Sustainability challenges typically occur across sectoral boundaries, calling the state, market, and civil society to action. Although consensus exists on the merits of cross-sector collaboration, our understanding of whether and how it can create value for various, collaborating stakeholders is still limited. This special issue focuses on how new combined knowledge on cross-sector collaboration and business models for sustainability can inform the academic and practitioner debates about sustainability challenges and solutions. We discuss how cross-sector collaboration can play an important (...) role for the transition to new and potentially sustainability-driven business models given that value creation, delivery, and capture of organizations are intimately related to the collaborative ties with their stakeholders. Sustainable alternatives to conventional business models tend to adopt a more holistic perspective of business by broadening the spectrum of solutions and stakeholders and, when aligned with cross-sector collaboration, can contribute new ways of addressing the wicked sustainability problems humanity faces. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between business model innovation, corporate sustainability, and the underlying organisational values. Moreover, the paper examines how the three dimensions correlate with corporate financial performance. It is concluded that companies with innovative business models are more likely to address corporate sustainability and that business model innovation and corporate sustainability alike are typically found in organisations rooted in values of flexibility and discretion. Business model innovation (...) and corporate sustainability thus seem to have their origin in the fundamental principles guiding the organisation. In addition, the study also finds a positive relationship between the core organisational values and financial performance. The analysis of the paper is based on survey responses from 492 managers within the Swedish fashion industry. (shrink)

The starting premise of this paper is that business models can transform social reality—sometimes to an extreme. Then, building on the concept of “grand challenges,” we argue that such transformations can be either positive or negative in nature —even in the case of business models designed to improve value not only economically but environmentally and socially as well. To further our understanding of the negative aspects, we introduced two conceptual categories of business model: those for oppression (...) or depletion and exclusionary ones. We further argue that bringing the notion of grand challenges center-stage highlights four elements that can contribute to emerging research and inform practice on transformational business models. These elements are: participatory forms of architecture; multivocal inscriptions; scaffolding; and proximity. They are central components of what we name transformational business models. (shrink)

Base of the pyramid ventures seek to create “mutual value” for themselves and poor communities, but often use business models unadapted for the BoP context, and have been less successful than hoped. Sustainable business models’ multi-stakeholder lens offers a promising alternative path to mutual value, but BoP-based SBM studies are scarce. This single case study explores whether and how SBM characteristics manifest in the business model and value outcomes of Habi, a Manila footwear company successfully creating (...) mutual value with BoP suppliers. We find SBM characteristics underpin Habi’s dual-structure business model and success in four ways: viewing profits as a tool for community development resulted in designing both product and business model around community strengths; understanding communities as systems helped Habi address the complexities of poverty; balancing short-term business needs with a long-term, slow-growth approach led to their choice of investors; and implementing community value capture mechanisms ensured enduring community benefit. (shrink)

Almost two decades ago, Prahalad and Hammond [Harv Bus Rev, 80(9):48–59, 2002] introduced the base/bottom of the pyramid (BOP) approach to profitably serving the poor with business models adapted from developed markets while alleviating poverty. In response to disappointing results and ethical criticism, the BOP approach evolved from a just-for-profit approach with a passive role of the poor to an inclusive development approach that integrates the principles of the triple bottom line. A recent review of the BOP literature [Dembek (...) et al., J Bus Ethics 165(3):365–382, 2020], however, reveals a lack of empirical evidence to support the sustainable BOP approach. In this paper, we specify the assumptions underlying the sustainable BOP approach and test them using structural equation modeling with clustered robust standard errors on a unique dataset of 212 firms. Our findings show that BOP business model involvement and adaptive capacity are significant drivers of the triple bottom line at the BOP; however, business model adaptive capacity does not guarantee an ecologically sustainable performance at the BOP. We find that there is a need for further extension of the ethical foundations of the sustainable BOP approach. (shrink)

This article examines spiritual growth and the business career. Rather than a certain decline into workaholism or materialism, the world of business becomes a necessary step on the path of enlightenment, through the transcendant philosophical models of the Hindu householder and the Native American Medicine Wheel.The householder concept, including mastering the material world and the resulting spiritual growth, stresses the importance of action, also a criterion for success in business. Current views, based on studies of modern life, (...) Judaic thought, and Christian beliefs, add further dimension to this executive's model of enlightenment. (shrink)

