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

TL;DR

This paper develops a new framework to understand the business value of DAOs from an open systems perspective, highlighting core elements like tokens, transactions, value systems, and strategy.

Contribution

It introduces a novel DAO business framework based on systematic review and thematic analysis, integrating open business principles to guide organizational innovation.

Findings

Proposes a DAO business framework with four core elements

Enhances understanding of DAOs' transformative potential

Provides a theoretical foundation for future research

Abstract

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.