İş modeli yeniliğinin işletme performansı üzerine etkileri: Örgüt içi ve örgüt dışı faktörlerin rolü
The effects of business model innovation on corporate performance: The role of internal and external organizational factors
Yazar: MUSTAFA DAYIOĞLU
Danışman: PROF. DR. FATMA KÜSKÜ AKDOĞAN
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü / İşletme Mühendisliği Ana Bilim Dalı / İşletme Mühendisliği Bilim Dalı
Derece: Doktora, 2023
Konu: İşletme = Business Administration

Özet:
Bu çalışma ilgili akademik yazına dört önemli katkı sunmakatadır. Katkılardan ilki iş modeli yeniliği kavramı ile ilgilidir. Farklı disiplinlerce ele alındığından iş modeli yeniliği kavramının tanımlanmasında ve dolayısı ile ölçümlenmesinde zorluklar bulunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, sektör ve işletme büyüklüğünden bağımsız olacak şekilde heterojen ortamlar göz önüne alınarak yeni bir iş modeli yeniliği ölçeği geliştirilmiştir. İkinci katkı, iş modeli yeniliğinin gerçekleştirilmesini sağlayan örgüt içi unsur olan stratejik çeviklik kavramı ile ilgilidir. Farklı iş kollarının yer aldığı heterojen bağlamlar için doğruluğu ve geçerliliği test edilmiş bir stratejik çeviklik ölçeği geliştirilmiştir. Esasında, iş modeli yeniliği ve stratejik çeviklik için literatürde artık yeni ölçekler geliştirilmediği, mevcut ölçekler üzerinden araştırmalar yapıldığı gözlenmektedir. Ancak mevcut ölçekler sermaye yoğun işletmelerin yer aldığı ülkelerde yapılan araştırmalar ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Oysa bu tez çalışmasında hem emek yoğun hem de sermaye yoğun işletmeler örnekleme dahil olduğu için ölçek geliştirme açısından ilgili yazına önemli katkılar sunulabilecektir. Üçüncü katkı, stratejik çeviklik ve alt bileşenleri ile iş modeli yeniliği arasındaki anlamlı ilişkinin, ayrıca iş modeli yeniliğinin işletme performansı üzerinde olumlu etkisinin ampirik olarak doğrulamasının yapılmasıdır. Dördüncü önemli katkı ise, iş modeli yeniliğini etkinleştiren ulusal ve küresel çevre faktörlerinin, iş modeli yeniliği ve işletme performansı arasındaki ilişkide düzenleyici (güçlendirici) (moderating) ve aracılık (tetikleyici) (mediating) etkilerinin ampirik olarak test edilmesidir. Hatta son yıllarda çevresel değişimlerin getirdiği müşteri taleplerindeki değişim ve yeni teknolojilerin getirdiği ürün/hizmet fırsatlardan dolayı çevresel değişimlerin işletmeleri yeniliğe yönlendirmesi ve bu sayede de işletmelerin performanslarını olumlu yönde etkilemesi ile ilgili hipotezleri kanıtlayan çalışmalar da yapılmaya başlamıştır. Fakat bu çalışmalar işletmelerin değer kurgularının güncellenmesinden ziyade hizmet ve ürün yeniliği ile sınırlı kalmaktadır. Bu çalışmada ise, oluşturulan araştırma modelleri ile, ulusal ve küresel çevre faktörlerinin iş modeli yeniliğini gerçekleştiren faktörlerle ilişkisi hem aracılık (tetikleyici) hem de düzenleyicilik ilişkisi olarak ele alınmakta, böylece akademik yazına önemli ampirik katkılar sunulmaktadır.

Abstract:
In the academic literature, there are no empirical studies in which external environmental and internal factors are considered together within the scope of explaining the realization of business model innovation and its effect on business performance. Due to the gaps and contradictions in the current literature, more empirical research is needed on the triggering, process, and outputs of business model innovation. This thesis aims to determine the relationships between internal and external factors that enable business model innovation, as well as their results, with reference to these gaps. In this context, the enabling factors outside the organization to be examined are competition intensity and technological fluctuations from market-oriented environmental effects and state-oriented environmental factors expressed as R&D Startup Supports and Techno-enterprise Capital Supports. Strategic agility and its sub-components (strategic sensitivity, collective cohesion, and resource fluidity) are to be examined as performative intra-organizational factors.

