Paper Seminar: Business Model Innovation from an Open Systems Perspective

The Paper Seminar series is a perfect opportunity to get up to speed with the entrepreneurship research scene and meet and greet your fellow researchers.

We follow the traditional approach with 30-45 minutes of presentation, followed by comments and discussion.

Paper Abstract

There is an emerging consensus that business models are systemic and transcend firm boundaries. Yet, existing research on barriers to business model innovation focus almost exclusively on intra‐firm factors such as capabilities, cognition and leadership. To remedy this situation, we review a number of relevant literatures related to organizations as open systems and develop a series of testable propositions that point to a number of structural challenges and managerial solutions concerning the management of business model innovation. In particular, we argue that the systemic and boundary‐spanning nature of business models imply that firms are forced to acted under conditions of interdependence and restricted freedom, as they do not maintain an executive control over their surrounding network. Additionally, the systemic nature of business models implies that the outcome of imposed changes is often highly uncertain due to extensive feedback loops.

Biography

Christian Sandström is a postdoctoral researcher at the Ratio Institute and at the Center for Business Innovation, Chalmers University of Technology. His dissertation titled “A revised perspective on disruptive innovation – exploring value, networks and business models” was defended in 2010 at Chalmers. Prior to his doctoral studies, Christian obtained an M.Sc. in industrial engineering from Chalmers and an M.Sc. in economics from Göteborg University. 

Christian’s research concerns the interplay between technological discontinuities and the business models of established firms. Among other things, Christian has studied the shift from film-based photography to digital imaging and how this change created problems for established firms such as the Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad. Having written a couple of more theoretical articles in 2011, he is now making further studies of firms in the photographic industry. Christian is broadly interested in technological change and industrial transformation, especially from a historical perspective. He currently holds a Wallander scholarship from Jan Wallander’s and 
Tom Hedelius’ foundation.