Posted at 2018-10-02

In today's ever-changing world, organisations are using business model design to build unique approaches to creating value that have the potential to radically disrupt industries.
A new report published by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), Business models of the future: systems, convergence and characteristics, identifies 12 characteristics behind business model design, that are being combined by organisations in different ways to create new sources of value.

Jimmy Greer, head of sustainability research and policy at ACCA and author of the report said, “New tools mean that business model innovation is easier to achieve than ever and organisations are using multiple models in different ways for value creation. But the challenges of today’s world demand a wider, more systemic view.

“Organisational design disruptions do not occur in a vacuum. They play out across the complex landscape of economies and societies. While there have always been challenges throughout the course of modern economic development, as long waves of technology ebb and flow, social institutions underperform and environmental limits are tested, today these challenges are now emerging in new spaces”.

This report identifies 12 characteristics that organisations are combining as they build new business models. They are:
Multi-layered
Participatory
Platform-ready
Multi-capitalist
Purposeful
Data sensible
Boundary-testers
Open
Potential enhancing
Fair players
Convening
Restorative
“These characteristics lie behind the models creating organisations that are ready for the future” said Greer.

“The accountancy profession is well placed to support the growth of business models of the future that help build resilient, inclusive and prosperous societies. The unique contribution that professional accountants can make to how a business model proposes, creates and captures value, means that they can play a meaningful, strategic role in building organisations that are ready for the future” concluded Greer.