How to explore new business models for technological innovations

Technological innovation projects must be accompanied by upstream strategic analysis on the related value creation model. It can be shown that generally successful technological innovations have also involved business model innovation. Exploration of new business models is however particularly difficult where there is a rupture in technology due to a lack of vision of the markets and applications to target. This article proposes a scenario-based method for exploring business models for technological innovation. The method includes overview questions on the businessmodels completed by specific questions relating the developed technology. This is followed by the definition of business model scenarios based on use scenarios in various application areas of the technology considered. The development of scenarios involves the creation of contrasting butcoherent business models and varying the elements of the retained business models (types of client, value proposition, economical logic, organisation of the value network, technological and marketing criteria specific to the technology). The method was developed to accompany a radical technological innovation in the telecommunications sector, as part of a European project. The article presents the technology under development and the way in which the authors defined the business model questionnaire and how they developed the various scenarios from uses of the technology. The approach opens both theoretical and managerial perspectives: it allows the notion of business model to be made operational by linking it to the technological innovation on one hand and its use on the other. The method should then be extended, by creating storyboards from strategic scenarios, in order to enable the project stakeholders to evaluate them.