How Business Model Designs Influence Firm Growth in a Transforming Economy: A Configurational Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Jun Wu ◽  
Wenwen An ◽  
Xin Zheng ◽  
Jianqi Zhang

ABSTRACT This study adopts a configurational perspective to examine how business model designs and contextual factors in transforming economies combine to create value. We investigate configurations of efficiency-centered and novelty-centered business model designs, corporate ownership, development stage, and external regulatory volatility associated with high growth in a transforming economy. Using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of Chinese firms, we find five solutions associated with superior growth, suggesting that the effective configurations of business model designs vary in different contexts. Our study offers a holistic understanding of the relationship between business model designs and firm growth, and yields useful insights for business model designs for practitioners.

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 809-816
Author(s):  
Anna Kwiotkowska ◽  
Magdalena Gębczyńska

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to explore causal complexity in the relationship between environmental uncertainty and firm’s performance. Due to complexity in the external and internal environment, the relationship between environment and firm performance rests not only on a single attribute but on the interrelation and complementarities between multiple characteristics such as firm features and external factors. This study examines the influence of a firm’s specific characteristics and the dimensions of environmental uncertainty on the company’s performance. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis is used to analyze data collected via questionnaires from 58 Polish small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The results suggest that characteristics of the general business environment, as well as the firm-specific characteristics all matter to firm performance. In addition, our findings clearly demonstrate that the determination of high firm performance is underpinned by substantial interdependence among the selected conditions and complexity. Therefore, any particular condition may have a different or even opposite effect on the outcome depending on the presence or absence of other conditions. Based on this, we conclude that external environmental uncertainty characteristics, with the dimensions of competitive intensity, technological turbulence and market/demand turbulence, are not as important as the other conditions for high-performing firms. The study offers a new perspective on the relationship between environmental uncertainty and firm performance with its systematic comparative analysis of complex cases. It identifies different combinations of conditions (paths) leading to a high firm performance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Maria Dotti Sani ◽  
Mario Quaranta

Abstract Female labor force participation and total fertility rates have been negatively correlated until the early ’80s. By the end of that decade, however, the relationship changed sign. Scholars have suggested a close link between individual reproductive behavior, labor market participation and institutional contexts, but we still lack clear evidence of the underlying micro-level mechanism. We propose the use of complementary techniques, fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Generalized Linear Models, as the different assumptions underlying the two, combinatory vs. additive, may lead to new insights on how the combination of institutional features can produce different outcomes in terms of the work-motherhood relationship.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 648-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaja Primc ◽  
Tomaž Čater

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore causal complexity in the relationship between environmental proactivity and firm performance. Using data collected from 27 Australian firms and controlling for the organizational life cycle, type of industry and external contingencies, the study empirically examines environmental proactivity in high-performing firms from polluting industries. Design/methodology/approach – The data were analyzed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Findings – In general, the results of the analysis imply that environmental proactivity is not always associated with high firm performance, and that environmental proactivity is not as important as the other causal conditions for high-performing firms in highly polluting industries. Research limitations/implications – The study addresses the relationship between environmental and firm performance more holistically by including a number of the firm’s external and internal factors identified as important in past research. Second, it offers a new perspective on the relationship with its systematic comparative analysis of complex cases. Next, it identifies different combinations of conditions (paths) leading to a high firm performance and, finally, the core complementary model allows an exploration of which factors are essential and which are less important or even irrelevant to high-performing firms. Practical implications – Based on the findings, firms from highly polluting industries can determine in which circumstances, if any, the adoption of environmental proactivity will result in a positive firm performance. Originality/value – The study is valuable because it contains a rich set of measures of the firm’s external and internal environment, thus allowing a more holistic examination of the relationship between environmental proactivity and firm performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baquero ◽  
Delgado ◽  
Escortell ◽  
Sapena

The relationship between leadership and job satisfaction has attracted considerable scientific interest, especially in relation to the quality of tourism businesses. This study investigated this relationship within the framework of authentic leadership. The study also explored differences between outsourced workers and internal hotel employees in terms of the influence of authentic leadership on job satisfaction. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) offered valuable new insight. This study was based on a sample of 58 heads of department of four/five star hotels in the Canary Islands, Spain. The results suggest that high levels of leadership in the four subscales of authentic leadership (balanced processing, relational transparency, self-awareness, and internalized moral perspective) are sufficient to increase job satisfaction. The same outcome is achieved with high levels of balanced processing, even though it is accompanied by low transparency and low levels of internalized moral perspective. There are no major differences between outsourced workers and internal employees, except in terms of the importance of self-awareness. These results can help hotel managers reflect upon leadership and can provide new approaches for scientific research in this area.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emidio Gressler Teixeira ◽  
Gilnei Luiz de Moura ◽  
Luis Felipe Dias Lopes ◽  
Diego Antônio Bittencourt Marconatto ◽  
Adalberto Américo Fischmann

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between dynamic service innovation capabilities (DSICs) and startup growth in an emerging country. Design/methodology/approach This paper used a theoretical DSIC model to process data on 137 Brazilian startups, using a stepwise regression. Findings Service startup growth is related to the capability of enterprises to understand market signals, learn from customers and design a scalable, repetitive and profitable business model. Research limitations/implications Despite the innovative nature of startups, this paper found that technological and networking capacities are not a determinant of growth. Practical implications Managers should commit themselves to improve their competence in terms of understanding market signals, even when they already have a consolidated business model, products and service offerings. The findings also function as a warning about the dangers of an excessive focus on technological capabilities. Social implications Innovative startups, which achieve high growth create a disproportionate number of new jobs. Hence, by indicating the dynamic capabilities that are more conducive to firm growth, this paper contributes to society and the economy at large. Originality/value The findings challenge the myth of technological capacity and networking skills as the main sources of startup growth. This paper shows that founders and managers of service startups who want to achieve rapid growth should concentrate more effort on other skills. Marketing competence and building scalable business models – abilities that are common to successful traditional firms – are more relevant for short-term growth than technological innovation.


2011 ◽  
Vol 47 (1pt1) ◽  
pp. 22-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nels Marcus Thygeson ◽  
Leif I. Solberg ◽  
Stephen E. Asche ◽  
Patricia Fontaine ◽  
Leonard Gregory Pawlson ◽  
...  

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