Individual and collective ethical stances regarding ethical consumption and related outcomes are usually seen as both a form of concern about extant market offerings and as opportunities to develop new offerings. In this sense, demand and supply are traditionally portrayed as interacting dialectically on the basis of extant business models. In general, this perspective implicitly assumes the juxtaposition of demand side ethical stances and supply side corporate initiatives. The Eataly story describes, however, a different approach to market transformation; in (...) this case a company and a social movement (Slow Food) have negotiated and collaborated prior to initiating a new business model. This collaboration process and its outcomes are described, focusing specifically on ordinary Eataly customers’ and Slow Food members’ reactions. Given that Eataly can be regarded as a case of mainstreaming, ordinary customers seem satisfied with the new offering and the Slow Food support for the initiative; the more purist members of the Slow Food movement had critical concerns, however, as happened in similar conditions, according to literature, with regard to Fair Trade. The Slow Food endorsement of the new venture has also been observed from the attitude–behaviour gap perspective, as it contributed to addressing the factors affecting the gap between attitudes and actual behaviours. Extensive qualitative data were collected and analysed over a 3-year period. The main study implications refer to the ways in which companies and social movements could interact to co-design new business models, as well as outlining consumers’ attitudes and behaviours towards such new offerings. (shrink)

This paper investigates the difficulties of creating economic, social, and environmental values when operating as a hybrid venture. Drawing on hybrid organizing and sustainable business model research, it explores the implications of alternative forms of business model experimented with by farmer owned, fairtrade social enterprise Cafédirect. Responding to changes and challenges in the market and societal environment, Cafédirect has tried multiple business model innovations to deliver on all three forms of value capture, with differing (...) levels of success. This longitudinal case study, therefore, provides a contribution to our understanding of how business models enact hybrid mission, providing a platform for triple-bottom-line value capture. In doing so, we are able to expand on the normative understandings of integrating hybrid objectives, and the complications of multiple types of value capture. (shrink)

The effective functioning of a modern enterprise necessitates the awareness of the owners and managers of its strategic orientations, the state of the internal and external environment, its competitive advantages, entrepreneurial potential and development prospects. A well-built business model of the enterprise helps to face these urgent and permanent challenges. However, the formation of a real business model of the enterprise necessitates mastering of theoretical and methodological bases and implementation of long-term practical measures in the field (...) of assessment, shaping, organization and control. This study offers a comprehensive business model of the enterprise that systematically identifies key factors which influence business activity of the enterprise and provide value logic for doing business in the global economic environment. (shrink)

A flourishing literature assesses how sustainable business models create and capture value in socio-ecological systems. Nevertheless, we still know relatively little about how the organization of sustainable business models—of which cross-sector partnerships represent a core and distinctive mechanism—can support socio-ecological resilience. We address this knowledge gap by taking a complex adaptive systems (CAS) perspective. We develop a framework that identifies the key strategic, institutional, and learning elements of partnerships that sustainable business models rely on to support socio-ecological (...) resilience. With our analytical framework, we underpin the importance of assessing sustainable business initiatives in terms of their impact on resilience at the level of socio-ecological systems, not just of organizations. Therefore, we reveal how cross-sector partnerships provide the organizational support for sustainable business models to support socio-ecological resilience. By combining the key features of CAS and the key elements of partnerships, we provide insight into the formidable task of designing cross-sector partnerships so that they support socio-ecological resilience and avoid unintended consequences. (shrink)

Collaborative cross-sector business models for sustainability innovation (CCSBMSI) in response to grand challenges are rich foci for tensions. This is the case of CCSBMSI targeting independent living through Information and Communication Technology–enabled care. This research aims at identifying the relevant tensions, understanding their interactions, and assessing how they can be effectively managed so that CCSBMSI become more valuable for partners and transformative for society. A conceptual framework that understands the management of interrelated institutional and interorganizational tensions as a dynamic (...) capability is substantiated through in-depth, qualitative analysis of the long-term dynamics of a four-sector CCSBMSI in telecare—including government, businesses, nonprofits, and informal actors. Its effects on the transition of business models in terms of value creation, delivery, and capture; on relevant stakeholders—particularly nonprofits and beneficiaries; and on the development of the sustainability innovation are discussed. The conceptualization, tension categories, and management capabilities of CCSBMSI are amplified. (shrink)

Global supply chains often distribute value inequitably among the Global North and South. This perpetuates poverty and contributes to indecent work in raw material-producing countries, thus creating challenges to sustainable development. For decades, corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, and sustainable business model innovations have aimed to distribute value more equitably across global value chains, for instance via fair trade, alternative trade, and direct trade. This article examines a novel and hitherto understudied innovation for equitable value distribution in global (...) supply chains: “value chain profit sharing.” We draw on interview and archival data from two cases of social entrepreneurs working in the coffee sector to develop a generalized model. One of the model's key features is that the entrepreneur pays suppliers in multiple installments that reflect market conditions (as opposed to a single lump sum based on prediction). We show how this can increase value creation, appropriation, and equitable distribution. Although our research suggests that this model may be highly contingent on leaders' skills, resources, sense of place, and accountability to suppliers, we find no evidence that its applications are limited to specific countries or sectors. Our research further extends extant theory by showing how “value chain profit sharing” may relieve some of the tensions often associated with sustainable business models, including distributing value to suppliers while maintaining financial solvency; creating value while pursuing a social mission; providing benefits to suppliers without curtailing their market opportunities; responding to market conditions while maintaining commitments to suppliers; and scaling without diluting benefits. It thereby contributes to the literatures on sustainable business model innovations, equitable value distribution in global supply chains, novel application of revenue-sharing contracts, and innovative methods of profit sharing. It furthermore provides actionable guidance for social entrepreneurs, corporate social responsibility practitioners, and supplier cooperatives aiming to achieve more equitable value distribution and sustainable supply chains. (shrink)

