What do you think?
Rate this book
Business Model Innovation: The Organizational Dimension
Business model innovation is an important source of competitive advantage and corporate renewal. An increasing number of companies have to innovate their business models, not just because of competitive forces but also because of the ongoing change from product-based to service-based business models. Yet, business model innovation also involves organizational change process that challenges existing processes, structures and modes of control.
This volume features thirteen chapters written by authorities on business model innovation. The specific angle, and the novel feature of this book, is to thoroughly examine the organizational dimension of business model innovation.
Drawing on organizational theory and empirical observation, the contributors specifically highlight organizational design aspects of business model innovation, focusing on how reward systems, power distributions, routines and standard operating procedures, the allocation of authority, and other aspects of organizational structure and control should be designed to support the business model the firm chooses. Also discussed is how existing organizational structures, capabilities, beliefs, cultures and so on influence the firm's ability to flexibly change to new business models.
This volume features thirteen chapters written by authorities on business model innovation. The specific angle, and the novel feature of this book, is to thoroughly examine the organizational dimension of business model innovation.
Drawing on organizational theory and empirical observation, the contributors specifically highlight organizational design aspects of business model innovation, focusing on how reward systems, power distributions, routines and standard operating procedures, the allocation of authority, and other aspects of organizational structure and control should be designed to support the business model the firm chooses. Also discussed is how existing organizational structures, capabilities, beliefs, cultures and so on influence the firm's ability to flexibly change to new business models.
- GenresBusiness
326 pages, Hardcover
First published February 19, 2015
2 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 21, 2018
This collection of essays explores the relationship between organizational factors and business model innovation. As Foss and Saebi explain in the introductory chapter, this involves organization as an antecedent, a moderator, and a part of business model innovation. While this collection is loosely linked around this theme, there is substantial heterogeneity between the included essays. While this makes for a broader reading experience, with each essay giving a somewhat different picture of an under conceptualized phenomenon, it also raises many more questions.
Chapter 3, "Toward a Theory of Business Model Change," provides an outline of the concept of a business model and a typology of business model change, in doing so, it provides a nice overview for the general reader seeking to understand business model change. Dos Santos, Spector, and Heyden, the authors of this chapter state,
"A business model is a configuration of activities, the organizational units that perform those activities, the company boundaries in which the organizational units reside, and the linkages between them." (p. 46)
Business model change, according to the same authors, may involve reactivating, changing the set of activities performed by the company; relinking, changing the links between activities; repartitioning, or insourcing / outsourcing; and / or relocating organizational units. Thus said, we can think of business model innovation as changing the value proposition, the value chain, and governance structures. The authors conclude by discussing different types of business model change and the impact such changes are likely to have upon the organization.
Other essays discuss different issues related to business model innovation, such as the corporate perspective, the role of leadership, business model innovation as a dynamic capability, along with several essays that provide empirical perspectives on this phenomenon. One thing that would have been an interesting addition to this collection is an essay on the ethical implications of business model innovation, and specifically on organizational factors that are ethically salient. Business model innovation involving changing relationships, relationships often built upon long term patterns of trust. What might it mean to change these patterns of interaction for the people involved, for the organization, or for society?
What is clear is that business models cannot be ignored; firms create value through interacting with a wide range of stakeholders some within the organization and many outside its boundaries. Beyond this, business model innovation is important because the complexity of the global economy frequently generates situations where exogenous factors create the need to change radically the way that firms create and capture value and this often involves new stakeholder relationships and new organizational configurations. Finally, an organizational perspective on business model innovation is essential because organizational design factors fundamentally shape the process of business model innovation, making it easier or more difficult to make needed changes. Similarly, business model innovation almost aways involves some element of organizational change.
For anyone seeking to understanding this phenomenon and existing research that has sought to explore it, there is no better place to start than this collection.
Chapter 3, "Toward a Theory of Business Model Change," provides an outline of the concept of a business model and a typology of business model change, in doing so, it provides a nice overview for the general reader seeking to understand business model change. Dos Santos, Spector, and Heyden, the authors of this chapter state,
"A business model is a configuration of activities, the organizational units that perform those activities, the company boundaries in which the organizational units reside, and the linkages between them." (p. 46)
Business model change, according to the same authors, may involve reactivating, changing the set of activities performed by the company; relinking, changing the links between activities; repartitioning, or insourcing / outsourcing; and / or relocating organizational units. Thus said, we can think of business model innovation as changing the value proposition, the value chain, and governance structures. The authors conclude by discussing different types of business model change and the impact such changes are likely to have upon the organization.
Other essays discuss different issues related to business model innovation, such as the corporate perspective, the role of leadership, business model innovation as a dynamic capability, along with several essays that provide empirical perspectives on this phenomenon. One thing that would have been an interesting addition to this collection is an essay on the ethical implications of business model innovation, and specifically on organizational factors that are ethically salient. Business model innovation involving changing relationships, relationships often built upon long term patterns of trust. What might it mean to change these patterns of interaction for the people involved, for the organization, or for society?
What is clear is that business models cannot be ignored; firms create value through interacting with a wide range of stakeholders some within the organization and many outside its boundaries. Beyond this, business model innovation is important because the complexity of the global economy frequently generates situations where exogenous factors create the need to change radically the way that firms create and capture value and this often involves new stakeholder relationships and new organizational configurations. Finally, an organizational perspective on business model innovation is essential because organizational design factors fundamentally shape the process of business model innovation, making it easier or more difficult to make needed changes. Similarly, business model innovation almost aways involves some element of organizational change.
For anyone seeking to understanding this phenomenon and existing research that has sought to explore it, there is no better place to start than this collection.
Displaying 1 of 1 review