From Fragmentation to Integration: The Role of Systems Thinking in Business Model Innovation

A special issue of Systems (ISSN 2079-8954). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems Practice in Social Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 964

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism, Universidad de Extremadura, Avd. De la Universidad S/n, 10001 Cáceres, Spain
Interests: systems thinking; business model; digitalization; entrepreneurship; digital business; business performance; entrepreneurship education
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Guest Editor
Business Economics Department, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
Interests: digital business ecosystem; crisis management, corporate identity and image, legitimacy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The digital landscape has fostered a wealth of technological advancements, but these often lead to fragmented data silos within organizations. Traditional business models struggle to integrate this disparate information, hindering effective data analysis and decision making. Here, systems thinking emerges as a powerful tool for business model innovation.

By viewing the business as a complex system with interconnected elements, systems thinking allows entrepreneurs to identify how internal and external factors interact. This holistic approach fosters intrapreneurship, encouraging employees to identify innovative solutions that integrate fragmented data and technologies. This integrated view empowers businesses to leverage digital entrepreneurship, utilizing technology to solve problems, streamline processes, and create entirely new value propositions.

In essence, systems thinking provides a framework to move beyond fragmented data and technologies, fostering a unified approach to business model innovation in the digital age.

Prof. Dr. Antonio Fernández-Portillo
Prof. Dr. Gabriel Cachón Rodriguez
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • systems thinking
  • digital business model innovation
  • data integration
  • entrepreneurship
  • intrapreneurship
  • problem solving
  • digital technology
  • value proposition

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

24 pages, 805 KiB  
Article
Strategic Tools for the Formation of Cluster Capital to Implement Technological Innovations
by Leyla Gamidullaeva, Nadezhda Shmeleva, Evgeniy Mityakov, Tatyana Tolstykh and Sergey Vasin
Systems 2025, 13(4), 270; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems13040270 - 9 Apr 2025
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Abstract
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape and accelerating technological development, industrial clusters play a crucial role in fostering innovation and ensuring sustainable economic growth. However, their effectiveness largely depends on the organization of optimal interactions between the participants, which implies a balanced allocation [...] Read more.
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape and accelerating technological development, industrial clusters play a crucial role in fostering innovation and ensuring sustainable economic growth. However, their effectiveness largely depends on the organization of optimal interactions between the participants, which implies a balanced allocation of resources and the co-evolution of capitals within the cluster. In this paper, we introduce strategic tools designed to form cluster capital by integrating financial, technological, and intellectual resources to create a sustainable environment for technological innovation implementation. To solve the set tasks, we developed a mathematical model based on the entropy approach and network analysis methods. This was developed to model and optimize the resource distribution among the cluster participants. The application of the proposed model using the example of the PenzaStankoMash industrial machine-building cluster has shown that the optimal configuration of the actors’ capitals in clusters contributes to the creation of synergetic effects. This increases the innovation potential and overall efficiency of the system. Our modeling considered various capital allocation scenarios, leading us to conclude that a balanced approach is important. The results of this study contribute to an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms for optimizing interactions in clusters. They contain specific strategic tools for managing capitals in clusters and contribute to the development of industrial policy based on the principles of a systematic approach. Full article
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