One of the most critical aspects of this research is that it was carried out by collecting data from Turkey, a developing country, which despite concerted efforts, has been unable to reach high-income status. The inability of a developing – that is, a middle-income country – to achieve the status of high-income country is generally expressed through the concept of the 'middle-income trap'. Such countries can be described as those that exceed low-income levels and make significant progress in social and economic fields but still have yet to reach the socio-economic levels of high-income countries. To get out of the middle-income trap, countries increase their savings and invest in sectors such as industry and technology. Countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Israel have thus been successful in escaping the middle-income trap. However, countries with high populations, such as Argentina, Brazil – as well as Turkey – have remained within it. To rise out of this state, nationwide R&D becomes essential. Nevertheless, in the developing world, there is a risk that others can quickly copy innovations. However, since the value logic construct is updated according to the internal dynamics of the business and the context in which it is located, it is much more difficult for the competitors to copy the business model innovation than pure product innovations. Therefore, businesses that update their value constructs with innovations and develop new business models can gain sustainable competitive advantage. This, in turn, is a factor that facilitates countries in escaping of the middle-income trap. The findings of this study, which examines business model innovation with its different dimensions, will be of use to Turkey and other middle-income countries that have not yet achieved high-income status.

In the study, four research models were created for the hypotheses that examine the relations between the theoretical framework created within the scope of the research question and the adoption of business model innovation, the enabling internal and external factors, and business performance. In the first model (Model-A) proposed within the scope of this study, the regulatory effect of technological fluctuations and competition intensity (which are global environmental factors) and R&D Start-up supports and techno-enterprise capital supports (which are national environmental factors) on the relationship between strategic agility and business model innovation were tested. In the second model (Model-B), the triggering effect of global and national environmental factors (external factors) on business model innovation and, therefore, business performance through strategic agility, which is an internal factor, is tested. In the third model (Model-C), the triggering effects of global and national environmental factors on the sub-components of strategic agility (strategic sensitivity, collective adaptability, and resource flexibility) in businesses, business model innovation, and business performance were tested by the path analysis method. Business model innovation requires businesses to update their value constructs. Although the renewal of the value structure of the enterprises is only with the decisions taken at the strategic level, all employees in the enterprise should support these decisions and show collective commitment with the senior management according to the decisions taken. The profile of employees differs in companies operating in technology-intensive sectors such as informatics, electronics, and biotechnology and in sectors where technology is less intensive such as manufacturing, construction, and transportation. While more white-collar and highly educated personnel work in enterprises operating in technology-intensive sectors, blue-collar personnel work predominantly in enterprises operating in sectors where technology is not as intensive. In the fourth model (Model-D), a comparative analysis of the relationship between collective fit, business model innovation adoption, and business performance by technology-intensive and non-technology-intensive sectors was performed. Similarly, the regulatory effect of competitive intensity, considered common in technology-intensive and non-technology-intensive sectors, between collective adaptation and adoption of business model innovation was also tested. By testing these models, the relationship between business model innovation and business performance is extensively examined by associating it with internal factors (strategic agility) and external (institutional and national) environmental factors.

To test the models in this study, a primary sample of 7509 enterprises operating in the Turkish industry and operating in various sectors and applying to benefit from government incentives (public innovation incentives and technological venture investments) was utilized. In this context, the web link of the questionnaire was sent to all businesses in the sample via e-mail, and the completed questionnaires were delivered to us electronically. The data collection process took three months (July – October 2015). During this period, 481 of the 891 questionnaires we received were excluded from the sample due to missing or incomplete data or being filled in repeatedly (we tried to be very sensitive about this to minimize the possibility of problems in the analysis). As a result, 410 fully completed forms were accepted as the research sample of this study. 

This study makes four critical contributions to the relevant academic literature. The first of the contributions relates to the concept of business model innovation. Due to the fact that the concept of business model innovation is examined by multiple disciplines, there are difficulties in defining and measuring it. In this study, a new scale of business model innovation has been developed by considering heterogeneous environments independent of industry and business size. The second contribution is related to strategic agility, which is the internal element that enables the realization of business model innovation. A strategic agility scale has been developed for heterogeneous contexts in which different business lines are located, and has been tested for accuracy and validity. It appears that new scales are no longer developed in the literature for business model innovation and strategic agility and that research is conducted on existing scales. However, the existing scales have been devised by research conducted in countries where capital-intensive enterprises are located. In this thesis study, as both labor-intensive and capital-intensive enterprises are included in the sample, significant contributions can be made to the related literature regarding scale development. The third contribution is empirical validation of the significant relationship between strategic agility and its subcomponents and business model innovation, as well as the positive impact of business model innovation on business performance. The fourth significant contribution is empirical testing of the regulatory (moderating) and mediating effects of the national and global environmental factors that enable business model innovation on the relationship between business model innovation and business performance. In recent years, evidence from studies has supported hypotheses regarding changes in customer demands brought by environmental changes and the product/service opportunities brought by new technologies, as well as the notion that environmental changes lead businesses to innovation and thus positively affect the performance of businesses. However, such studies have been limited to service and product innovation and did not encompass the updating of value constructs of enterprises. In this study, on the other hand – with the research models created – the relationship between national and global environmental factors and the factors that create business model innovation is examined as both a mediator (trigger) and a regulatory relationship, thus making critical empirical contributions to the academic literature.