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The purpose of this paper is to provide managers from traditional industries with a blueprint to systematically analyze and discover digital business models and, thus, better cope with the digital transformation of their industrial businesses.

The proposed blueprint is built on state-of-the-art research on digital business model innovation and a rigorous taxonomy-building approach. The process is demonstrated through a simplified case study of a passenger transport company.

The process involves three steps: identifying existing products and services, deconstructing business models and discovering new configurations. The managers from the case company very positively evaluated the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed procedure.

The proven methodology relates the generic components of digital business models to a specific firm’s context, listing the solution space for each relevant dimension. The resulting framework aids in better understanding the existing business models and serves as a tool for the systematic discovery of new models.

The concepts of customer relationship management (CRM) and knowledge management (KM) both focus on allocating resources to supportive business activities in order to gain competitive advantages. CRM focuses on managing the relationship between a company and its current and prospective customer base as a key to success, while KM recognizes the knowledge available to a company as a major success factor. From a business process manager’s perspective both the CRM and KM approaches promise a positive impact on cost structures and revenue streams in return for the allocation of resources. However, investments in CRM and KM projects are not without risk, as demonstrated by many failed projects. In this paper we show that the benefit of using CRM and KM can be enhanced and the risk of failure reduced by integrating both approaches into a customer knowledge management (CKM) model. In this regard, managing relationships requires managing customer knowledge – knowledge about as well as from and for customers. In CKM, KM plays the role of a service provider, managing the four knowledge aspects: content, competence, collaboration and composition. Our findings are based on a literature analysis and six years of action research, supplemented by case studies and surveys.

The aim of this paper is to identify key issues and successful patterns of collaborative customer relationship management (CRM) in financial services networks.

The study takes the form of a multi‐case analysis.

The paper finds that key issues of CRM in financial services networks are redundant competencies of partnering companies, privacy constraints, CRM process integration, customer information exchange, and CRM systems integration. To address these issues, partnering companies have to agree on clear responsibilities in collaborative processes. Data privacy protection laws require that customer data transfer between partnering companies has the explicit approval of customers. For process integration, companies have to agree on process standards and a joint integration architecture. Web services and internet‐based standards can be used for inter‐organizational systems integration. Data integration requires the development of a joint data model. Either a unique customer identification number or a matching algorithm must be used to consolidate customer data records of partnering companies.

Because of the limited number of case studies, generalizability is limited. The findings can serve as a starting point for researchers seeking to further explore the topic with quantitative methods.

The findings can be used by financial services networks to improve their collaborative CRM approaches.

The importance of collaborative CRM in business networks is likely to increase due to the continuing deconstruction of value chains not only in the financial services industry, but in other industries as well. Nevertheless, the topic has not received much attention in research.

There is a lack of efficiency when dealing with information and searching for the right content. Aims to present a procedural model which in essence is a generalized approach to terminology management, with which to build and maintain glossaries and taxonomies.

In addition to an extensive literature review, analysis of three action research cases with several corporate partners is presented. The first case focuses on the introduction of a glossary for a Swiss insurance company. The second illustrates the results from setting up a corporate taxonomy at an international professional services firm. The third case combines glossary and taxonomy for document classification and retrieval.

Glossary and taxonomy are suitable for solving a wide range of terminological defects. Usage and maintenance processes play a central role in the management of terms and should be well defined. Only a well‐suited trade‐off between centralized and decentralized terminology management will be sustainable.

Other means besides clearly defined processes have to be defined to clearly eliminate certain issues. Furthermore, there is the question of whether the implementation of terminology management could benefit certain types of companies in certain industry branches more than others.

Concrete actions that have to be taken into consideration when introducing glossary and taxonomy systems.

Proposes a procedural model for the introduction of glossary and taxonomy as well as the cultivation of a corporate terminology.

The bursting of the e‐bubble affected expectations with regard to mobile initiatives and willingness to invest in them very negatively. Business managers request detailed and thorough analyses prior to engaging in mobile initiatives. The paper aims to present a method, with which mobile business can be introduced to the customer relationship management (CRM) field.

The paper follows the design science paradigm as outlined by March and Smith, and Hevner et al.

The findings provide a framework for the definition of a mobile CRM strategy derived from the corporate strategy, suggest a method for the identification and exploitation of the mobilization potential in CRM processes in line with the strategy, and provide guidance for the design of mobile information systems to support these processes.

The proposed method extends the body of available methods with a method for the introduction of mobile ISs into marketing, sales and service organizations. As design research, it does not strive for statistical generalization. The level of detail given in the elements of the method is to be increased in further research.

The method helps to reduce risk and uncertainty of mobile CRM initiatives, since it provides a structured and consistent procedure for the definition of goals, the identification of potentials for the fulfillment of these goals as well as recommendations for the systematic exploitation of these potentials.

