Business Model Innovation can help organizations adapt themselves to changing circumstances. But what are business model innovations? And how can we recognize, evaluate, and select them?

In the fifth lecture of the master elective Business Model Innovation at the Radboud University Nijmegen, we will explore different types of business model innovations. Students will learn how they can recognize, evaluate, and select business model innovations that are likely to create, deliver or capture value in the future.

Business Model Innovation

Business model innovations are designed, novel, nontrivial changes to the key elements of a firm’s business model and/or the architecture linking these elements. (Saebi, Lien, and Foss, 2016)

The Business Model Portfolio

Required Readings

• Leppänen, P., George, G., & Alexy, O. (2023). When do novel business models lead to high performance? A configurational approach to value drivers, competitive strategy, and firm environment. Academy of Management Journal, 66(1), 164–194. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2020.0969
• Snihur, Y., Thomas, L. D. W., & Burgelman, R. A. (2023). Strategically managing the business model portfolio trajectory. California Management Review, 65(2), 156–176. https://doi.org/10.1177/00081256221140930

The Course

This lecture is part of the master elective Business Model Innovation at the Radboud University Nijmegen. The course teaches master students how to redesign an organization’s business model and make it future-proof. In an increasingly interconnected world, organizations are confronted with unprecedented levels of turbulence, uncertainty, and complexity. Global trends such as rapid urbanization, climate change, global economic power shifts, digitalization influence the effectiveness and efficiency of existing business models. To ensure future competitive success, organizations must rethink the way they create, deliver, and capture value. In this course, students will learn how to design a future-proof business model in three steps: Analyze the current business model, Anticipate the future performance of the current business model, and Advise an organization about Business Model Innovations that are most robust and future-proof.