## 5 Discussion
### Limitations and Future Research  
Limitations of our work stem from the fact that we did not conduct empirical research, such as case studies, to validate, expand, refine, discuss, and evaluate our knowledge framework. Designing business case studies that identify key variables for each level, topic, and aspect to understand their interconnection could be a starting point for further research. Furthermore, our study focused on incumbent manufacturers, so we cannot make any statements regarding the transferability of our results to other types of companies and industries. As differences exist among industries, other levels, topics, and aspects may be important in industries other than manufacturing. Therefore, the required knowledge would vary, and adjustments to the knowledge framework would be necessary. The interconnection of various levels, topics, and aspects necessitates further research to optimize DDBMI strategies based on industry-specific innovation potential. Lastly, our work focuses on DDBMI; therefore, no general statements can be inferred for BMI. The relationships among the topics and their impact on key BMI variables could be studied in the context of BMI.  
More research is needed on incumbent manufacturers' BMI through the adoption of new technologies and data-driven approaches, given their increasing significance in current business practices. Our analysis lays the groundwork for future research that could focus on three key points: Future research could enhance the knowledge framework by conducting empirical studies to explore technologies and business strategies and providing practical details for each level, topic, and aspect. An expanded framework could assist in identifying requirements of additional topics and aspects across the different levels. By improving their understanding, incumbent manufacturers would be better equipped to utilize technologies and data effectively to transform their existing BMs into DDBMs.  
Future research could also implement industry-specific case studies to pinpoint the key variables influenced by these topics and aspects and devise methods for analyzing their interrelationships. Such analyses should focus on topics in their various roles (e.g., enablers, value creators, and outcomes), as in fields such as digital manufacturing, where measures aimed at digital transformation, innovation, and the circular economy are interconnected.  
**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, S.T. and H.J.; methodology, S.T.; validation, S.T., N.B., M.B. and H.J.; formal analysis, S.T., N.B., M.B. and H.J.; investigation, S.T.; resources, H.J.; data curation, S.T.; writing--original draft preparation, S.T., N.B. and M.B.; writing--review and editing, N.B. and H.J.; visualization, S.T. and N.B.; supervision, H.J.; project administration, S.T. and H.J.; funding acquisition, H.J. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
**Funding:** The financial support by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs, the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development, and the Christian Doppler Research Association is gratefully acknowledged.  
**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.