In order to increase the economic opportunities available, enterprise development plays a crucial role in the progression of socio-economic development for small and medium enterprises. Enterprise Development in SMEs and Entrepreneurial Firms: Dynamic Processes explores the process of enterprise development and its reconstruction of entrepreneurial identities, critical competencies as well as market turnaround for SMEs. This book aims to be a critical resource in the understanding of enterprise strategies adopted and lessons learned for management development. It is a successful resource for students, researchers and professionals interested in the growth SMEs.
There has been growing interest on business models among academics and practitioners in recent years, as business model describes how an organization creates, distributes and captures value and, therefore, can be considered the DNA of the organization. Recently, factors related to digital transformation, the vital role of sustainability and social aspects, along with an increasing globalization, have pushed towards radical transformations in business models. This book aims to further our knowledge on business model innovation in new contexts of analysis and with new perspectives of investigation. Insights from business model innovation are presented from studies focusing on start-ups, small businesses and large businesses to provide a bigger picture on new dynamics connected to digital transformation, sustainability, new global relationships. As such, the scope is on new ways to create value, new components and dynamics (such as digitalization and sustainability) concerning the key elements of the business model (value creation, value configuration and value capture), and new relationships between actors that may foster business model innovation. It represents a valuable resource for practitioners willing to innovate business models, academics aiming at finding new research lines, and students keen to learn more about business models.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are regarded as the backbone of most economies worldwide. They are key role players in job creation, economic growth and poverty alleviation. SMEs face many challenges such as resource constraints; a lack of skills, innovation, digital skills and finances; and continuous changes in the business environment. One such change is the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also referred to as Industry 4.0. SMEs lag in the adoption of digital technologies and are still using conventional methods as part of their business models, which poses a threat to their survival and competitiveness. Industry 4.0 comprises many constructs, including digitalisation and digital transformation. While digitalisation and digital transformation require a business to make changes to its business model, and business model innovation (BMI) offers such an opportunity, no study has combined the BMI process with digital transformation to determine if SMEs are digitally transforming their business models. The overall aim of the study was to determine the degree to which South African and Dutch SMEs are digitally transforming their business models. To achieve the overall objective, the study aimed to (1) review existing literature in the field of digitalisation, digital transformation, and business model innovation, (2) review the current state of the use of digitalisation and business model innovation in South African and Dutch SMEs, (3) develop a conceptual model to assess if South African and Dutch SMEs are achieving business model innovation through digital transformation and determine how this affects their overall business performance and (4) assess whether South African and Dutch SMEs are achieving business model innovation through digital transformation and determine the impact this has on their overall business performance. This study followed a five-stage approach. The first stage consisted of a preliminary literature review to explore current research and debates on digitalisation, digital transformation and BMI, with a particular focus on SMEs. In the second stage, a narrative review was conducted to examine the literature with the aim of identifying and analysing the constructs underlying the three concepts of digitalisation, digital transformation and BMI. The third stage was a Delphi study conducted with South African and Dutch SMEs and scholarly experts in the closely related fields of entrepreneurship, technology, business management and innovation to identify the main and sub-factors that enable digital transformation for BMI in SMEs. The fourth stage was a systematic review to identify the dimensions that are included in digital maturity models and to determine ways in which BMI is achieved. The last stage consisted of developing and empirically testing a research model based on the results of stages 3 and 4. The findings of the aforementioned studies led to the development of a research model. This research model was developed and empirically tested on South African and Dutch SMEs. The results indicate that BMI through digital transformation has a positive impact on the overall business performance of SMEs. In addition, the flexibility of the organisational structure and strategic renewal acts as moderator between the relationship of BMI through digital transformation and business performance. The proposed framework that resulted from this study guides SME owners and managers in ways to achieve BMI through identifying potential areas to integrate digital technologies, which is unique in its nature. This study is also one of the first to conduct an empirical research study to assess the degree to which South African and Dutch SMEs are digitally transforming their business models. SME owners and managers can therefore use the measuring instrument to assess the degree to which their business model has been digitally transformed. The instrument could also highlight areas of concern and for improvement.
This volume explores the ways in which knowledge and innovation impact business and economic sustainability, offering a wide-ranging and richly illustrated study of knowledge, innovation and sustainability of organizations from a dynamic capabilities perspective. In organizational theory, dynamic capability is defined as an organization’s ability to react and adapt adequately and rapidly to external change. In today’s global economy, pursuing sustainable strategies and practices is critical to organizational success. Complying with externally and internally imposed sustainability targets might initially appear as a restriction for organizations; however, they can be transformed into a new set of opportunities. This means that the classic ways in which management absorbs the experiences associated with evolving conditions, organizational frameworks and markets must be reconsidered in light of the preservation of the technological, environmental and social ecosystems. Featuring research and case studies from sectors such as NGOs, SMEs, education and agriculture, this book offers students, academics, practitioners and policymakers a multi-faceted understanding of how and why knowledge, innovation and sustainability are intricately linked—and offers insight into best practices that balance organizational and societal needs.
