distributors and activities like transporting
the product.
3.2 Flows and Channels
A flow can be defined as a continuous relation be-
tween two participants, resources, or activities, estab-
lished through a channel. The channel connects the
output of its starting point to the input of the ending
one. Flows can be characterized into three types. If
the output is a document, a communication, or any
other type of data, the flow is an information flow.
If the output is a product or service, it is a value flow.
And finally, money outputs mean that it is a cash flow.
Figure 2 presents the way in which flows are rep-
resented inside a zone. Since there is no structural
difference between the flow and the channel, they are
represented as one sole component. Value flows are
presented with a black solid line. They appear as
suppliers provide raw materials, as the business trans-
forms them into the desired product, and as they are
delivered and acquired by the client. It is thus possible
to say that the business and the client establish a value
flow as the latter acquires a product or service in ex-
change for money. This last element is associated to
ICEIS 2016 - 18th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems
498
the cash flow, which is presented with a dashed line.
As it was mentioned, there is a cash flow every time
that a payment takes place, which leads to the appear-
ance of these flows in scenarios such as the business
paying to its suppliers and intermediaries. The infor-
mation flow, presented with a chain like line, gener-
ates every time there is a communication and infor-
mation is exchanged.
The three types of flows can be found inside zones
and between them because there are also cause-effect
relations between processes. Figure 4 shows an inter-
action between zones, established by the tree types of
flows. These flows cross the different zones through
processors, the fourth type of component that will be
presented.
3.3 Gateways
As flows relate processes and the components within
them, it is necessary to know when variations in vol-
ume take place. If the volume of a flow changes, it
may be related to a change in the relation between the
two connected agents. For instance, if business sales
decrease, it may be due to an alteration in the relation-
ship with the client. In order to know this, a gateway
is used to control the flow.
A gateway is defined as a control mechanism that
regulates flows among zones or agents, depending on
the quality of the relationship among them. Acting
as a push-pull mechanism, the gateway is able to tell
whether a relationship has changed and if so, the way
in which the volume varies. If a relationship wors-
ens, the flow is pushed, and if it gets better, it will
get pulled. In the business, the gateway may be rep-
resented by an area or actor in charge of looking after
the relationships. Figure 4 presents the gateway as a
waved circle crossed by a flow.
3.4 Processors
Processors are the most complex building block since
they depend on the zones that are being connected,
and the flows that cross them. A processor is defined
as the entry and exit point of a zone, capable of allow-
ing a certain type of flow cross the zone and interact
with the elements inside another.
Figure 4 shows three types of processors that cor-
respond to the three types of flows. The squares repre-
sent the information processor, the rectangle the value
one, while the pentagon the cash one.
As processors allow the circulation of flow
through zones, they permit the cause-effect relations
that trigger the execution of an activity or process and
at the end, they establish the connection between the
Participant
2
8
9
3
A1
A4
A5
ZONE
ZONE
Gateway
A1
A2
Activity
A3
A4
A5
Time
End
Processor
A3
1
5
4
7
ZONE
6
A2
Activity
Activity
Activity
Activity
Participant
Participant
Participant
In
In
In
In
In
V
V
V
$
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
Figure 4: Connected Zones.
processes. Figure 4 presents a view of several zones
connected through flows crossing processors. This in-
tertwining of processors and flows is like weaving a
business model.
3.5 Meta-model
To formalize the structure for the understanding of the
business model that was just presented, a meta-model
was built. A graphical representation using UML is
shown in figure 5. In this figure, it is possible to see
the business model and the decomposition into four
processes with the correspondent structural and be-
havioral elements. By identifying the elements that
compose the meta-model, it is possible to represent
many business models regardless of the product or
service being offered.This is possible since the rep-
resentation process is not defined by the value propo-
sition, but by the main building blocks that lead to
the composition of the business model. When the
zones are defined, so are the core processes, which
in turn explains the way in which the business per-
forms its different activities. Moreover, by recogniz-
ing participants and resources, the business model de-
scription is enriched and the different relationships in
it are defined. As these relationships are character-
ized, flows begin to emerge and the business recog-
nizes the points where money, information and value
are exchanged.
4 BUSINESS PATTERNS
The difference between business models is explained
not only by differences in their component’s structure,
but also in the behavior and interaction among them:
the unique combination of processes and the way in
which they interact is what explains why each busi-
ness operates the way it does.
