Business Model Research: A Bibliometric Analysis of Origins and Trends

Abstract

The business model (BM) concept has become a major area of interest in Management literature, leading to the publication of a host of literature reviews and essays aimed at synthesizing and interpreting the development of BM research. Yet these general analyses have largely neglected the specificities of the two main disciplines in which the BM concept is anchored: Strategic Management and Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Accordingly, this article seeks to explore the intellectual roots and current trends of these disciplines to refine our understanding of the development of the BM literature. We draw on a mixed bibliometric analysis based on two samples of respectively 208 and 345 articles published in Strategic Management and Innovation & Entrepreneurship. This analysis enables us to compare the theoretical pillars (co-citation analysis) and research fronts (bibliographic coupling analysis) of BM research in these two foundational disciplines. Our results suggest a certain homogeneity within both the theoretical pillars of the disciplines and the incremental diversification of their research fronts. In light of these findings, we consider the future of the BM literature and accordingly propose a twofold developmental strategy for it.

Unpacking Business Model Innovation Through an Attention-Based View

“…The growing literature on BM in the fields of strategy and entrepreneurship since the late 1990s reflects the popularity of the concept Maucuer & Renaud, 2019) for both scholars and practitioners (Lecocq, Demil, & Ventura, 2010). The flourishing literature on BM provides numerous definitions that are converging toward a consensus: BM refers to the logic of the firm for value creation, delivery, and capture (Baden-Fuller & Morgan, 2010;Teece, 2010;Zott & Amit, 2010).…”

Tourism multi‐sided platforms and the social innovation trajectory: The case of Airbnb

“…Indeed, new BMs may develop integrative and competitive solutions by either radically reducing negative and/or creating positive external effects for the environment and society as whole (Presenza, Messeni Petruzzelli, & Natalicchio, 2019). In the search for new opportunities linked to society's transition toward sustainability, the centrality played by business model innovation (BMI) (França, Broman, Robèrt, Basile, & Trygg, 2017; Foss & Saebi, 2017) emerges as one of the main research trends in the BM literature (Maucuer & Renaud, 2019).…”

Business Model Analysis from the Activity System Perspective: A Design Science Research

“…A business model (BM) is a set of activities articulated to promote value, and the perspective of Activity System (AS) in literature is a promising way for describing and understanding it (see Amit & Zott, 2001;Zott & Amit, 2010). However, the literature on BM, so far, provides little insights and guidelines on how to analyze it from an AS perspective in a prescriptive rather than a descriptive way (Maucuer & Renaud, 2019;Pauwels, Clarysse, Wright, & Van Hove, 2016;Sosna, Trevinyo-Rodríguez, & Velamuri, 2010). Moreover, Foss and Saebi (2016), in a large systematic review of 150 studies on BM innovation, suggest that there is limited convergence between theoretical and empirical data in business model literature.…”