With the application of this structured method, an organization should be able to avoid the pitfalls of technology‐driven information technology initiatives which various companies have experienced, particularly with mobile technologies.

The purpose of this study is to examine both the technical feasibility and the commercial viability of several demand-side integration (DSI) programs to utilize the charging flexibility of electric transport vehicles in a logistic facility. DSI is important for improving system reliability and assisting in integrating renewables into the energy system.

A pre-assessment of several DSI programs is performed by considering effort for implementation, costs and economic potential. Afterward, the most promising programs are compared economically on the basis of optimization methods and economic analysis. The analysis is based on a comprehensive electric mobility project dealing with electric transport vehicles operating in container terminals.

The pre-assessment of several potential DSI programs revealed that many of these programs are unsuitable, largely due to regulatory requirements. Although using DSI to optimize the company’s load is feasible, controlled charging based on variable prices is particularly advantageous because the implementation requires modest effort while identifying significant cost-saving potentials.

Based on the analysis, other companies using electric transport vehicles have a foundation for identifying the most promising demand-side management program.

While most research has focused on individually used electric vehicles, here commercial electric transport vehicles operating in closed systems were investigated as this area of application was found to be particularly suitable for participation in DSI programs.

Processes in customer relationship management (CRM) are classified as knowledge‐intensive processes. This paper seeks to provide a framework for knowledge management (KM) support of CRM processes and to show how this framework was applied in three action research cases.

In a long‐term cooperation with several leading companies the authors developed a framework for customer knowledge management (CKM) and applied this framework in several action research cases. Additionally, further case studies have been conducted which support the framework. A selection of three action research cases is presented.

Six core processes of CRM and four building blocks of KM to support these processes we identified. Each of these cases demonstrates the application of the framework and the implementation of the appropriate subset of CKM.

The cases support the CKM model. All cases presented here come from the financial services industry, thus the framework still needs to be applied in other industry segments as well.

The cases evaluate the applicability, utility and efficacy of the CKM framework and show how it can help to make managerial decisions concerning the KM support of CRM processes.

The paper provides a framework classifying the processes in CRM and the KM building blocks to support these processes. To researchers it provides an evaluation of the presented framework and shows potential fields for further research. It also gives practical advice to managers who plan CRM initiatives.

The effects of the spread of COVID-19 across the world are devastating, both from a health and an economic perspective. However, we also see encouraging examples of collaborative and innovative initiatives, in society and in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to focus on initiatives related to digital business model innovation. The authors explore how organizational characteristics provide a variety of opportunities for digital responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss the potential consequences for the speed of digital transformation in organizations and society.

In this paper, the authors analyze how organizations attempt to mitigate the negative effects of fighting COVID-19 using digital business model responses. The authors draw on a qualitative study where they have collected data from the retail and service industries. They have analyzed the data in relation to theory to better understand this ongoing phenomenon.

The authors have identified four categories of organizations (crisispreneurs, accelerators, endurers and thrivers). Each category faces different challenges and shows a different intensity in their digital transformation. The authors propose that the rapid turn toward digital business models will have enduring effects, as organizations have gained transformational capabilities that will remain, and that the digital trajectory has, as a result, changed forever.

The findings in this paper point toward new challenges for leaders and policymakers in terms of how to support initiatives and meet the needs of different categories of organizations while simultaneously being conscious of the potential societal effects of this rapid digital shift. The authors hope that this paper can be of value for managing this shock and learning how to adapt for the future taking certain aspects of current business models as the departure point.

This paper aims to provide the results of a survey of supply chain management (SCM) courses in higher education. This research is unique because it represents the first large-scale study of undergraduate SCM course syllabi taught at universities.

The unit of analysis is an SCM syllabus. Content analysis was performed on each syllabus to identify the actual course coverage including requirements, pedagogy and content emphasis. This aggregated information was used to compare historical research findings in this area, with the current skills identified as important for career success. This data provides the input for a gap analysis between offerings in higher education and those needs identified by practitioners.

Data gathering efforts yielded a sample of 109 undergraduate courses representing 79 schools across North America. The aggregate number of topics covered in undergraduate courses totaled 120. The primary evaluation techniques include exams, projects and homework. Details regarding content and assessment techniques are provided along with a gap analysis between the coverage of supply chain courses and the needs identified by previous academic research.

This study is the first large-scale content analysis of undergraduate SCM course syllabi. The goal is to use this data as a means of continuous improvement in the quality and value of the educational experience on a longitudinal basis. The findings are designed to foster information sharing and provide data for benchmarking efforts in the development of SCM courses and curricula in academia, as well as training, development and recruitment efforts by professionals in the field of SCM.