In a context of growing environmental challenges, circular economy (CE) business models appear necessary for business to contribute positively to the ecological transition. While platform business models have been identified as a new and promising model in CE, we still lack a fine-grained understanding of the critical capabilities involved in developing and scaling them. To fill this gap, we build on a single case study of Phenix, a French-based fast-growing start-up in the food industry, tackling the (...) issue of food waste. We identify three core managerial capabilities involved in the successful scaling of Phenix's business model. In addition to ecosystem orchestration capabilities, we identify two types of ambidextrous capabilities – forms of ambidexterity operating both at the organizational and at the institutional level. Our analysis highlights the importance of considering these capabilities in a bundle as they collectively contribute to the performance and scaling potential of the business model. We also call for an increased consideration of the role of institutional factors in shaping opportunities to design and scale profitable business models. (shrink)

Cross-sector social partnerships (CSSPs) are relevant units of analysis for understanding sustainable business models (SBMs). This research examines how organizations value their motivations to participate in large sustainability-focused partnerships, how they perceive the value captured, and their structures implemented to address sustainability partnerships. Two hundred and twenty-four organizations partnering within four large sustainability CSSPs were surveyed using an augmented resource-based view (RBV) theoretical framework. Results show that partners were motivated by and captured value related to sustainability-, organizational-, and human-oriented (...) resources, and that organizations prefer more informal than formal structural elements to implement their partnerships’ sustainability strategies. Contributions to SBM and CSSP fields are revealed. SBM thinking is a provocation toward seeking integrated sustainable value creation, helping show the value of large CSSPs. Conversely, by conceiving of large, pluralistic CSSPs as “collaborative SBMs,” we extend the idea of the “business model” to the societal level, exploring how value is captured in partnership. (shrink)

In African countries such as Ghana, microentrepreneurs make formal economy goods and services available to base of the pyramid (BOP) consumers. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) co-opt BOP business models when they enter the BOP market. We conducted a case study of six MNEs and 36 microentrepreneurs in three key sectors. In two sectors (fast-moving consumer goods and telecommunications), reverse bridging enables MNEs to capture value from BOP business models, which has a negative impact on both the financial and social (...) capital of microentrepreneurs. In the third sector (finance), microentrepreneurs are buffered from the negative effects of co-optation through a process of integrating, which enhances their social capital but reduces their financial capital. Our research contributes to the BOP literature, first by demonstrating that financial and social capital are intertwined at the BOP level, and second by analyzing how the negative effects of co-optation can be cushioned by enhancing microentrepreneurs’ social capital. (shrink)

I argue that philosophy must push back against the business model of education in order to achieve its aim to increase diversity and inclusiveness in our discipline.

Although the concept of value is central to sustainable business models (SBMs), the field has struggled to clarify what value is. SBM research accounts for multiple forms of value directed at multiple stakeholders. We argue that this diversity challenge should be addressed not by seeking a field-unifying definition of value but by developing methodological guidelines for a field-specific approach to defining value in SBM contexts. Based on Aristotelian logic and philosophical phenomenology of value, we develop an analytical framework that (...) can be used for generating good definitions of value. We use this framework to explore approaches to value in extant SBM literature, highlight problematic patterns in applications of this concept, and suggest ways to avoid these patterns. The result is a guide to assist SBM researchers in exploring and defining value, and in applying their definitions consistently in theory building efforts. (shrink)

Business orientation toward sustainable development goals and the circular economy are relevant research topics today in business theory and practice. The waste recycling sector is a key industry in the circular economy framework for promoting clean production and environmental sustainability. This study analyzes business performance in the recycling sector, focusing on efficiency indicators. The associations between firm efficiency and risk variables were also evaluated. The study goes through several methodological stages, including a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) multistage (...) method and multivariate modeling: tobit regression, bootstrap models, and generalized method of moments (GMM). The main results indicate that the average efficiency of waste recycling firms is at a medium level. Large-sized firms achieve higher levels of efficiency than medium-sized and small firms, supporting the economies of scale hypothesis. The evidence also suggests that risk variables (rating score and Zscore) and capital structure are key determinants of firm efficiency in the waste recycling industry. (shrink)

This paper has a two-fold aim: to analyze the development of the digital transformation field, and to understand the impact of digital technologies on business model innovation through a structured review of the literature. The results of this research reveal that the field of digital transformation is still developing, with growing interest from researchers since 2014. Results show a need for research in developing countries and for more collaboration between researchers and practitioners. The review highlights that the field (...) is fragmented among disruptive technologies, shared platforms and ecosystems, and new enabling technologies. We conclude that digital transformation has impacted value creation, delivery, and capture in almost every industry. These impacts have led to the employment of a variety of new business models, such as those for frugal innovation and the circular economy. (shrink)

The Business Model Canvas is a strategic model for developing business organizations’ roadmap toward achieving their goals. While several organizations utilize the Business Model Canvas to establish and operate their businesses well, the utilization of BMC seems to be limited in the local market of Saudi Arabia, especially when businesses utilize electronic business channels. This paper aims to explore the status of the utilization of BMC among Saudi SMEs, as a critical sector. The (...) paper highlights the awareness and practice of BMC’s nine factors before and during the operation of e-commerce stores by Saudi SMEs. Then, it aims to explore the significance of practicing those factors in increasing the satisfaction level of running businesses. In this paper, a quantitative survey was distributed conveniently to 200 SMEs in the two largest Saudi cities, which are Riyadh and Jeddah, resulting in 63 valid participations from different industries. After operating e-commerce stores, most SMEs gained more knowledge of five BMC factors: key partners, value propositions, customer relationships, customer segments, and cost structures. Meanwhile, they found some issues in the other four factors: key activities, key resources, channels, and revenue streams. The proposed method exposes the variety of results and indicates a lack of understanding of BMC by the examined e-commerce SME samples, as they depend on traditional methods of identifying the elements of each of the BMC factors. (shrink)

Base-of-the-pyramid business models aim to achieve profitability and poverty reduction by including poor people into corporate value chains. This goal duality creates tensions. Actors’ responses to these tensions are influenced by their cognitive frames of the phenomena building the tension. Applying a cognitive perspective, I investigate how corporate actors with different frames of poverty respond proactively or defensively to the poverty–profitability tension by adapting business model elements. I find that proactive and defensive responses differ for actors holding (...) different cognitive frames of poverty. The responses have consequences for the poverty impact potential of BOP business models. (shrink)

The impact of entrepreneurial passion on business model innovation has become a research focus in the field of entrepreneurship. This study aimed to examine the effect of entrepreneurial passion on entrepreneurial learning and business model innovation. The study used partial least square-structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses on a sample of 389 manufacturing and technology enterprises in the South region of Henan province China. The results of this study revealed that entrepreneurial passion has a positive (...) and significant influence on entrepreneurial learning and business model innovation. The findings of this study showed that entrepreneurial learning positively and significantly mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and business model innovation. Furthermore, the results of this study indicated that curiosity positively and significantly moderates the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial learning. Lastly, the results are discussed with implications and limitations, which open up future research perspectives. (shrink)

The Erasmus + Play4Guidance project introduces an online business game, designed to help teach entrepreneurial, transversal and mathematical skills using a real-world business environment. This paper explains how the Business Model Canvas strategy tool facilitated student understanding of real life business development prior to playing the game. An initial mapping exercise was conducted to find out if the Business Model Canvas could transform the experience of playing the game by providing an overview of (...) real life business strategy, and explain the crucial role that markets and customers play in business growth. As a result of the mapping exercise a workshop session was developed to ensure that students could enact the real life business scenarios presented in the game. Three different types of videos were produced and integrated into the workshop to demonstrate key entrepreneurial competencies and graphically illustrate the nine key building blocks of the BMC. Survey responses from a student cohort evidenced that the workshop was central in helping them to understand real life business strategy prior to playing the game. (shrink)

In a period of decreasing aid budgets and increasing private sector engagement in the Global South, Inclusive Business-referring to a business model that integrates marginalized people in the company’s value chain as suppliers, distributors, retailers, or customers to the mutual benefit of both the company and the community has become a preferred development strategy. However so far the impacts of inclusive business models on the livelihoods of these ‘marginalized people’ have remained elusive. With this paper I (...) aim to contribute to a better understanding of the impacts perceived by the communities. Starting from the idea that the rural landscape is socially differentiated, I scrutinize the impact of inclusive business models on the ground at the level of the farmer communities in two very different settings: the savannah of North-Ghana and the green valleys on the slope of Mount Kenya in East Kenya. The findings indicate that diverse groups in the communities are impacted differently by inclusive business models. Both companies catalyse trajectories that in the long term might have negative repercussions on the livelihoods of smallholders. These long-term, or unintended, impacts are obfuscated in frameworks used to assess inclusive business models. Inclusive business models can only be a partial answer in overcoming poverty and food insecurity. (shrink)

Extant literature suggested that executive cognitive ability is a critical perspective to answering why and how enterprises perform business model innovation. However, the effect of executive cognitive ability on business model innovation is still insufficiently explored. Drawing on entrepreneurial bricolage theory, we developed a moderated mediation model which takes entrepreneurial bricolage as the mediating mechanism and environmental dynamics as the moderating mechanism to explain how executive cognitive ability influences business model innovation. We collected (...) the data of 316 executives of Chinese start-ups through questionnaires for the model test. Results showed that new venture executives' cognitive ability significantly positively affects business model innovation by mediating with entrepreneurial bricolage. Environmental dynamism positively moderates the effect of executives' cognitive ability on business model innovation. Moreover, environmental dynamism positively moderates the mediating role of entrepreneurial bricolage in executive cognitive ability and business model innovation. This study broadens the research scope of entrepreneurial bricolage theory from the perspective of cognitive ability and provides ideas for new ventures' business model innovation. (shrink)

The literature on Base of the Pyramid strategies emphasizes that creating social value requires collaborative, multi-stakeholder business approaches. However, there is limited understanding of how businesses can successfully coordinate such value creation processes in the developing economies that face significant institutional voids. This study adopts a business model perspective for analyzing social value creation processes that span organizational boundaries. We introduce a novel, theoretically grounded business model framework that helps conceptualize social value by locating the (...) various loci of value creation, and the stakeholders that partake in creating and capturing this value. We subsequently analyze the mechanisms of social value creation in M-Pesa, a renowned boundary-spanning mobile money system that has advanced financial inclusion among tens of millions of users in Kenya. The results show that information and communications technology can help advance social value creation by reducing the cost of coordinating boundary-spanning business models that integrate diverse societal stakeholders. The results further point to uneven distributional outcomes in self-governing social value creation strategies where the focal firm plays a coordinating role. (shrink)

During the last two decades, the literature in management studies has shown a significant increase in interest in the theory of business models, and there has been wide-ranging discussion about the definitions of those models. These studies and discussions have provoked questions about the scientific nature of the foundations of business models. This article attempts to verify whether the proposed constructions of business models meet the objectives of abduction, which is, according to the methodology of science, one (...) of the recognised methods to verify the scientific nature of created theories. The verification was performed by using the method of the Scientific Research Tradition by Larry Laudan. The result unequivocally confirmed that the theory of business models that is created and defined based on management sciences falls under the scope of ScRT. It can be said that according to the methodology of science, the business models theory proposed on the basis of management science points to abduction as a tool that allows for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of formation and opens a new way of interpretation than is the case when using deduction or induction. (shrink)

Digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfaces technology and big data, enable many firms to innovate their business model. It is clearly an emotional process due to its complex and uncertain nature, and involves individuals’ emotion regulation, yet the current research lacks an effective conversion path from emotion to digital business model innovation. Drawing on theories and research on emotion regulation and business model innovation, we investigate how emotion regulation of entrepreneurs influence digital (...) BMI. Data from 126 new ventures show that entrepreneurs’ reappraisal positively affects digital BMI, while entrepreneurs’ suppression exerts opposite effects on digital BMI. Moreover, we find that environmental dynamism moderates this relationship. The findings explain the emotional complexity in digital technology empowerment, which has implications for the development and design of brain computer interface applications and the literature on emotions and business model innovation. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound psychological and behavioral impact on people around the world. Consumer purchase behaviors have thus changed greatly, and consumer services companies need to adjust their business models to adapt to this change. From the perspective of consumer psychology, this paper explores the impact of consumer purchase behavior changes over the course of the pandemic on the business model design of consumer services companies using a representative survey of 1,742 individuals. Our results (...) show that changes in consumer purchase behavior have a significant impact on the design of consumer services firms’ business models. Specifically, changes in consumers’ purchase object, motive, and timeframe are more likely to spark a novelty-centered business model design, whereas changes in purchase method tend to inspire an efficiency-centered one. Our findings provide a theoretical reference for consumer services companies in designing business models when faced with unexpected crises. (shrink)

Because of the rising labor costs and the trade impact after joining the World Trade Organization, the textile industry in Taiwan has encountered many operational and production problems and obstacles. In addition, the lack of knowledge and resources for the digital transformation required to improve business performance has led to poor production and decision-making efficiency, and stagnant R&D for textile product innovation. In order to improve business operations, enhance customer satisfaction and experience, increase efficiency and reduce manual error, (...) this study was conducted with senior executives and company managers in Taiwan’s textile industry as the target population. The knowledge, technological resources, and competitive pressure of digital transformation are the independent variables. The organizational innovation atmosphere is the moderating variable. The study analyzes the impact of digital transformation on the intention of enterprises. The results of the study show that the knowledge of digital transformation, technological resources, and the competitive pressure of the textile industry positively and significantly affect their perceived benefits of digital transformation. Digital transformation knowledge, technological resources, and competitive pressure will negatively and significantly affect the perceived risk of digital transformation. The perceived benefits and risks of digital transformation are related to the intention of digital transformation of enterprises. The organizational innovation atmosphere of the textile industry positively moderates the influence of perceived benefits on digital transformation intention. Finally, based on the research findings, this study provides practical recommendations to senior executives and company managers in the textile industry. It is also recommended to promote the digital transformation of related software and hardware vendors and government agencies, as well as the subsequent related research reference. (shrink)

Business models are developed and managed to create value. While most business model frameworks envision value creation as a uni-directional flow between the focal business and its customers, this article presents a broader view based on a stringent application of stakeholder theory. It provides a stakeholder value creation framework derived from key characteristics of stakeholder theory. This article highlights mutual stakeholder relationships in which stakeholders are both recipients and creators of value in joint value creation processes. (...) Key findings include that the concept and analysis of value creation through business models need to be expanded with regard to different types of value created with and for different stakeholders and the resulting value portfolio, i.e., the different kinds of value exchanged between the company and its stakeholders. This paper details the application of the stakeholder value creation framework and its theoretical propositions for the case of business models for sustainability. The framework aims to support theoretical and empirical analyses of value creation as well as the management and transformation of business models in line with corporate sustainability ambitions and stakeholder expectations. Overall, this paper proposes a shift in perspective from business models as devices of sheer value creation to business models as devices that organize and facilitate stakeholder relationships and corresponding value exchanges. (shrink)

In this conceptual paper, the traditional conceptualization of sustainable entrepreneurship is challenged because of a fundamental tension between processes involved in sustainable development and processes involved in entrepreneurship: the concept of sustainable business models contains a paradox, because sustainability involves the reduction of information asymmetries, whereas entrepreneurship involves enhanced and secured levels of information asymmetries. We therefore propose a new and integrated theory of sustainable entrepreneurship that overcomes this paradox. The basic argument is that environmental problems have to be (...) conceptualized as wicked problems or sustainability-related ecosystem failures. Because all actors involved in the entrepreneurial process are characterized by their epistemic insufficiency regarding the solving of these problems, the role of information in the sustainable entrepreneurial process changes. On the one hand, the reduction of information asymmetries primarily aims to enable actors to become critical of sustainable entrepreneurs’ actual business models. On the other hand, the epistemic insufficiency of sustainable entrepreneurs guarantees that information asymmetries remain as a source of new sustainable business opportunities. Three further characteristics of sustainable entrepreneurs are distinguished: sustainability and entrepreneurship-related risk-taking; sustainability and entrepreneurship-related self-efficacy; and the development of satisficing and open-ended solutions, together with multiple stakeholders. (shrink)

How can a critical analysis of entrepreneurial intention inform an appreciation of ethics in social enterprise business models? In answering this question, we consider the ethical commitments that inform entrepreneurial action and the hybrid organisations that emerge out of these commitments and actions. Ethical theory can be a useful way to reorient the field of social enterprise so that it is more critical of bureaucratic and market-driven enterprises connected to neoliberal doctrine. Social enterprise hybrid business models are therefore (...) reframed as outcomes of both ethical and entrepreneurial intentions. We challenge the dominant conceptualisation of social enterprise as a hybrid blend of mission and market by reframing hybridity in terms of the moral choice of economic system and social value orientation. We deconstruct the political foundations of charitable trading activities, co-operative and mutual enterprises and socially responsible businesses by examining the rationalities and ethical commitments that underpin them. Whilst conceptual modelling of social enterprise is not new, this paper contributes to knowledge by developing a theory of social enterprise ethics based on the moral/political choices that are made by entrepreneurs when choosing between systems of economic exchange and social value orientation, then expressing it through a legal form. (shrink)

In the age of surveillance capitalism, the prevailing business model underlying the use of social media applications (“apps”) foresees the exchange of personal data for the allowance to use an online service. Such a data business model comes with many potential negative side effects ranging from violation of privacy issues to election manipulation. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to think of alternatives to the current data business model. The present study investigated how strong (...) the support would be for a monetary payment model among a sample of 210 participants. Participants were asked about their willingness to pay for social media, if in turn their data would be private and other problems concerning social media use would be tackled. Only one-fifth of participants (21.43%) supported such a model. From the Big Five Personality traits, Agreeableness was positively associated with support of such a model. Finally, data are also provided on how much participants would be willing to pay for social media on a monthly basis. The present study’s findings are of a preliminary nature and will contribute to the start of an important discussion. (shrink)

