DAOs' Business Value from an Open Systems Perspective: A Best-Fit Framework Synthesis

• Main Authors: Küng, Lukas, Giaglis, George M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 18-06-2024
• Subjects: Computer Science - Computers and Society; Quantitative Finance - Economics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2406.12445

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are emerging innovative
organizational structures, enabling collective coordination, and reshaping
digital collaboration. Despite the promising and transformative characteristics
of DAOs, the potential technological advancements and the understanding of the
business value that organizations derive from implementing DAO characteristics
are limited. This research applies a systematic review of DAOs' business
applicability from an open systems perspective following a best-fit framework
methodology. Within our approach, combining both framework and thematic
analysis, we discuss how the open business principles apply to DAOs and present
a new DAO business framework comprising of four core business elements: i)
token, ii) transactions, iii) value system and iv) strategy with their
corresponding sub-characteristics. This paper offers a preliminary DAO business
framework that enhances the understanding of DAOs' transformative potential and
guides organizations in innovating more inclusive business models (BMs), while
also providing a theoretical foundation for researchers to build upon.