Abstract
Business model innovation (BMI) is one of the key activities, which has to be continuously undertaken in every enterprise to sustain competitiveness in today’s digital economy. Although the interest in business models (BM) has risen significantly since the late 1990s, little is known about BMI practices in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), representing a majority of enterprises in the European market. Our study addresses this research gap and focuses on the investigation of drivers and outcomes of BMI in SMEs. A partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) method was used to empirically test the model using data collected in 2017 from 71 SMEs in Slovenia. Results have shown that the innovativeness of enterprises and their business environment has a positive impact on the level of BMI activities in the enterprises. However, this is not the case of fast developing and rapidly changing information technology. In addition, the results show that the level of BMI has a positive impact on BMI outcomes and further on overall business performance. The results contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of BMI activities in SMEs and offer useful insights to SMEs that intend to innovate their business model(s) and government to create a supportive environment.
Highlights
Business models (BMs) and business model innovation (BMI) are increasingly gaining attention in both entrepreneurial practice and in research [1,2,3,4]
But importantly, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should put more emphasis on continuous learning and the development of digital skills. This is the first study focusing on the analysis of drivers and outcomes of BMI in SMEs in Slovenia
Among 71 Slovenian SMEs that have participated in the study, only 25 percent have innovated their BM in the last two years
Summary
Business models (BMs) and business model innovation (BMI) are increasingly gaining attention in both entrepreneurial practice and in research [1,2,3,4]. A BM describes business logic and reflects how an enterprise creates, delivers, and captures value [8,9]. This implies that the most important management activity is to have a clear vision about the enterprise’s BM. Among other activities, this requires knowing customers’ needs and expectations, how value can be best delivered, and how to engage with strategic partners to achieve maximum benefit for all [3]. While a BM is a presentation of the current business logic of an enterprise, BMI is defined as an activity or a process in which core elements of an enterprise and its business logic are purposely transformed [10,11,12,13,14] to achieve operational and strategic advancements [7,15]
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