The role of human resources in business model performance: the case of network‐based companies

Purpose – This paper is concerned with identifying the role(s) of the individual employee(s) in the value creation process of three network‐based business models that are analyzed through case studies. The paper aims to focus on how the relationships between the network‐partners internally and also outside the network affect value creation. Design/methodology/approach – The study conducted is a case study of three network‐based business models applying a semi‐structured interview approach as the primary source of data. Findings – The study shows that, together with the terms “integrating” and “enabling” which the traditional literature tends to use, expressions like “building” and “aligning” can be added in order to describe the role of human resources in the value creation process of the network‐based business models. Human resources are found to be important for aligning the value proposition of the network as a whole to the customers' needs and expectations. Research limitations/implications – The generalizability of the results are restricted by the fact that the network‐based businesses studied have a different set of stakeholder tensions than more traditionally organized. Practical implications – This paper demonstrates the advantages of network‐based value configurations and indicates how performance measures may be directly derived from value creation maps. Originality/value – This paper contributes to understanding advantages and drawbacks of network‐based companies and how such types of organization challenge the people within and outside of them.