A knowledge-commercialised business model for collaborative innovation environments

Globalisation is currently not sufficient for competition among enterprises. Enterprises must adopt an open innovative business model and use a cooperative method across enterprises, cultures and industries to execute enterprise activities. To reduce innovation costs and the risks associated with new knowledge development, enterprises must import new knowledge or technologies through knowledge trading or exchange between enterprises. This study proposes an innovative business model in which knowledge suppliers and requesters can trade knowledge online. The study first identifies the knowledge business model from five perspectives: role; product and service; process; price; benefit. Then, this study presents several knowledge models, including the knowledge product structure model, the knowledge requirement model, the knowledge license model and a Knowledge Commerce Platform Framework based on the proposed knowledge-commercialised business model as an infrastructure for practising collaborative knowledge business. The innovative knowledge business model and platform proposed by the study can: (1) promote reusing collaboratively constructed knowledge; (2) create added value of enterprise knowledge by integrating and assembling the knowledge anew; (3) provide knowledge requesters and providers with a quick, secure and fair channel for knowledge trading and exchange.