Query: business model innovation

title: Business Model Innovation: Opportunities and Barriers
abstract: Companies commercialize new ideas and technologies through their business models. While companies may have extensive investments and processes for exploring new ideas and technologies, they often have little if any ability to innovate the business models through which these inputs will pass. This matters the same idea or technology taken to market through two different business models will yield two different economic outcomes. So it makes good business sense for companies to develop the capability to innovate their business models. This paper explores the barriers to business model innovation, which previous academic research has identified as including conflicts with existing assets and business models, as well as cognition in understanding these barriers. Processes of experimentation and effectuation, and the successful leadership of organizational change must be brought to bear in order to overcome these barriers. Some examples of business model innovation are provided to underline its importance, in hopes of inspiring managers and academics to take these challenges on.

title: Business model innovation for circular economy and sustainability: A review of approaches
abstract: As circular economy and sustainability gain greater attention of governments, industry and academia, business model innovation for circularity and/or sustainability is becoming fundamental to sustain companies' competitive advantage. A variety of business model innovation approaches have been proposed to suit circular economy or sustainability principles. Although they largely have been addressed independently as two separate knowledge areas, there is an opportunity to seize synergies from the intersection of both streams. This paper provides a review of approaches for business model innovation for circular economy and/or sustainability, based on a systematic review of academic literature and practitioner based methodologies. The systematic literature review identified 94 publications and 92 approaches (including conceptual models, methods or tools) The different approaches were categorized according to the business model innovation process, following a three stage dynamic capability view. Subsequently they were compared based on five characteristics (nature of data, boundaries of analysis, level of abstraction, time based view, and representation style) to allow for a better understanding of how to use the approaches in research and practice. Based on the review, key findings outlining trends and a reflection about the interface of the scopes of circular economy oriented and sustainability oriented business model innovation are presented. Moreover, a number of gaps are identified and a framework that maps a future research agenda to simultaneously advance both streams is outlined.

title: Servitization and Industry 4.0 convergence in the digital transformation of product firms: A business model innovation perspective
abstract: Servitization and Industry 4.0 are considered two of the most recent trends transforming industrial companies. Servitization is mainly focused on adding value to the customer (demand pull) while Industry 4.0 is frequently related to adding value to manufacturing process (technology push) Although some scholars address them as complementary concepts, the literature lacks evidences about what are the interfaces and connection between the two trends. Thus, we aim to develop a conceptual framework that connects Servitization and Industry 4.0 concepts from a business model innovation (BMI) perspective. Our framework is based on three Servitization levels (i.e. smoothing, adapting and substituting) and three levels of digitization (i.e. low, moderate and high levels) We show that matching these levels results in nine possible configurations classified in manual, digital and industry 4.0 related services, which can focus on smoothing, adapting or substituting services. We use reported cases from the literature to support and illustrate these configurations. We also discuss different levels of complexity for the implementation of these configurations. The study hence provides a foundation for the growing research on the interface between Servitization and Industry 4.0.

title: Reviewing Literature on Digitalization, Business Model Innovation, and Sustainable Industry: Past Achievements and Future Promises
abstract: Digitalization is revolutionizing the way business is conducted within industrial value chains through the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, intensive data exchange and predictive analytics. However, technological application on its own is not enough; profiting from digitalization requires business model innovation such as making the transition to advanced service business models. Yet, many research gaps remain in analyzing how industrial companies can leverage digitalization to transform their business models to achieve sustainability benefits. Specifically, challenges related to value creation, value delivery, and value capture components of business model innovation need further understanding as well as how alignment of these components drive sustainable industry initiatives. Thus, this special issue editorial attempts to take stock of the emerging research field through a literature review and providing a synthesis of special issue contributions. In doing so, we contribute by developing a framework that communicates and sets the direction for future research by linking digitalization, business model innovation, and sustainability in industrial settings.

title: Digitalization and its influence on business model innovation
abstract: Increased digitalization has influenced various business activities including companies' business models (BMs) by enabling various new forms of cooperation between companies and leading to new product and service offerings as well as new forms of company relationships with customers and employees. At the same time, this digitalization has put pressure on companies to reflect on their current strategy and explore new business opportunities systematically and at early stages. While research on digitalization in the context of BMs is now gaining increased attention, a research gap still exists in this field since the number of empirical insights is limited. The paper aims to discuss these issues.  Qualitative empirical data collected from 12 key informants working in two distinctive industries, the media and automotive industries, were collected. An investigation was carried out to examine the differences and similarities among how digitalization influences a company's value creation, proposition and capture, as well as how firms cope with challenges presented by increased digitalization.  The findings of the study show that, whilst digitalization is generally considered to be important, the value proposition itself as also the position in the value network determine the perceived available options for business model innovation (BMI) by digitalization. Moreover, the organizational capacities and employee competences were identified as future challenges that will be faced by both industries.  The findings of this study have revealed that representatives of the media and automotive industries perceive both the pressures and opportunities of digitalization regarding BMI; its application and exploitation, however, remain challenging. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing empirical insights in the context of digitalization and BMI.