Weaving Business Model Patterns - Understanding Business Models
499
Zone
Transformation
Monetization Resource
Revenue
Supply
Delivery
Pattern
1
1
1
*
BusinessModel
1
*
Flow
1
*
Cash
Value
Information
Processor
Gateway
1
*
1
*
PCash
PValue
PInformation
* 1
* 1
* 1
Participant
1
*
Supplier Distributor Business Client Activity
1
*
Frontier
11
11
1
1
Figure 5: Business Model Metamodel.
It is fair to assume that the transformation pro-
cess is unique for each business since it is the core
point where value is added, where the actual strategy
of the company is evidenced, and where competitive
advantages are created. On the other hand, the sup-
ply, delivery and monetization processes do not differ
enormously from one model to another. In fact, there
is enough bibliography describing alternative designs
and methods on each one of these topics to safely as-
sume that each possible configuration for these pro-
cesses has already been described somewhere (e.g.,
the ever expanding supply-chain corpus).
Considering this, we attempted to collect a sig-
nificant number of the possible configurations for the
Supply, Delivery, and Monetization processes in order
to organize a catalog of Business Patterns. The goals
behind this where two. Firstly, a pattern can be under-
stood as a known solution to a well-known problem
(Gamma et al., 1995). Therefore, by building the cat-
alog we are making these solutions more accessible
to those that are defining their business model, or re-
defining their existing one. Secondly, we attempted to
create a structured body of knowledge about business
models which can be analyzed and used as the base
for the definition of new businesses. In this sense,
the catalog provides a set of building blocks to define
a new business model under restrictions or expecta-
tions.
The sources for the catalog included standards
such as the SCOR framework (Supply Chain Council,
2008) and Osterwalders monetization patterns. For
the moment patterns in the catalog only cover the
business aspects of each process. However, it should
be possible to expand the catalog in order to include
aspects such as typical IT support for each situation
described in the catalog (see table 1).
The following pages present an extract of the pat-
terns from the catalog, selected for illustration pur-
poses. For each pattern a diagram is presented to il-
lustrate the activities and flows within each zone. Fur-
thermore, the interaction with the other zones are also
presented.
1
Table 1: Business Patterns Catalog.
CATEGORY PATTERN
Supply S1 - Source Stocked Product
Supply S2 - Source Make to Order
Supply S3 - Source Engineer to Order
Deliver D1 - Deliver Stocked Product
Deliver D2 - Deliver Make to Order Product
Deliver D3 - Deliver Engineer to Order Product
Deliver D4 - Deliver Retail
Monetization M1 - Asset Sale
Monetization M2 - Advertising
Monetization M3 - Freemium
Monetization M4 - Licensing
Monetization M5 - Usage Fee
4.1 Supply Patterns
Supply patterns explain the way in which a business
acquires raw materials from its providers. The follow-
ing are three patterns extracted from the SCOR frame-
work: source stocked products, source make to order
and source engineer to order. Each pattern presents
1
The complete catalog can be found in the fol-
lowing URL http://backus1.uniandes.edu.co/ enar-
dokuwiki/doku.php?id=wpatterns.
ICEIS 2016 - 18th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems
500
three main agents: the supplier, which typically is a
different organization; business logistics, which are
the coordinator of supply management activities; and
the warehouse which stores and organizes supplies.
S1 - Source Stocked Product. The first pattern
describes a supply process in which orders are made
to maintain a stock of raw materials that allow the ful-
fillment of clients’ orders in a defined period of time.
This pattern is triggered by the client’s demand (1)
which tells the business the amount of product that
may be needed and, consequently, the amount of sup-
plies that must be ordered. Inventory is then checked
(3), and necessary materials are ordered (4) based on
actual inventory levels. Afterwards, the supplier pre-
pares the order, which involves a certain time lead
time, and then submits the raw materials (5). The
business receives the order, for it (6), and stores the
received materials in the warehouse (7).
Warehouse
Logistics
Supplier
2
5
1
4
7
A1
A2
A3 A4
A5 A6
A7
SUPPLY
MONETIZATION
Gateway
Demand
Order
Raw Materials
Raw Materials
Payment
A1
Picking
A2
Generate Order
A3
Place Order
A4
Load Order
A5
A6
Deliver Order
Receive Order
A7
Pay Order
A8
Store
Time
End
Processor
3
Inventory
Request
6
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
In
In
In
In
V
V
$
Figure 6: Source Stocked Product.
S2 - Source Make to Order. This pattern
describes a supply process in which raw materials are
produced and delivered based on a client’s order. In
particular, once the order is placed (1), an information
flow tells the supplier that the product must be made
(2). Once the product is ready it is delivered to the
business (3) which in turn pays for the supplies (4)
and stores them in the warehouse (5).
