The Business Model and Entrepreneurial Strategies - The case of SMEs in a Mature Industry

ABSTRACTFrom Business Model development to Entrepreneurial Strategies – The Case of SMEs in mature industriesPrincipal TopicThis study sheds light on the competitive challenges of SMEs in mature industries. Entrepreneurial activities are faced with obstacles from standardization and competition on price (Uotila et al., 2009) to the search for product, process and market innovations (Kuratko and Audretsch, 2009). Despite well-known products and technology, firms in mature industries are in need of renewal of their business model (Swaminathan, 1998).The business model perspective focuses on the design of the value creation, delivery and capture mechanisms employed by a company (Dess, 2009), the organizational and financial architecture of a business (Chesbrough and Rosenbloom, 2002), and the structure, content and governance of firm-environment interaction (Zott and Amit, 2008). The business model concept may be of relevance when taking a resource-based and dynamic capability perspective investigating the entrepreneurial process from opportunity recognition to market exploitation (Amit and Zott, 2001).To date, fragmented research have been the outcome of the studies of business models, especially from an entrepreneurial viewpoint (George and Bock, 2011; Porter, 2001). The aim of this study is to investigate how the business model perspective may be developed to contribute to entrepreneurial strategies. More precisely, I contribute to the business model literature by integrating the value chain, the resource-based view and transactional- and relational elements by building on Stabell and Fjeldstad (1998), Borch et al. (1999), Zott and Amit (2008), and George and Bock (2011).MethodThe empirical context of this study is SMEs in the food industry. A longitudinal case study was conducted in order to investigate how the development of a new business model contributes to entrepreneurial strategies for smaller firms. In-depth interviews with key-informants in critical parts of the value chain were carried out over 3 years together with participant observation. The data collection was done in accordance with a large, conjoint R&D project within product development.Results and implicationsThis study adds to the literature of strategic entrepreneurship by suggesting a detailed understanding of the relationship between the business model and entrepreneurial strategies. In order to explain small firm survival and renewal in a challenging environment, the original value chain analysis is transformed into a value system configuration analysis to illustrate how new strategic platforms arise when SMEs develops inter-firm links to other firms or even industries crossing the value system borders. The findings of this study open pathways for future research in strategic entrepreneurship and business models.

Til publikasjon: https://hdl.handle.net/11250/5134983 | Publiseringsår: 2011 | Tidsskrift: