Business Model Design and Innovation in the Process of Expansion and Growth of Global Enterprises

In recent years, the concept of business models has gained substantial attention in strategic management literature, as researchers and management practitioners realize that business model is the primary mechanism for value creation and appropriation by firms in a market economy. As such, a business model should become one of the main units of analysis in strategy scholarship. Yet, whereas the recent literature provides a good understanding of the role of business models in high-tech companies and new ventures, the role of business models for other types of enterprises, including established multinational companies, needs further research. In this chapter we intend to fill this gap by addressing the following questions: 1) What is the role of business models in today’s global business? 2) How can business model design and innovation facilitate the expansion and growth of global enterprises? 3) What are the peculiarities of business model analysis, design and change in multinational contexts? Drawing on insights from evolutionary and resource-based perspectives, we provide answers to these questions, clarifying our conceptual argument with illustrative mini-cases of failures of global enterprises having to adjust their business models in multinational contexts in the process of expansion and growth