Digitalization and Evolution of Business Model Pathways Among Japanese Software SMEs

Abstract

This chapter analyzes five Japanese software small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to better understand how their decision-making pathways inside the organization evolve as they develop new business models. Event-state mapping method was applied to analyze the business model pathways of the case firms. We found that once triggered, pathways included various actors and a series of steps until an outcome, the new business model, was reached. The findings indicate that the decision pathways to new models became increasingly complex over the years and the number of individuals and teams involved increases as business model evolved further.