S3 - Source Engineer to Order. This supply pat-
tern describes a supply process in which raw mate-
rials are designed, produced and delivered based on
an order (1). In particular, there is a negotiation
event where the final product design (2) is defined (3).
Later, there is a placed order (4) that indicates the sup-
plier that the product must be produced and delivered.
Once the supplies arrive (5), the payment is done (6)
and the materials are stored (7).
Warehouse
Logistics
Supplier
2
3
1
4
5
A1
A2
A3
A5 A6
A7
SUPPLY
MONETIZATION
Gateway
Request
Order
Raw Materials
Raw Materials
Payment
A1
A2
Generate Order
A3
Place Order
A4
Make Order
A5
A6
Deliver Order
Receive Order
A7
Pay Order
Store
Time
End
Processor
A4
6
Order Ready
Client
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
V
V
$
In
In
In
Figure 7: Source Make to Order.
Figure 8: Source Engineer to Order.
4.2 Delivery Patterns
The second core process in the business model, de-
livery, initiates after value is transformed. Delivery
patterns include two types of participants: distribu-
tors and final clients. It is important to note that the
distributor can represent the business itself, or a third
party in charge of the activity. We now present four
delivery patterns extracted from the SCOR frame-
work.
D1 - Deliver Stocked Product. The first pattern
describes a process in which the client maintains a
stock of the product offered by the company. Af-
ter the client’s order(1) is placed (2), the product is
picked from the warehouse (3,4) and delivered (5).
Once it reaches the client (6,7), the payment is re-
ceived (8). Depending on the relationship quality be-
tween the client and the business, the product demand
may vary. See Figure 9.
D2 - Deliver Make to Order Product. The sec-
ond pattern describes the distribution of products that
Weaving Business Model Patterns - Understanding Business Models
501
are manufactured or provided given a client’s order.
In this case, an order is placed (1) along with the key
information to initiate value transformation. These el-
ements are recognized by the distributor and commu-
nicated into the value transformation zone(2). After
the production and lead time are over, the product is
placed in the warehouse (3,4) and dispatched (5,6).
Once the order is delivered and received by the client
(7,8), the payment is received (9). Like the previous
pattern, the relationship with the client determines the
amount of product ordered.
Warehouse
Logistics
2
6
8
5
A1
A3
A4
DELIVER
MONETIZATION
Gateway
Order
Order
Product
Product
Payment
A1
A2
Place Order
A3
Picking
A4
Deliver Order
Receive Payment
Time
End
Processor
A2
1
4
Status
3
Request
Client
Transportation
Status
7
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
V
V
In
In
In
In
In
$
Figure 9: Deliver Stocked Product.
Warehouse
Logistics
2
8
9
3
A1
A4
A5
DELIVER
MONETIZATION
Gateway
Order
Order
Product
Product
Payment
A1
A2
Place Production
Order
A3
Receive Product
A4
Dispatch Order
A5
Deliver Order
Receive Payment
Time
End
Processor
A3
1
5
Status
4
Request
Client
Transportation
Status
7
TRANSFORMATION
6
Product
A2
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
V
V
V
$
In
In
In
In
In
Figure 10: Deliver Make to Order Product.
D3 - Deliver Engineer to Order Product. The
third pattern describes the distribution of a product
whose design and production are defined and trig-
gered by the client. Since the process involves an
order and a negotiation, it begins with the client com-
municating the desired design and conditions of the
distribution and payment (1). This information is de-
livered to the business, evaluated, and communicated
to the client (2). When the negotiation is complete,
the order is placed (3) and the distributor proceeds
to communicate the clients final design, and adjust
the distribution requirements. Once the product is
ready(4), it is stored in the warehouse (5) where it
is picked and dispatched (6,7). After the expected ar-
rival time, the client receives the product (9-10) and
pays for it (11).
Warehouse
Logistics
2
9
11
4
A1
A4
A5
DELIVER
MONETIZATION
Gateway
Design
Approval
Product
Product
Payment
A1
A2
A3
Place Order
A4
Dispatch Order
A5
Deliver Order
Receive Payment
Time
End
Processor
A3
1
6
Order
3
Order
Client
Transportation
Status
10
TRANSFORMATION
7
Product
A2
5
Status
Negotiation
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
In
In
In
In
In
In
V
V
V
$
Figure 11: Deliver Engineer to Order Product.
D4 - Deliver Retail. The final delivery pattern de-
scribes a special type of business model: Retail. In
this case, the distributor delivers the final product to
a spot where clients acquire it. As in markets, and
stores, this model considers clients acquiring the de-
sired value in a physical location; therefore, the deliv-
ery reaches a middle point. In particular, depending
on the demand (1), an order is placed (2), products
are picked (3,4,5) and the orders are delivered to an
intermediary (6,7). The latter sells(8) the product to
the client (9,10) and sends the payment (11).
