Extending Marketplace Business Model in Academia: A Case of
FONBoard
Aleksa Miletić, Ružica Stamenković, Dušan Barać, Marijana Despotović-Zrakić and Milica Simić
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Serbia
Keywords: Online Marketplace, Novel Business Models, Web Portal, Students’ Career Development.
Abstract: Marketplaces as a highly emerging type of business models have been implemented in a wide corpus of
contexts. This paper aims to both enrich and implement the marketplace model within the university's
ecosystem. We introduce FonBoard - a novel marketplace platform that brings together companies, students,
organizations and teaching staff with the primary goal to support students in career development and matching
with the most relevant employers. The Fonboard platform is described in detail from the perspective of
features, roles, processes and business model. The initial results of the platform usage are presented as well.
1 INTRODUCTION
Although the number of opportunities in areas of IT
and management has been extremely high and
permanently growing, the job market for the experts
in these fields is a fairly competitive market. To assist
the students' career planning and attempt to alleviate
the stress caused by an increasingly competitive job
and residency market, new approaches and solutions
have to be introduced (Ives et al., 2020).
Marketplaces enable and support transactions
between independent supply-and demand-side
participants (Täuscher & Laudien, 2018). They have
been used as a one-stop-shop within a wide corpus of
e-commerce solutions.
In this paper, we introduce FonBoard - a novel
marketplace platform that brings together companies,
students, organizations, and teaching staff with the
primary goal to support students in career
development and matching with the most relevant
employers. FONBoard platform is described in detail
from the perspective of features, roles, processes and
business model.
The paper tries to investigate if this type of
platforms can contribute to the development of
students’ carriers, while helping the companies to get
closer to the students. Further the particular goal is to
explore if the platform can bring benefits to the higher
education institutions. This paper aims to both enrich
and implement the marketplace model within the
university's ecosystem.
2 THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND
Electronic marketplaces are multisided platforms (D.
S. Evans & Schmalensee, 2016; Parker et al., 2016)
involving three stakeholders: seller, buyers and
marketplace operators in the process of exchanging
information about product offerings (Bakos, 1997).
While buyers and sellers represent parties involved in
the actual exchange, marketplace operators are a third
party facilitating the said exchange (Fan et al., 2013;
Maier & Wieringa, 2021).
Business models of these marketplace operators
(Airbnb, Amazon, Uber, etc.) rely on independent
participants to co-create value (P. C. Evans & Gawer,
2016; Täuscher & Laudien, 2018). These open
business model, transaction centred platforms, are a
centre topic of multiple research (Gawer, 2014;
Mcintyre & Srinivasan, 2016) suggesting they may
become a core organizing principle in today’s
economy (Kenney & Zysman, 2016; Parker et al.,
2016; Täuscher & Laudien, 2018).
Numerous scholars have discussed marketplaces
and aimed to both classify and investigate them as a
kind of global phenomenon. Accordingly, there are
different classifications and taxonomies. In (Täuscher
& Laudien, 2018) the authors defined six clusters of
business models for marketplaces based on various
business model attributes and specifications (key
activity, review system, pricing mechanism, industry
scope, etc):
66
MiletiÄ
˘
G, A., StamenkoviÄ
˘
G, R., BaraÄ
˘
G, D., DespotoviÄ
˘
G-ZrakiÄ
˘
G, M. and SimiÄ
˘
G, M.
Extending Marketplace Business Model in Academia: A Case of FONBoard.
DOI: 10.5220/0012093900003552
In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Smart Business Technologies (ICSBT 2023), pages 66-72
ISBN: 978-989-758-667-5; ISSN: 2184-772X
Copyright
c
 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

- Efficient Product Transactions
Web-based platforms focused on C2C and B2B,
having large variety of physical products, which
revenue model is based on commission fee or
subscription fee mostly on supply side.
- Digital Product Community
Web-based platforms focused on C2C, being part
of a primary non-commercial community providing
digital and physical products, which revenue model is
based on commission fee from both sides
- Product Aficionados
Web-based and mobile platforms, B2B and C2C
oriented for exchanging knowledge about niche
physical products with community or like-minded
people, which revenue model is based on commission
fee on the supply side.
