Lexicography: What is the Business Model?

Lexicography is a four thousand year old discipline and dictionaries have been an integral part of commerce and human cultural history for centuries. But lexicography is also a business activity undertaken by individuals or companies with a view to generating profits or creating value. And any discipline, movement, organization or company needs a plan of how it intends to create, deliver and capture cultural or monetary value.
The analysis and discussion of the lexicographic business model uses a kaleidoscopic approach where the concept business model is seen and analyzed by means of the five lenses: strategy, core competencies, innovation, business understanding and organizational inertia. By means of these lenses, the paper explores the business model of lexicography in Denmark, and it analyzes and discusses whether the Danish lexicographic industry understands the concept
business model at all, and if so, to what extent it applies business model thinking.
Furthermore, this paper discusses different categories of lexicographic business models, potential elements of a new lexicographic business model and finally it formulates six theses on a new, more viable lexicographic business model.