Integrating the business networks and internet of things perspectives : A system of systems (SoS) approach for industrial markets

In industrial business-to-business (B2B) markets, physical entities (such as products, machines, materials, or other objects) are increasingly connected among each other. This Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is quickly developing thanks to advances in fields such as information systems, factory digitalization, data sciences, robotics. Thus, industrial markets appear both as business networks - encompassing connections between individual or organizational actors – and networks of connected things. The purpose of this research is to provide an integrative perspective that encompasses both types of networks. It seeks to contribute to the literature on industrial B2B markets in two ways. First, it proposes the system of systems (SoS) theory - which emphasizes diversity and autonomy of systems - as an integrative perspective. Second, it argues that this integrated perspective contributes to a new view on how resources are produced, combined, and used, and, therefore, on business network models. We discuss the implications for one of the most established models, the IMP Group's A-R-A model.