What Makes an Innovative Business Model? Evidence From the 70 Most Innovative Firms

Scholars argue that technology only provides value if embedded in a coherent business model (BM). Therefore, previous research has examined how specific digital technology is used in BMs. We argue that there are factors beyond technology-specific BM characteristics for a firm to benefit from digital technology. In particular, we aim to find generalist BM characteristics that make a company innovative and benefit from technology. We collected 13,330 news articles and 22 case studies on 70 innovative companies. We identified six BM characteristics. The 70 cases were coded according to these characteristics. Next, we performed fsQCA and identified two configurations for the most innovative firms and two configurations for less innovative firms. We show that to profit from digital technology, it is not about the technology but about fostering a digital ecosystem. The most innovative firms incorporate their ecosystem into their BM through collaboration or boundary spanning.     «

Scholars argue that technology only provides value if embedded in a coherent business model (BM). Therefore, previous research has examined how specific digital technology is used in BMs. We argue that there are factors beyond technology-specific BM characteristics for a firm to benefit from digital technology. In particular, we aim to find generalist BM characteristics that make a company innovative and benefit from technology. We collected 13,330 news articles and 22 case studies on 70 innovat...     »