This paper examines the impact of integrated reporting on the integration of environmental, social, and governance issues into the business model and the related economic and ESG performance changes. To investigate these internal and external transformational effects of IR, important differences between IR and alternative ESG reporting strategies are worked out. Using three matched samples of companies from around the world for the sample period 2002–2011, IR companies are matched with companies applying no ESG reporting, stand-alone ESG reporting, (...) or ESG reporting in the annual report. The results suggest that IR is a superior mechanism only for the integration of ESG issues into the core business model when comparing IR with the ESG reporting strategies of no ESG reporting and ESG reporting in annual reports. In comparison with, stand-alone ESG reporting, the results indicate that IR is negatively associated with the ESG integration level and with the economic and ESG performance. Moreover, this negative impact is lower for companies that have already implemented ESG management tools prior to the initiation of IR and is stronger for companies residing in countries with legal requirements for the disclosure of ESG information. A separate change analysis reveals that companies do not benefit from a switch from stand-alone ESG reporting to IR. Thus, this paper provides empirical evidence that contradicts the general notion of IR as a superior reporting mechanism, as the benefits of IR are driven by several factors. (shrink)

This article aims to uncover the processes of developing sustainable business models in innovation ecosystems. Innovation ecosystems with sustainability goals often consist of cross-sector partners and need to manage three tensions: the tension of value creation versus value capture, the tension of mutual value versus individual value, and the tension of gaining value versus losing value. The fact that these tensions affect all actors differently makes the process of developing a sustainable business model challenging. Based on a (...) study of four sustainably innovative cross-sector collaborations, we propose that innovation ecosystems that develop a sustainable business model engage in a process of valuing value in which they search for a result that satisfies all actors. We find two different patterns of valuing value: collective orchestration and continuous search. We describe these patterns and the conditions that give rise to them. The identification of the two patterns opens up a research agenda that can shed further light on the conditions that need to be in place in order for an innovation ecosystem to develop effective sustainable business models. For practice, our findings show how cross-sector actors in innovation ecosystems may collaborate when developing a business model around emerging sustainability-oriented innovations. (shrink)

This paper presents an ontological perspective that enables evaluating the effectiveness of business models from an integrative worldview. Different groups’ fragmented and reductionist views on this topic create a dichotomy that makes it difficult to compare and analyze them in practice. Such groups use different values for some components, which may result in neglecting others and their interrelationship. This study discusses a functional characteristic of business models that academia still needs to address. It explores new frontiers in the (...) field, such as business models for networks, sustainability, and their practical evaluation. To achieve an integrative ontology and avoid focusing on specific constructs or systems at the expense of others, we draw upon the theory of worldviews from Wilhelm Dilthey, reformational philosophy, and Herman Dooyeweerd’s theory of modal aspects. Society should move beyond dualistic thinking and embrace practical and applicable solutions. To help companies develop effective models, we introduce a new business model framework based on an integrative worldview that enables comparisons and evaluations of companies in practice. Creating competitive advantages and value appropriations synergizes with essential aspects of reformational philosophy. Analyzing and interrelating such elements are fundamental to understanding the real applied value of business models. (shrink)

In recent years, a considerable amount of research on adapted business for developing countries focused on the impact such endeavours have on the respective companies as well as on the affected people. However, the main emphasis within management sciences was on the economic outcomes or (even more distinct and often) on the question of how to integrate the poor into business models and value chains. Until now, further aspects of a dignified human existence were merely covered as a (...) side note. The article focuses on the influence of inclusive business approaches on various aspects of human dignity and provides explorative insights as a basis for future theory building. The aim is to uncover how human dignity is affected by different business approaches for the poor including and beyond economic outcomes. After giving an insight into the essence and meaning of human dignity in connection to various human rights, the articles refers to a number of illustrative cases of inclusive business. The analysis culminates in the insight that dignity can be (and sometimes already is) assured and promoted by deliberately including the poor into relevant value-added business processes. If this is the case, an enhanced dignity is not merely the result of increased incomes but stems from a variety of effects. However, such positive effects are not an inevitable outcome of any inclusive business initiative. (shrink)

In recent years, a considerable amount of research on adapted business for developing countries focused on the impact such endeavours have on the respective companies as well as on the affected people. However, the main emphasis within management sciences was on the economic outcomes or (even more distinct and often) on the question of how to integrate the poor into business models and value chains. Until now, further aspects of a dignified human existence were merely covered as a (...) side note. The article focuses on the influence of inclusive business approaches on various aspects of human dignity and provides explorative insights as a basis for future theory building. The aim is to uncover how human dignity is affected by different business approaches for the poor including and beyond economic outcomes. After giving an insight into the essence and meaning of human dignity in connection to various human rights, the articles refers to a number of illustrative cases of inclusive business. The analysis culminates in the insight that dignity can be (and sometimes already is) assured and promoted by deliberately including the poor into relevant value‐added business processes. If this is the case, an enhanced dignity is not merely the result of increased incomes but stems from a variety of effects. However, such positive effects are not an inevitable outcome of any inclusive business initiative. (shrink)

