Sub-theme 22: Business Models and Organizations: Uncovering the Origins of New Business Models

Convenors:
Charles Baden-Fuller
Cass Business School, City University London, UK
Vincent Mangematin
Grenoble Ecole de Management, France

Call for Papers


How does the idea of the Business Model influence our understanding of organizations, their dynamics and their interactions with their environment? Using the definition of Teece (2010) that a business model is the 'way in which the business enterprise delivers value to customers, entices customers to pay for value, and converts those payments to profit', this track invites contributions that continue the on-going conversations about business models including the emergence of new business models, such those developed by social businesses.

We invite carefully crafted papers that can be conceptual or empirical that address the Business Model theme and link it to a better understanding of organizational issues and the understanding of organizations. The topics noted below are suggestive and not complete.

  • How do Business Models act as a classificatory device? Few have probed the intellectual basis of the Classifications that are used: is the classification taxonomic or typographical; is it more relevant at the cognitive level or at the economic level; and what does the classification do for our understanding of organizations, their histories and their future trajectories (Baden-Fuller & Morgan, 2010)?
  • What is the role of the Business Model as a Metaphor that focuses attention and gives rise to a better understanding of issues such as Strategy (Zott et al., 2011); Value Capture mechanisms and their relationships with Value Creation (Teece, 2010), and Value Chains (Zott & Amit, 2008)? How does the concept of the Business Model shape our conceptions of industry boundaries and industry evolution?
  • How do Business Models act as Recipes that assist firms in thinking about how they can act? How can they be incorporated into stories of organizations (Doganova & Eyquem-Renault, 2009; Sabatier et al., 2010). In this conception, Business Models are not straightjackets; they rather evolve over time as they are enacted by firms. According to Morrison and Morgan (1999), models have value if they are manipulatable but our understanding of the possibilities and limitations of manipulating Business Models is still emerging (e.g. Bozeman et al., 2007).
  • How does a perspective on Business Model innovation improve our understanding of Social Enterprises? Such businesses are socioeconomic hybrid organizations that combine market and social welfare logics: they pursue a social mission but rely on commercial activities to generate revenue and sustain their operations (Battilana & Dorado, 2010; Tracey et al., 2010).

 

References

Baden-Fuller, Charles & Mary Morgan (2010): 'Business models as models.' Long Range Planning, 43 (2-3), 156–171.
Battilana, Julia & Silvia Dorado (2010): 'Building sustainable hybrid organizations: the case of commercial microfinance organizations.' Academy of Management Journal, 53, 1419–1440.
Bozeman, Barry, Philippe Laredo & Vincent Mangematin (2007): 'Understanding the emergence and deployment of "nano" S&T.' Research Policy, 36 (6), 807–812.
Doganova, Liliana & Marie Eyquem-Renault (2009): 'What do business models do? Innovation devices in technology entrepreneurship.' Research Policy, 38 (10), 1559–1570.
Morgan, Mary & Margaret Morrison (1999): 'Models as mediators.' In: M. Morgan & M. Morrison (eds.): Models as Mediators. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Sabatier, Valérie, Vincent Mangematin & Tristan Rousselle (2010): 'From recipe to dinner: business model portfolio in the European biopharmaceutical industry.' Long Range Planning, 43 (2), 431–447.
Teece, David (2010): 'Business models, business strategy and innovation.' Long Range Planning, 43, 172–194.
Tracey, Paul, Nelson Phillips & Owne Jarvis (2010): 'Bridging institutional entrepreneurship and the creation of new organizational forms: a multilevel model.' Organization Science, orsc.1090.0522
Zott, Christoph & Raphael Amit (2008): 'The fit between product market strategy and business model: implications for firm performance.' Strategic Management Journal, 29, 1–26.
Zott, Christoph, Raphael Amit & Lorenzo Massa (2011): 'The business model: recent developments and future research.' Journal of Management, 37, 1019–1042.

 

Charles Baden-Fuller is the Centenary Professor of Strategy at Cass Business School. His strategy insights into the management of mature firms have been written up in many academic articles and his (coauthored) Harvard Business Press 'Rejuvenating the Mature Business'. He is also well known for his work on networked organizations and the management of young high technology firms, particularly in drug development-biotechnology. With MacMillan, Demil and Lecoq, he co-edited and contributed to the special on Business Models that appeared in 'Long Range Planning' in April 2010.
Vincent Mangematin is Professor and Scientific Director at Grenoble School of Management. One of Europe's leading scholars in the field of technology management, his key research interest lies within innovation and the evolution of technologies, business models and institutions. He analyses the conditions of change of the dynamics of innovation in different industries: nanotechnology, biotechnology, cultural industry and business education. He has been a key contributor to EGOS.