Business Model Canvas

The "Business Model Canvas" is a way to think about business model innovation developed by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur with co-creator collaboration from many practitioners.  Early on the model was fixed in the book, Business Model Generation and has been built out and further monitized via the Strategyzer website, software, training programs and other books.

The Business Model Canvas (BMC) is a strategic management tool to quickly and easily define and communicate a business idea or concept.  It is a one page document which works throughout the fundamental elements of a business or product, structuring an idea in a coherent way.  The right side of the BMC focuses on the customer (external), while, the left side of the canvas focuses on the business (internal).  Both external and internal factors meet around the value propositions, which is the exchange of value between your business and your customer/clients.

Library guides, such as this one, typically list databases that can be used to gather data or sources by topic with tips for their use.  Mapping library business databases to the Business Model Canvas isn't a straightforward exercise because every business is different.  For example one businesses customer could be another entities key partner or one businesses channel for communication could be another's value proposition.  A company database could be used to find potential partners or customers or data to model the cost structure. Therefore, this guide will not map library databases to the building blocks of the Business Model Canvas, rather it will suggest research approaches with examples to flesh out the building blocks.

(Source: Building Blocks of the Business Model Canvas)

 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This guide adapted from Villanova University Falvey Library.