- On-demand Offline Services
Web-based and mobile platforms, B2C oriented,
connecting businesses from a large pool of variety
offline services to customers; revenue model is based
on commission and subscription fee, charged mostly
on supply side.
- Online Services
Web-based platforms focused on C2C and B2B,
providing novel online services with social
networking character, which revenue model is based
on commission and subscription fee, mostly on
supply side.
- Peer-to-peer Offline Services
Web-based and mobile platforms, C2C oriented,
facilitating offerings of novel offline services with
community feeling within and outside digital
platform; revenue model is based on commission fee
on supply and demand side, or subscription fee for
third-parties.
In (Wang & Archer, 2007) the authors established
a good foundation for the research that have been
conducted on the topic of electronic marketplaces
(EM). They highlighted nine of the most accepted
electronic marketplace classifications:
1) Number of Participants
Pure markets (many-to-many),
monopolies/monopsonies (many-to-few), dyadic
relations (few-to-many)
2) Relationship Dimension
Market-oriented or hierarchical.
3) Participant Behaviour
Spot-buying, repeat buying and program buying.
4) Ownership
Independent, consortia-based and private
5) Industry Scope
Horizontal or vertical
6) Market Mechanism
Exchange, auction, aggregator, collaborative
platform
7) Products
Standardized products or differentiated products
8) Power Asymmetries
Neutral or biased (seller/buyer oriented)
9) Fee Structure
Transaction fee, subscription fee, membership
fee, licence fee.
The most important B2B and B2C ecommerce
marketplaces of today, such as Amazon and
Aliexpress have been growing permanently for years.
At the same time, job ads platforms have increased
their impact on the online market.
Due to the newest movements and interplay of
numerous impacts on the job market, job advertising
additionally gained the interest. As part of a wider
recruitment process designed to attract suitable
qualified candidates for a job, job ads have been the
most commonly used means of recruiting personnel
in a labour market (Kim & Angnakoon, 2016).
Employers rarely post job openings in
newspapers anymore, but instead advertise job
openings on their websites or through online
classified sites, government-run job banks, and free
or fee-for-service job board (Kim & Angnakoon,
2016).
The current labour market is generally
characterized by rapidly changing work conditions
(Karaca-Atik et al., 2023).
A student-directed career development
experience can positively impact student's career
direction and professional development (Steeb et al.,
2021). In this paper the authors introduced student-
directed career development program on career and
professional development between the second and
third year of a doctor of pharmacy curriculum. In
(Seyitoğlu et al., 2022) the authors discusses career
plan development in post Covid era for the students
in area of tourism.
This systematic review contributed to the
literature by presenting an overview of 21st-century
skills that were valued in the labour market for social
sciences graduates' career sustainability (Karaca-Atik
et al., 2023). Accordingly, the teachers’ and
university’s role is to enhance career development
through different channels and services. In addition,
the main problem faced by final-year students of
various study levels is where and how to find an
internship or first job.
Although marketplaces are booming at the
moment, there are very few examples of the
marketplace that were implemented in educational
context and for purpose within university’ ecosystem.
Extending Marketplace Business Model in Academia: A Case of FONBoard
67

Massive open online course (MooC) platforms are
recognized as the most used implementation of the
marketplace model (Mozahem, 2021). Finally, the
analysis showed that despite increasing academic
interest in online education, academics have been
slow to enter the digital marketplace as service
providers. Further, there are certain e-commerce
services that are provided to the stakeholders by
universities, such as bookstores, gift shops, tickets,
etc. However, an enriched job marketplace that
strongly helps students to develop their careers is
quite a novel approach.
3 FONBOARD
FONBoard is a portal for advertising jobs,
internships, scholarships, events and presenting
companies, sharing knowledge and good practices.
The idea is to create a unique place where companies
will be able to post vacancies for
jobs/internships/courses. On the other hand, students
will be able to apply to these ads or see more
information about the companies. The portal is
primarily intended for FON students, but it can
become a place where all other interested parties will
come. It facilitates an ideal synergy between FON
students and companies seeking specific skill sets
possessed by FON students. By leveraging this
familiarity, companies can promptly discover
individuals whose skill sets are optimally aligned
with their organizational requirements.
