Business Model Innovation in Emerging Economies: Leveraging Institutional Voids

Abstract

The role of entrepreneurship as an agent of innovation and economic growth has drawn considerable attention in the literature on strategy and emerging economies. An uncertain institutional environment has been argued to impede opportunities for innovation. In many cases, large, resource-rich business groups fill these voids. However, what has been unclear is how resource-poor entrepreneurs, who do not have a large resource base, mitigate the challenges posed by a weak institutional environment. The present study focuses on how entrepreneurs in emerging economies exploit institutional voids and develop business model innovation. Additionally we investigate if all types of institutional voids can potentially become opportunities for entrepreneurs or is there a distinction between the types of institutional voids that may exist. We follow an inductive, multiple case research design. The research setting is the energy industry in India. The chapter endeavors to link the literature on institutional voids and innovation and propose a framework explaining how institutional voids represent opportunities for business model innovation.