How should successful business models be configured? Results from an empirical study in business-to-business markets and implications for the change of business models

Thomas Werani (), Bernhard Freiseisen, Petra Martinek-Kuchinka and Alexander Schauberger
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Thomas Werani: Johannes Kepler Universität Linz
Bernhard Freiseisen: Johannes Kepler Universität Linz
Petra Martinek-Kuchinka: Kuchinka & Partner GmbH
Alexander Schauberger: Johannes Kepler Universität Linz

Journal of Business Economics, 2016, vol. 86, issue 6, No 2, 579-609

Abstract: Abstract At the present moment there are no results that have been established on a wider empirical basis on how successful business models should be configured. On the conceptual level, the authors further develop the Business Model Canvas of Osterwalder and Pigneur (Business Model Generation: Ein Handbuch für Visionäre, Spielveränderer und Herausforderer. Campus, Frankfurt am Main, 2011) against the backdrop of a well-founded and practice-oriented understanding of the business model concept. On the empirical level, which is based on the revised Business Model Canvas, the paper examines the relationship between business model configurations and corporate success, using companies in business-to-business markets as examples. The identification of successful business models rests upon the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), which can model complex causalities. The results show that there are 14 business model configurations that represent sufficient conditions for the success of a company in terms of sales profitability. Six of these configurations can be interpreted as key paths to corporate success and reflect the value disciplines of Treacy and Wiersema (Harv Bus Rev 71(1):84–93, 1993). Consequences regarding the change of business models can be derived from the empirical results.

Keywords: Business model; Business model configuration; Business model innovation; Business model transformation; Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M10 M21 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11573-015-0795-z

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