Consequently, FONBoard effectively streamlines the
talent acquisition process, significantly reducing the
time and effort expended in finding the ideal
employee for their company.
Next figure portrays the main components of the
FONBoard system.
Figure 1: FONBoard – overview of the system.
FONBoard is basically custom-made web portal that
encompasses a set of features. It is connected both to
Table 1: Key stakeholder benefits.
Stakeholders Benefits
FON - Relationship and community
building with companies
- Real and high-quality inputs about
market demands
- Curriculum evaluation based on
market demands
- External financing
Students - Direct channel for: internship,
employment, event participation,
etc.
- Exclusive information access and
advantages in employment
process, compared to other
faculties
- Review of market demands in
terms of skills and knowledge
- Matchmaking exclusive list of
companies to students with specific
sets of knowledge gained through
education at FON
- Platform eliminates the need to
search through different job
postings, allowing them to use
specific filter categories for a
more precise search
- Students can access a blog that
contains valuable information
from business experts, which are
not covered within the curriculum,
but represent good practice
- Provides the latest information on
opportunities for students to
improve their education
Companies - Exclusive access channel to FON
students
- Possibility of quality employer
branding
- Collaborative environment
- Finding the best candidates for
open positions
- Targeting students and shortening
selection time
Teachers - Improve their curriculums which
means teaching students in
practical knowledge needed by
external stakeholders
- In addition to the scientific
research value, the subjects will
strengthen the practical and
theoretical side depending on the
needs of the market
- A kind of check if their work with
students has been well done.
ICSBT 2023 - 20th International Conference on Smart Business Technologies
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internal ERP solution and FON’ information system
that contains data about the students.
The students have to use the credentials they
already have from our IS in order to log in on
FONBoard.
FONBoard will be effectively promoted to both
companies and students through a comprehensive
blend of internet marketing strategies and offline
promotional activities. In order to attract companies,
digital marketing techniques such as targeted social
media campaigns, email marketing, and search
engine optimization (SEO) technique will be
employed to increase brand awareness and generate
interest in the platform. Additionally, an annual
FONBoarding event will be organized at the faculty,
creating a platform where companies and students can
interact in person,
3.1 Key Stakeholder and Their Benefits
The following table shows the most significant
benefits for key stakeholders: Faculty of
Organizational Sciences (FON), Students, Teachers
and Companies.
3.2 System Features
FONBoard is a web-based platform with following
features:
- Home page: showing basic information
about the platform, list of current partner
companies, offer corner, login.
- My profile: student can edit their interests
and preferences, subscribe to the
newsletter, and view the list of favourite
postings, list of favourite companies (not
available for companies)
- Company profiles: user can see the list of
all partnering companies and explore
single company profile. Each company
profile has information about company,
list of benefits and experiences from
current/former employees, and list of
active postings
- Internships / employments: user can see
the list of all internship/job postings,
browse them by several criteria and
explore single posting. Each posting has
a description, label internship/job, list of
tags, application deadline, add to
favourite (available for students only)
and meet the company button.
- News/Events: user can see the list of all
news/events and browse them by type
and explore single post
- Blog with the topics related to the
students’ careers development
- Offer corner allows user to browse
different business packages (described in
Section 4).
- Contact page: where user can contact
FON for any questions.
Also there are number of features in development
phase, such as FAQ, uploading CVs and Alumni
which are planned to be released until the end of the
year.
4 BUSINESS MODEL
FONBoard business models is subscription based, on
the supply side, where companies can choose from
three types of packages (shown in the Table 2):
- Basic (B)
- Standard (S)
- Premium (P)
A subscription based model was chosen primarily
as FON wanted to harness and use all the common
benefits this model bring: increased LTV, increased
loyalty, strong customer engagement, opportunites
for cross-selling, etc.
Table 2: Company package options.
Options
Packages
B S P
Profile
p
age
p
icture and company
lo
g
o
√ √ √
Compan
y
description (500 words) √ √ √
Photo gallery √ √ √
Social media links √ √ √
Home pa
g
e compan
y
lo
g
o √ √ √
Portal content access √ √ √
Free STANDARD postin
g
s 0 2 2
Free PREMIUM postin
g
s0 03
Posting benefit description X √ √
Emplo
y
ee experience X √ √
Corporate video X √ √
Blog posts 0 3 ∞
Pinned postin
g
sX X√
Brochure (other PDF content) upload X X √
Link to company promo conten
t
X X√
Profile visits
r
eports and anal
y
tics X X √
Posting package options are shown in the table
below.
