Abstract
The gastronomy sector is among those that are hit particularly hard by a loss of customers and regulatory uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis. When established ways of doing business become almost impossible, business model innovation (BMI) is a possible reaction to this high uncertainty level. Effectuation and causation are decision-making logics that may lead to BMI and help a firm navigate uncertainty. We investigate configurations of causation and effectuation components associated with a high BMI level during the first wave of COVID-19. We perform fuzzy-set-qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of 143 gastronomy entrepreneurs in Münster county, Germany. We identify two paths that lead to a high BMI level: "the planning soloist" and "the hedging networker." We conclude that innovators among the gastronomy entrepreneurs use effectuation and causation components in complex configurations.
Highlights
On July 3rd, 2020, the “digital beer garden” opened in Münster be tween Promenade and Aasee, a prime downtown location
We investigate configurations of causation and effectuation components associated with a high business model innovation (BMI) level during the first wave of COVID-19
The digital beer garden is an example of how gastronomy entrepre neurs responded to the COVID-19 crisis with business model innovation (BMI)
Summary
On July 3rd, 2020, the “digital beer garden” opened in Münster be tween Promenade and Aasee, a prime downtown location. The digital beer garden is an example of how gastronomy entrepre neurs responded to the COVID-19 crisis with business model innovation (BMI). Our study identifies configurations of causation and effectuation components associated with a high degree of business model innovation in the gastronomy sector. It enriches the discussion on causation and effectuation by introducing causation and effectuation components into a set-theoretic framework within the gastronomy industry. A sub-stream of the corporate effectuation literature deals with business model development and innovation (Evald and Senderovitz, 2013; Futterer et al, 2018) We add to this sub-stream in the context of corporate effectuation in crisis (Kraus et al, 2020a,2020b; Kuckertz et al, 2020; Laskovaia et al, 2019), here in the gastronomy sector. We follow Gursoy and Chins’ (2020, p. 529) recent call for more research in the gastronomy industry during the ongoing crisis who argue that “it is critical to generate new knowledge that can provide insights to the industry about how to transform their operation according to newly emerging customers’ needs and wants due to COVID-19 pandemic.”
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