Reconciling Complexity and Simplicity in the Business Model Canvas Design Through Metamodelling and Domain-Specific Modelling

📅 2026-02-13
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✨ Influential: 0
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Technology Category

Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: (Computational) Cognitive ArchitecturesData Mining & Knowledge Management: Semantic WebConstraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Satisfiability Modulo Theories

Application Category

Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactionsGraph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Foundation models and LLMs for Web-related graphsUser Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User modeling and simulation for interactive and conversational systems
📝 Abstract
This article introduces a metamodel for the Business Model Canvas (BMC) using the Unified Modelling Language (UML), together with a dedicated Domain-Specific Modelling Language (DSML) tool. Although the BMC is widely adopted by both practitioners and scholars, significant challenges remain in formally modelling business models, particularly with regard to explicit specification of inter-component relationships, while preserving the simplicity that characterises the BMC. Addressing this tension between modelling rigour and practical relevance, this research adopts a Design Science Research approach to formally specify relationships among BMC components and to strengthen their theoretical grounding through an adaptation of the V 4 framework. The proposed metamodel consolidates BMC relationships into three core types: supports, determines, and affects, providing explicit semantics while remaining accessible to end users through graphical tooling. The findings highlight that formally specifying relationships significantly improves the interpretability and consistency of BMC representations. The proposed metamodel and tool offer a rigorous yet usable foundation for developing DSML-based BMC tools and for enabling systematic integration of the BMC into widely used software and enterprise modelling environments, thereby bridging business modelling and enterprise architecture practices for both academics and practitioners.
Problem

Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.

Business Model Canvas
metamodelling
Domain-Specific Modelling
formal modelling
inter-component relationships
Innovation

Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.

metamodelling
Domain-Specific Modelling Language (DSML)
Business Model Canvas (BMC)
formal semantics
Design Science Research
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Nordine Benkeltoum
Centrale Lille Institut, CS 20048, 59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq cedex, France