Digital Business Models in the Manufacturing Sector

Despite the growing number of studies on the digitalization of the economy, most of them are focused on the operational optimization of production, while the impact of digitalization on the transformation of business models of an industrial enterprise and its competitive strategy is still only fragmentarily studied. Based on the modern economic scientific materials (concepts of Industry 4.0, risk economics, network economy, post-market economy) and using methods of analysis and synthesis, philosophy-economic and institutional approaches, the authors identified the main directions of business models transformation of manufacturing enterprises influenced by digital technologies and ways to improve their competitive strategies in a networked digital economy. According the Industry 4.0 theory the purpose of the industrial enterprise digitalization is not limited to simple automation and increasing the efficiency of production, but supposed to create digital business models; the competitive strategy of a manufacturing enterprise is the digitalization of business models, aimed at change traditional perception of interaction with customers and the creation of customer value proposition. At the same time, digital business models are engaging enterprises in a dynamic, turbulent and highly competitive digital ecosystem, where traditional sources of competitive advantage are losing their relevance. In order to secure competitive advantages, the theory of the network economy invites industries to resort to the concept of “dynamic capabilities” and/or impact on the environment through network structures, which, however, has its limitations, since they are abstracted from network risks. As a result of the study, it was found that from the perspective of risk economics a promising approach to solving the problem of competitive advantages for a manufacturing enterprise can be strategic planning based on constant experimental activity.