Business Model Innovation: A Review and Research Agenda

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to review and synthesise the recent advancements in the business model literature and explore how firms approach business model innovation. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic review of business model innovation literature was carried out by analysing 219 papers published between 2010 and 2016. Findings – Evidence reviewed suggests that rather than taking either an evolutionary process of continuous revision, adaptation and fine-tuning of the existing business model or a revolutionary process of replacing the existing business model, firms can explore alternative business models through experimentation, open and disruptive innovations. It was also found that changing business models encompasses modifying a single element, altering multiple elements simultaneously and/or changing the interactions between elements in four areas of innovation: value proposition, operational value, human capital and financial value. Research limitations/implications – Although this review highlights the different avenues to business model innovation, the mechanisms by which firms can change their business models and the external factors associated with such change remain unexplored. Practical implications – The business model innovation framework can be used by practitioners as a “navigation map” to determine where and how to change their existing business models. Originality/value – Because conflicting approaches exist in the literature on how firms change their business models, the review synthesises these approaches and provides a clear guidance as to the ways through which business model innovation can be undertaken

Investment Banks’ Business Model Innovation Evidence from Saudi Arabia

The Investment bank industry is considered to be an essential element of not only the financial system but also the whole economy. Understanding multiple business models employed by multi-services industry such Investment bank is a matter of great significance for Investment banks’ executives, regulators and analysts. In 2008 the business model that had been employed by investment banks for almost two decades vanished due to the global financial crisis. Investment banks were forced to change and innovate their traditional business models. This research intends to develop a conceptual framework which helps to realize and study investment banks’ business models with the core components and related activities. Multiple business models mapping for investment banks is developed to give seniors executives core and possible activities and alternatives to innovate and change various business models for different lines including asset management, brokerage, investment banking and custody services. In addition, the business model (innovation) drivers are investigated to empirically explore the most powerful drivers on investment banks’ multiple business models (innovation), potential changes and degree of alteration on its activities for each business line. For these aims, a systematic literature review was carried to synthesise the recent advancements in the business model literature and explore how firms approach business model innovation. As result, a conceptual framework for business model (innovation) was developed, which encompasses four components value proposition, operational value, human capital and financial value. This framework can be utilized by practitioners as a 'navigation map' to determine where and how to change their business models. By using the qualitative methodology through semi-structured interviews with 29 senior executives from 10 fully-licensed investment banks in Saudi Arabia and secondary data including financial statements, annual reports and pillar III disclosures, the empirical study mapped the investment banks’ multiple business models and identified a business model for each business line. Sixteen activities for each business line were determined to provide core and possible activities and alternatives. This research contributes to our understating of managing and innovating multiple business models in the industry when investment banks should run these multiple business models. The Investment banks’ business models are different in terms of business lines, core offerings, clients, key assets, key process, revenue streams and costs structure. Over and above, each line shows diverse business models applied by investment banks. Furthermore, unlike other studies, this research contributed by investigating drivers that force investment banks to change their existing business models, the degree of changes and which activities did investment banks consider when responding to particular drivers. This study found that clients, crisis and economic changes, rivalry, top management and regulations are the five drivers forcing investment banks to not only embark on change events, but also carry out business model changes in most investment banks’ business lines

Business models innovation in investment banks: a resilience perspective

Firms frequently change their business models in order to respond to internal and external challenges. This study aims to explore how investments banks adjust their business models in response to internal and external challenges. Based on a qualitative data from ten major investment banks operating in the largest financial market in the Middle East, we show that investment banks can achieve resilience by adjusting their business models through continuous activity changes in response to internal and external challenges. Specifically, investment banks adjust their business models through deploying alternative combinations of activities from a broad repertoire of activities. Within the same bank, divisions that respond to external challenges tend to sustain their performance, whereas resilient divisions that respond to both internal and external challenges tend to bounce back or achieve substantial increase in performance levels. This study contributes to the literature by proposing resilience as an alternative approach to business model innovation and by providing insight into how firms adjust their business models by altering specific activities in response to both internal and external challenges