סמינר בניהול טכנולוגיה ומערכות מידע

Professor Stefan Haefliger, Cass Business School, City University of London

In spite of the striking evidence that most firms run multiple business models, there remains a theoretical dearth pertaining to the comprehensive understanding of business model portfolio dynamics, particularly in the digital space. Prior research on business model diversification tends to focus on supply-side complementarities, such as a firm’s synergies among resources and capabilities. Yet, the demand-side including customer complementarities, remains unexplored theoretically and represents opportunities for business model diversification. We identify and map how customer complementarities—i.e., network effects and one-stop shop effects—can support firm growth and competitive advantage, particularly in the digital space. A qualitative longitudinal (1995 – 2018) analysis of the various business models employed by Amazon.com leads to the identification of what we call the integrative business model in a portfolio. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.