Warehouse
Logistics
2
6
10
5
A1
A3
A7
DELIVER
MONETIZATION
Gateway
Demand
Order
Product
Product
Payment
A1
A2
Place Order
A3
Picking
A4
Deliver Order
Shop
Time
End
Processor
A2
1
4
Status
3
Request
Client
Transportation
Shopping
Order
8
Intermediary
A4
A5
9
Product
A6
11
Payment
A5
Sell
A6
Send Payment
A7
Receive Payment
Status
7
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
V
In
In
In
In
In
In
V
V
$
$
Figure 12: Deliver Retail.
4.3 Monetization
The third group of patterns is proposed taking into ac-
count revenue stream models adopted in the market.
Five different patterns are now presented, even though
there are some similarities between them. Actors in
these patterns are the business and the client that is
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502
acquiring or receiving the products and services pro-
duced (the ultimate recipients of value).
M1 - Asset Sale. The first pattern is perhaps the
most common one when it comes to monetization. In
this case, it describes value monetization based on a
onetime payment that the client does to buy the de-
sired product or service. It starts with an order placed
to the business (1) which triggers an order to deliver
(2) the product. Once the product reaches the client
(3), the payment is received (4,5).
Business
Client
2
1
A1
A2
A3
A4
MONETIZATION
DELIVERY
Gateway
Order
Payment
A1
Place Order
A2
Generate Request
A3
Pay
A4
Receive Payment
Time
End
Processor
3
Product
Request
4
Payment
5
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
$
$
In
V
In
Figure 13: Asset Sale.
M2 - Advertising. The second pattern describes
monetization based on advertisement. In this case, a
company generates revenue streams by giving clients
a space to advertise their own businesses or products.
The pattern starts with an agreement or contract (1)
that defines how long is a company able to advertise,
its value, and the granted space. This contract gener-
ates a payment (2) and an order (3) that grants the de-
fined conditions (4). Once the contract time is over, so
is the advertisement and the client is given the chance
(5) to extend renegotiate the contract or end it (6).
M3 - Freemium. The third pattern describes a
freemium model in which clients acquire the product
for free during a period of time, or with less charac-
teristics or functionalities. This pattern starts with a
client order(1) to receive value for free accepting cer-
tain constraints (Such as the time in which value will
be received, or the value that is accessible). Once the
order is placed (2), the product is delivered (3) until
the agreed time is over, or the client desires to request
premium(4). If it does so (5), a payment is received
(6) and the product is delivered or upgraded (7,8).
M4 - Licensing. The licensing pattern describes
a model based on the acquisition of a product or ser-
vice through a license, which is bought by a client
for a certain amount of time. The pattern starts with
a client that buys a license (1,2), this generates a re-
quest (3) that triggers the distribution of the product
Business
Client
3
1
A1
A2
A3
MONETIZATION
DELIVERY
Gateway
Agreement
Payment
A1
Sign Agreement
A2
Generate Request
A3
Receive Product
A4
Notificate
Time
End
Processor
4
Product
Request
2
A4
A5
5
Notification
6
Answer
A5
Negotiate
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
V
$
In
In
In
In
Figure 14: Advertising.
Business
Client
2
1
A1
A2
A5
MONETIZATION
DELIVERY
Gateway
Order
Payment
A1
Request Product
A2
Dispatch Order
A3
Request Premium
A4
Notificate
Time
End
Processor
3
Product
Request
6
A4
A3
Order
5
Contract
A5
Pay
A6
4
7
Request
8
Product
A6
Dispatch Order
V
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
$
In
In
In
In
In
V
V
Figure 15: Freemium.
(4). Once the license time is over (5), the client is
given the chance to renew it (6,7).
Business
Client
3
1
A1
A2
MONETIZATION
DELIVERY
Gateway
Order
Payment
A1
Buy License
A2
Generate Request
A3
Notificate
A4
Renew License
Time
End
Processor
4
Product
Request
2
A3
A4
5
Notification
6
Answer
Payment
7
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
V
V
In
In
In
In
$
$
Figure 16: Licensing.
M5 - Usage Fee. The final monetization pattern
is usage fee, which describes a model in which the
business charges for the usage of its product. In this
case, a client places an order to use the product (1).
After it is delivered (2,3) and the billing period is over,
Weaving Business Model Patterns - Understanding Business Models
503
a bill is generated based on the usage (4) (That may
be quantified depending on the business). The client
pays (5) and may keep using the product as long as it
pays the bill.