In recent years, digital business models have frequently been the subject of academic and practical discourse. The increasing interconnectivity across the entire supply chain, which is subsumed under the term Industry 4.0, can unlock even farther-reaching potentials for digital business models, affecting entire supply chains and ecosystems. This book examines the specific challenges and obstacles that supply chain and ecosystem management poses with regard to the development of digital business models. The top-quality contributions gathered here focus on the successful implementation of Industry 4.0 in digital business models for industrial organizations in a European context, making the book a valuable asset for researchers and practitioners alike.
Digital transformation is not about technology--it's about change. In the rapidly changing digital economy, you can't succeed by merely tweaking management practices that led to past success. And yet, while many leaders and managers recognize the threat from digital--and the potential opportunity--they lack a common language and compelling framework to help them assess it and guide them in responding. They don't know how to think about their digital business model. In this concise, practical book, MIT digital research leaders Peter Weill and Stephanie Woerner provide a powerful yet straightforward framework that has been field-tested globally with dozens of senior management teams. Based on years of study at the MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR), the authors find that digitization is moving companies' business models on two dimensions: from value chains to digital ecosystems, and from a fuzzy understanding of the needs of end customers to a sharper one. Looking at these dimensions in combination results in four distinct business models, each with different capabilities. The book then sets out six driving questions, in separate chapters, that help managers and executives clarify where they are currently in an increasingly digital business landscape and highlight what's needed to move toward a higher-value digital business model. Filled with straightforward self-assessments, motivating examples, and sharp financial analyses of where profits are made, this smart book will help you tackle the threats, leverage the opportunities, and create winning digital strategies.
This book provides practising executives and academics with the theories and best practices to plan and implement the digital transformation successfully. Key benefits: an overview on how leading companies plan and implement digital transformation interviews with chief executive officers and chief digital officers of leading companies – Bulgari, Deutsche Bahn, Henkel, Lanxess, L’Oréal, Unilever, Thales and others – explore lessons learnt and roadmaps to successful implementation research and case studies on the digitalization of small and medium-sized companies cutting-edge academic research on business models, organizational capabilities and performance implications of the digital transformation tools and insights into how to overcome internal resistance, build digital capabilities, align the organization, develop the ecosystem and create customer value to implement digital strategies that increase profits Managing Digital Transformation is unique in its approach, combining rigorous academic theory with practical insights and contributions from companies that are, according to leading academic thinkers, at the forefront of global best practice in the digital transformation. It is a recommended reading both for practitioners looking to implement digital strategies within their own organisations, as well as for academics and postgraduate students studying digital transformation, strategy and marketing.
Digital technologies have become a new economic and social force, reshaping traditional business models, strategies, structures, and processes. Digital entrepreneurship, which focuses on creating new ventures and transforming existing businesses by developing novel digital technologies or their novel usage, is seen as a critical pillar for economic growth, job creation, and innovation by many countries. Further, digital technologies have also enabled the growth of the sharing economy, linking owners and users and disrupting the previous dualism of businesses and customers.This volume discusses the management of new technology-based firms and technology projects initiated in academic or industrial contexts. The contributions feature new theoretical concepts, ethical considerations, empirical data analysis (qualitative and quantitative), archival and historical methods, design science approaches, action and field research, as well as management science methods, informatics and cybernetics.
What do vehicle manufacturers like Rosenbauer, logistics companies like DB Schenker, a compressor manufacturer such as Bauer, an elevator manufacturer such as ThyssenKrupp, and a hygiene goods manufacturer like Hagleitner all have in common? They all use the potential of digitization to offer smarter and faster services to customers and to actively shape the digital transformation of their business models. This book provides valuable insights with concise and established guidelines for the successful digital transformation of business models. Professionals in management, strategic planning, business development, as well as researchers and students from the fields of innovation/technology management, strategic management, and entrepreneurship would particularly benefit from this book.
Digital technologies are changing both the national and global business landscapes. Digitalization within firms and industries and newcomers from other fields give new conditions for competition through new business models. The Handbook of Research on Business Model Innovation Through Disruption and Digitalization discusses the aspects of the innovation of business models through disruption and digitalization. It further includes chapters on theories and practices related to the overall theme of how business models are developed. Covering topics such as agile networks, interactive business models, and managerial implications, this major reference work is a dynamic resource for business leaders and executives, IT managers, human resource managers, entrepreneurs, government officials, students and faculty of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.
