Abstract
The business model has gained extensive popularity among scholars and practitioners over the last two decades. It has significantly impacted business practice and is firmly established in the business lexicon. The business model has been recognised as a new research field that initiated a business model community, business model conferences and a Journal of Business Models. Scholars recognise that the business model is highly relevant for our current ever-changing environment, where competition is not only among organisations but also among business models. Researchers believe that the business model is a source of competitive advantage and can be used to capture, understand, communicate, design, analyse and change an organisation's business logic.The central aim of this investigation is to study the business model concept, components, and nature of the Australian private non-university higher education providers. Further, this study aims to develop a unified framework to understand the business model of these private providers. To do so, this research adopts a qualitative approach. It applies a case study strategy to gather data from managing directors of five Australian private non-university higher education providers through in-depth semi-structured interviews. This information has been thematically analysed using qualitative analysis software and then contrasted with secondary data to ensure the validity and reliability of the information provided by the participants of this project.
This study found that the business model concept is understood as a structure, profit and management tool. The concept is also perceived differently from other management terms, such as strategy. The value proposition, customers, value chain, and profit mechanisms are perceived as unique compared to those of major players in the industry, such as universities. Further, it was found that the nature of private non-university higher education providers' business models is restrictive, bureaucratic, and cost-sensitive, indicating that managing directors perceived their regulatory environment as a key influencer for their perceptions. Based on the above findings, this study developed a business model framework that integrates the perceptions of the business model concept, Gassmann’s et al.’s (2014) business model dimensions, and the business model's nature, bringing a novel perspective to understanding and assessing an organisation's business. This study serves as a stepping stone in investigating higher education providers from the business model perspective, as a robust literature review has found no similar study. Future research can build on this investigation to study other providers such as public non-university, universities or the entire Australian higher education sector. Therefore, this research opens new avenues for research, provides new knowledge to the literature, and contributes to discussing business models, higher education, and management.
| Date of Award | 2023 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Dorothea Bowyer (Supervisor) |