Business
Client
2
1
A1
A2
MONETIZATION
DELIVERY
Gateway
Order
A1
Order
A2
Generate Request
A3
Generate Bill
A4
Pay
Time
End
Processor
3
Product
Request
A3
A4
4
Bill
Payment
5
$
In
Value
Cash
Information
V
V
In
In
In
$
Figure 17: Usage Fee.
5 RELATED WORK
Business models and the different behaviors that
emerge as they execute, have been matter of inves-
tigation for several authors. In particular, it is possi-
ble to find definitions and complete designs and repre-
sentations of what a business model should look like.
One of the most recognized efforts is Osterwalder’s,
who proposes both a structure for the model, and a
method to use it (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010).
Besides the well-known business model canvas, the
author proposes several patterns to take into account
when designing a business model. These patterns are
based on five types of business models: unbundled,
long tail, multi-sided, free and open business. Each
pattern is appropriate for certain types of businesses
(Osterwalder et al., 2014).
Business patterns established around the Rosset-
taNet standards are other example of designs consid-
ering business models. Though the standard considers
the interaction between participants with a business
purpose, it is possible to generate patterns that guide
the execution of a business model. In particular, it is
possible to generate patterns that describe order and
shipment processes and use them to evaluate the busi-
ness model execution (Telang and Singh, 2010)
Taking into account the scope of business mod-
els, patterns centered on specific elements are also
possible to find. For example, value-exchange pat-
terns have been designed after analyzing models of
real businesses. In these designs, agents and interac-
tions are specified taking into account what type of
value is being delivered. The visual representation is
also offered (Zlatev et al., 2004).
Moreover, efforts in generating guides for specific
audiences are also in existence. For example, there
is a business plan conception pattern language ori-
ented to support entrepreneurs in the conception and
design of their business models. Through a series of
questions and descriptions, key aspects of the busi-
ness model are addressed and depending on the con-
cerns of the entrepreneur, several solutions for fulfill-
ing them are offered (Laurier et al., 2010).
The amount of examples, patterns and guides gen-
erated towards the comprehension and adoption of
successful business models, is considerable. From
languages, to visual representations, to definitions,
there is a wide variety of options when it comes to de-
signing a business model. As it has been shown, these
patterns can derive from existing companies, frame-
works, or tendencies in the market. Regardless of
where they come from, their purpose remains simi-
lar: to guide and provide a standard in the design of a
business model.
Still, the expressiveness needed in order to com-
municate the business model approach described in
this paper, can not be achieved with the discussed
visualizations. Since there are five building blocks
that need to be considered (zones, flows and channels,
processors and gateways), it is necessary to count
with notations that allow their representation. In Os-
terwalder’s case although there is a notion of zones
and channels, the flow concept is implicit within the
canvas and the definition of the relationships among
agents turns out to be more complex. The e3-value
notation, on the other hand, is quite useful for the vi-
sualization of flows and processors, however, the de-
tail level is not enough for the purposes of the pro-
posed business model approach. In particular, since
e3 value groups the different types of flow in one type
(value), there is a need to define explicitly the element
that is flowing. Furthermore, there is not a clear rep-
resentation of the activities that lead to the flow es-
tablishment, and without, it is not possible to define
the resources or participants key in each relationship.
Considering the lack of a complete representation for
the building blocks and their components, defining a
new notation was appropriate.
6 CONCLUSION
A business model describes the way in which a busi-
ness receives and transforms inputs to create value
and build products and services which are then de-
livered and monetized. Even though the concept is
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504
simple and interpretations abound, it is not formal-
ized and there is a lack of comprehension of many
business models. Furthermore, the semantics of a
business model depend both on its structural features
(components and their relations) and its behavior. The
latter includes the interaction between these compo-
nents and especially the flow of information, cash and
value between them.
In order to understand both the structural and the
behavioral aspects of a business model, we have pro-
posed an interpretation based on the concepts of zone
(or processes), processors that connect zones, flows
that represent exchanges of value, information and
cash, actors which perform activities, and gateways
that regulate the exchanges. By using these elements
it should be possible to have a more profound under-
standing of business models in order to better com-
municate and analyze them.
Using this conceptualization, patterns for sup-
ply, delivery and monetization were identified in the
SCOR model and in the literature. Each pattern de-
tails a way in which a process can be performed, in-
cluding the participating actors, their activities, and
the exchanges of value, cash and information. De-
pending on the level of maturity of enterprises, these
patterns should serve to understand their business
models, or as a starting point for designing novel busi-
ness models based on well known solutions.
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