The impact of Catena-X on digital business models in the automotive industry

Abstract

Like many other manufacturing industries, the automotive industry is also affected by theconsequences of the climate crisis and is required to ensure greater sustainability.Corresponding laws and standards are continuously coming into force and require newmethods of implementation. A shared network that supports standardized verification andfacilitates communication among participants is the industry's answer. Promoted by theGerman government, the expectation is to better equip the industry for an increasingly digital,global market. The emergence of open data ecosystems such as Catena-X in the automotiveindustry creates new opportunities for value creation by extending existing, or creating newBusiness Models. Catena-X is an open data ecosystem that connects the supply chain andcreates value through increased transparency, which in turn leads to sustainability in theindustry. Companies that are part of the automotive supply chain can thereby profitablycontribute their data, creating benefits for the entire network. The research in this thesis isbased on five semi-structured interviews with experts from the German automotive industry.The responses enable the identification of current developments, including the merging ofproduction and service as a Business Model, but also a transformation of smaller companiesthat are adapting to the digital age in order to benefit from the new opportunities for valuecreation. This study places itself in a comparatively early phase of Catena-X and shows possible paths for further research, especially with regard to sustainability, which provides asolid basis for value creation on a social, environmental, and economic level.

Date of Award	10 May 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	René Bohnsack (Supervisor) & Cláudia Marante (Co-Supervisor)