Extending Marketplace Business Model in Academia: A Case of FONBoard
69

Further, FONBoad is one of the several services
developed for the companies and should follow the
FON’s strategy of establishing long-term partnership
with the companies.
Beside the base subscription, business model
depends on pay per addon system as well. Pay per
addon is linked to the posting package described in
Table 3.
Table 3: Postings package options.
Options
Packages
SP
Unlimited number of words in the
p
ostin
g
√ √
Place in search results √ √
Logo √ √
Link to application √ √
Max number of ke
y
words 3 10
Posting design X √
Pinned postin
g
X√
Linked compan
y
postin
g
sX√
Тhe companies can get some more feature, not
directly visible within the platform, but connected to
the other services in our digital business ecosystem:
- Promotion of the job ads via FON social
networks accounts
- Harnessing newsletters as a channel. The
newletters are sent in accordance to the
interests students declared within their
profiles.
- Publishing jobs related content to the
FON website.
The enhancements of the marketplace are
reflected in the educational component, i.e. set of
content related to the career development of the
students on one side and opportunities for companies
on other:
- Blog with plethora of the content
primarily oriented toward development
of the students
- Basic matching algorithm that connects
students’ interests with companies’ job
ads
- Opportunities for CSR and employer
branding through participation in by
companies
- Placement within the FONboard
automatically provide company visibility
in whole FON’s digital business
ecosystem.
5 IMPLEMENTATION AND
EVALUATION
Based on the system feature description following
images show the implementation and current look of
the FONBoard platform available at
onboard.fon.bg.ac.rs
Figure 2 shows list off all company profiles
registered on the platform. Each card shows company
name, logo, number of postings and add-to-favourite
button (available only for students). Figures 3a and 3b
show single company profile, where basic
information about the company is available.
Depending on the selected company package (Table
2) different options are available: corporate video,
benefit descriptions, employee experience, linked
postings.
Figure 2: Company list preview.
Figure 3a: Company profile and benefits.
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Figure 3b: Company employee experience and linked
postings.
Figure 4 shows the list of all postings that can be
filtered by tags (keywords), domain, workplace and
type (job/internship). For each posting there is a
dedicated page showing detailed information about
the posting (Figure 5)
Figure 4: Job/internship postings.
Figure 5: Single posting view.
Figure 6 shows list of all news and events that can
be filtered by different criteria.
Figure 6: News and events.
My profile section can be viewed clicking on the
profile icon in the top right corner and it allows user
to subscribe to newsletter and edit their interest
(Figure 7a) and see companies and postings they
added to favourite (Figure 7b).
Figure 7a: Student’s interests.
Figure 7b: List of favourite companies and postings.
The platform has been active since the first week
of February, 2023. Briefly, these are the current
numbers within the platform:
- 51 strategic partners have been invited to
participate
- 35 job ads are valid at the moment
- 44 companies opened their accounts, i.e.
company profiles
Extending Marketplace Business Model in Academia: A Case of FONBoard
71

- 250 students are active at the moment
- Since now 2 students have got a jog offer in
the company, after the application via the
FONBoard
6 CONCLUSIONS
Considering the fact that marketplaces encompass
different types of roles that have to be permanently
balanced, building a marketplace is cumbersome
endavour.
We introduced the platform that should bring a
huge value to all the participants in the system,
particularly students. Considering the numbers after
initial release and going live, the concept has been
proved already.
From the perspective of promotional activities,
omnichannel approach is something we could see in
different business contexts today. (Kim &
Angnakoon, 2016). However, in parallel, some
certain papers pointed out that diversification of the
channels for the job places promotion can bring a
number of challenges (Maier & Wieringa, 2021)
Future research and development activities are
directed toward establishing the position of
FONboard within FOS’s business ecosystem and
further fosering of talent management. The power of
the alumni should be employed as well. AI layer for
matching companies’ needs and students’ interests is
what will be improved in the future. More analytics
will help us adjust and reshape the platform.
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