BMO in Science and Education: Top Universities

In 2022, ISEE conducted a research study aimed at analyzing and identifying the ontological progress in economic management by surveying university students from the most renowned universities: 

  • Stanford University
  • University of California
  • New York University
  • Princeton University
  • Peking University
  • Tsinghua University

The primary objective of this study

Investigate the educational system and the practical offerings of economic science in terms of practical knowledge about the principle setup and way of functioning of any business.

The survey was conducted among individuals, such as current and future business practitioners, managers, consultants, and academics, who are studying MBA and other management-related majors with the aim to acquire such knowledge.

The interviews were structured into four parts:

  1. Introduced the participants to the topic and explained the concept of Business Model Ontology;
  2. Presentation of the knowledge of Canvas;
  3. Represented the knowledge of Business Model Ontology similarly;
  4. Provides a rating scale for participants to use in their comparative assessment of the two BMOs.

Findings and Insights

The knowledge of Canvas does not meet the initially intended sense upon its development and cannot describe comprehensively the operational structure and functioning of business enterprises in a manner useful for management practice and the creation of new management tools.

"I am missing any formula in the Canvas, at least in this given 9 boxes, to really calculate what is going in in terms of resources and money and what is going out. And there is no clear picture of how these things flow in time so that you can gauge how much you are actually getting out in end profit or loss. I think it shows which types of items are going to cost you what and which type of items are going to generate some revenue.It doesn't give you any more detailed relationship than that." -M.P.
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Seal_of_Leland_Stanford_Junior_University.svg

Stanford University

"I think the Canvas shows like a very basic idea of what a business consists of because it classifies it in a framework consisting of several non-exhaustive sections. It talks about the products, how they differentiate, and then like the target customers. So, it does explain something but in a very broad overview. It doesn’t really show you the operational side of a business. It just shows you more of the basic items related to the demand part of it." - C.C.
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Peking_University_seal.svg

Peking University

ISEE’s Business Model Ontology is evaluated by all participants as providing a much clearer and more accessible understanding of the operational principles of business enterprises.

"I think the holistic Business Model Ontology covers all the functional systems in any enterprise. Any business enterprise can be described using this knowledge. It shows a very clear relationship between the resources you put in and the resources you can get out of the enterprise. How exactly the process of transformation occurs, what needs to be considered and even sets requirements for the enterprise knowledge that needs to be managed and distributed." - I.S.
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Tsinghua_University_Logo.svg

Tsinghua University

ISEE’s BMO represents a clear and accessible schematic and formulated universal description of how enterprises operate, which is of exceptional importance for management practice and serves as a solid foundation for creating a new generation of management tools such as the newly developed Business Digital Twin software.

All students from the specified universities acknowledge a deficit in management education regarding any knowledge of a universal enterprise management model that could serve to create specific management models for a given enterprise or even for establishing new enterprises. This deficit can be addressed with the holistic Business Model Ontology once it is integrated into university curricula.

"I am really surprised by the fact that the parameter "time" is incorporated in all the formula, which I think no one has done until now, but this is so logical. Like for the first formula of the "law for positive development", if the total Value of the Elements of Proprietary Assets of the enterprise for T2 is more than those in the moment in time Т1, then a profit has been achieved, because the value of the assets has increased within this time period. [...] it is all about the "time" parameter. It feels very intuitive. It is like the space time continuum theory in physics, but in economics." - I.S.
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Princeton_seal.svg

Princeton University

"It is necessary to have knowledge explaining the whole enterprise. For example the ERP system SAP. I feel that for top management they don’t really have a birds eye view for the whole thing. It is usually only individual modules and there is nothing that unites the whole enterprise." - X.O.
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Peking_University_seal.svg

Peking University

"I would say the holistic Business Model Ontology is much better at representing all the different aspects and relationships of a business enterprise. To tell you the truth, this is the first time ever that I see something which describes the enterprise in its entirety and can explain how it functions." - V.V.
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Seal_of_University_of_California,_Berkeley-01

University of California

Implications

There is a lack of knowledge in management education programs regarding the universal principle setup and way of functioning of business enterprises.

Today’s educational system provides numerous fragments of knowledge, each part of a potential Business Model Ontology. However, due to the absence of such a universal model, each fragment of knowledge, like the business model canvas, strives to be self-sufficient in order to be usable.

Rather than that, there should be a larger focus on the significant lack of connectivity between fragments and the potential derivation of universal knowledge of a Business Model Ontology.