Business model experimentation in SMEs

Business model experimentation in SMEs: the application of a dual scaling technique

Molina-Castillo, Francisco Jose (University of Murcia)
de Reuver, Mark (TU Delft Information and Communication Technology)
Bouwman, W.A.G.A. (TU Delft Information and Communication Technology; Åbo Akademi University)
Clavel, Jose G. (University of Murcia)

2021

Business model experimentation is an essential step for developing new business models. While the benefits of business model experimentation are increasingly studied, it is still poorly understood why companies engage in business model experimentation. This paper examines, starting from environmental turbulence reasoning, which external and internal drivers serve as antecedents for business model experimentation by firms that already have established business models. We do so by making use of a unique, quantitative data set based on a survey study among 929 European SMEs actively engaged in business model innovation. Using Dual Scaling, a procedure to scale categorical inputs that yields the least-squares lower-rank approximation to the elements of our data set, we find that external drivers relating to technological turbulence are the most important antecedents for business model experimentation. External competitive intensity doesn't motivate business model experimentation. Regarding internal drivers, strategic change, related to product innovation, is a significant antecedent, while innovative activities are less outspoken. By examining why companies engage in business model experimentation, the paper contributes to understanding the antecedents of business model innovation.

business model experimentation
Business model innovation
business models
SME

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a584c1e7-5e4c-4662-bd4e-fb2190c965cf

https://doi.org/10.1080/10438599.2021.1974299

2022-03-11

1043-8599

Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 32 (4), 579-601

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2021 Francisco Jose Molina-Castillo, Mark de Reuver, W.A.G.A. Bouwman, Jose G. Clavel