From One to Many Business Models: Uncovering characteristics of Business Model Portfolios

As business model (BM) innovation has become one of management’s top priorities, anecdotal evidence suggests that firms do not have one single BM but run multiple BMs in parallel. From an academic perspective, only few attempts have been made, until today, to broaden the scope of research from one to many BMs within firm boundaries. To close this gap, we review systematically the emerging literature on “multiple” BMs, based on a theoretical framework that links the BM concept with general mechanisms of corporate portfolio management. Our results show that firms develop BM portfolios as a direct result of challenges in today’s technology-driven environment, such as disruptive industry BMs and the need to commercialize technologies with innovative BMs. More specifically, our findings challenge the general assumption that firms should (or can) be described based on a single BM. Segmentation, configuration and coordination of multiple BMs can complement a customer-centric perspective in the BM development and management process, not only for large organizations. We provide initial characteristics of these mechanisms and outline areas for future research.