title: Fifteen Years of Research on Business Model Innovation
abstract: Over the last 15 years, business model innovation (BMI) has gained an increasing amount of attention in management research and among practitioners. The emerging BMI literature addresses an important phenomenon but lacks theoretical underpinning, and empirical inquiry is not cumulative. Thus, a concerted research effort seems warranted. Accordingly, we take stock of the extant literature on BMI. We identify and analyze 150 peer reviewed scholarly articles on BMI published between 2000 and 2015. We provide the first comprehensive systematic review of the BMI literature, include a critical assessment of these research efforts, and offer suggestions for future research. We argue that the literature faces problems with respect to construct clarity and has gaps with respect to the identification of antecedent conditions, contingencies, and outcomes. We identify important avenues for future research and show how the complexity theory, innovation, and other streams of literature can help overcome many of the gaps in the BMI literature.

title: Incumbents and business model innovation for the sharing economy: Implications for sustainability
abstract: In addition to fostering the rise of new players in various sectors, the sharing economy has attracted the attention of established companies, the so called 'incumbents' Some incumbents have joined the sharing economy to both reap its emerging opportunities and tackle newcomers' competition. The entry of incumbents comes at a time in which the sharing economy, still in its initial stages, is the 'battlefield' between actors defending its original sustainability promise, based on the efficient use of resources, social bonding, non monetized relationships and power of the communities, and those supporting the need to compromise on the principles, to ensure the sharing economy's expansion. Given incumbents' size and power, their entry is likely to significantly affect the shape of the sharing economy. Our study explores the implications for environmental, social and economic value creation of the different ways in which incumbents are changing their existing business models to join the sharing economy. We develop a typology of business model innovation for sharing, which stems from the literature on sustainable business models in particular, and present illustrative cases of incumbents' entry in the sharing economy. For every type adopted by incumbents, the sustainability dimensions are subsequently explored, considering both the benefits and drawbacks of incumbents' entry in the sharing economy. The final section concludes, and discusses implications for research, practice and policy.

title: A Review and Evaluation of Circular Business Model Innovation Tools
abstract: The circular economy has been heralded as a potential driver for sustainable development by business, academia, and policymakers. In a future circular economy, new business models are needed that slow, close and narrow resource loops to address key resource and climate challenges. After a phase of excitement and inspiration, an operationalization phase needs to start to ensure the best possible implementation and transition towards a circular economy. This operationalization phase will involve the development of products, processes and business models that significantly lower the negative impact on the environment, reduce waste and resource pressures and, rather, create a positive impact on society and environment. This paper focuses on the circular business model lens as a comprehensive way of addressing business innovation. Within this evolving circular economy operationalization phase, several tools, approaches and methods are emerging that could support circular business model innovation. This paper seeks to create a comprehensive tools overview through a literature and practice review. It provides structure to the emerging range of tools, methods and approaches, and, based on this, a guideline for future tool development. Finally, it gives an overview of opportunities and gaps as well as a future agenda for research and practice.

title: Searching for innovation: Product, process, and business model innovations and search behavior in established firms
abstract: Prior research indicates that search practices are an important part of the innovation process. But where established firms search for different innovation types is not clear. Drawing on knowledge based theory of innovation and using state of the art statistical techniques (copula with Bayesian inference) we find that established firms predominantly rely on several external sources (broad external search) when introducing new business models, on internal and external sources with high intensity (deep search) when innovating processes, and on broad and deep external search when innovating products. We explain that broad external search is important for business model innovation (BMI) because increased exploration is needed when introducing new business models that rely on general rather than specialized technical or tacit business knowledge. We contribute to the innovation and business model literatures by nuancing the differences between innovation types (BMI, product, and process innovation) and the associated search behavior. It is important to consider these differences because they give us clues to understand how established firms can explore unfamiliar territories through BMI.

title: Emerging Technology and Business Model Innovation: The Case of Artificial Intelligence
abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) has been altering industries as evidenced by Airbnb, Uber and other companies that have embraced its use to implement innovative new business models. Yet we may not fully understand how this emerging and rapidly advancing technology influences business model innovation. While many companies are being made vulnerable to new competitors equipped with AI technology, this study attempts to focus on the proactive side of the use of AI technology to drive business model innovation. Describing AI technology as the catalyst of business model innovation, this study sheds light on contingent factors shaping business model innovation initiated by the emerging technology. This study first provides a brief overview of AI, current issues being tackled in developing AI and explains how it transforms business models. Our case study of two companies that innovated their business models using AI shows its potential impact. We also discuss how executives can create an innovative AI based culture, which rephrases the process of AI based business model innovation. Companies that successfully capitalize on AI can create disruptive innovation through their new business models and processes, enabling them to potentially transform the global competitive landscape.