Although most existing studies have considered entrepreneurial bricolage as a means to overcome resource constraints in new ventures, few have explored the direct effects of entrepreneurial bricolage on employee creativity, particularly in the context of entrepreneurial internet firms. Drawing from multiple theories, this study proposes a cross-level mediation model for the trickle-down effects of entrepreneurial bricolage and business model innovation on employee creativity. By using a 2-wave longitudinal design, survey data were collected from multiple sources, including 49 (...) leaders and 336 employees from entrepreneurial internet firms in China. Multilevel structural equation modeling was applied to analyze the cross-level mediation model. The results show that both entrepreneurial bricolage and business model innovation failed to significantly and positively direct employee creativity. Furthermore, entrepreneurial bricolage exerted a cross-level influence on employee creativity that was sequentially transmitted through between-level business model innovation and within-level creative self-efficacy. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are also discussed. (shrink)

The sharing economy as an emerging field is characterized by unsettled debates about its shared purpose and defining characteristics of the organizations within this field. This study draws on neo-institutional theory to explore how sharing organizations position themselves vis-à-vis such debates with regard to (1) the values these organizations publicly promote to present themselves as “good” sharing organizations and (2) the business model features they make visible to appear as having the “right” organizational model. This study examines (...) the online self-representations of 62 prototypical sharing organizations in Germany with regard to value propositions and business model features. A semantic network analysis of the features reveals two distinct categories of sharing organizations: grassroots initiatives and platform-based organizations. By showing how value propositions and business model features are linked in the sharing economy, the findings indicate the different legitimation strategies of grassroots initiatives and platform-based organizations, which we term “sustainability by model” and “sustainability by feature.” These findings broaden our understanding of the strategies that organizations apply to cope with societal expectations in the emerging sharing economy. (shrink)

This paper highlights alternative responsible business models with an outspoken and profound dedication to contribute to a sustainable development. Themarket of alternatives and their networking activities to make the alternative market grow will be discussed in terms of programs and anti-programs. Another issue brought up is their ability to stick to the responsible knitting, as they grow and develops in a capitalistic market surrounding.

Current research considers business model innovation as a series of responses to technological change and market environment change. However, in practice, it is often business model innovation that leads to market innovation and subversion and then promotes a new round of iterative product renewal. This is because business model innovation is a value creation activity based on market demand, rather than a technology-oriented innovation behavior. Moreover, since the degree of demand manifestation varies, the degree (...) of its influence on value creation and thus the driving mechanism for business model innovation vary significantly, and the duality of market-oriented theory is introduced to explore how firms go about achieving business model innovation based on different demand characteristics and how the results of firms’ integration of market information work. Through regression analysis of 230 sample enterprises, the results show that both responsiveness and proactive market orientation have a significant positive impact on business model innovation. In contrast, market information integration has a positive regulatory effect on the two groups of relationships. (shrink)

Business and Society Review, Volume 126, Issue 1, Page 69-99, Spring 2021.

This article explores the changing nature of twenty-first-century capitalism with an emphasis on illuminating the political coalitions and institutional conditions that support and sustain it. Most of the existing literature attributes the changing nature of the firm to developments in markets and technology. By contrast, this article emphasizes the political forces that have driven the transformation of the twentieth-century consolidated firm through the firm as a “network of contracts” and toward the platform firm. Moreover, situating the United States in a (...) comparative perspective highlights the distinctive ways US political-economic institutions have facilitated that transformation and exacerbated the associated inequalities. (shrink)

The paper investigates how Catholic Social Teaching can contribute to the creation of fairer and more humane business models. It gives an outline of the main historical moments in the development of Catholic Social Teaching with regard to the economy and business management. Then it analyses the proposal of the Economy of Communion as a potential framework for companies that wish to implement Catholic Social Teaching in their activities. The EoC model suggests that company profits should be (...) distributed in three parts. The first part is dedicated to the company’s growth, development, and economic sustainability; the second toward the most needy people in the social environment of the organization; and the third part invested in education creating a new type of economic culture that is at the service of people and of the common good. The companies that belong to the EoC movement are for-profit businesses which consider reciprocity and gratuity an integral part of their businesses. Both reciprocity and gratuity are guided by the logic of the gift which is innate to human relations and should be promoted so businesses become more authentically human and favor the development of people. (shrink)