A Business Model View of Strategy

Lanzolla, G and Markides, C (2021) A Business Model View of Strategy. Journal of Management Studies, 58 (2). pp. 540-553. ISSN 0022-2380

Abstract

We argue that while the business model construct may not be entirely new, it can still provide a novel lens, complementary to Resource Based View and Market Positioning, to develop new theoretical insights in strategy. We propose that the consideration of interdependencies among the activities of a business model provides such a lens. We show that by starting strategy development with interdependencies among activities, we can: (i) develop new insights on how to build superior strategies; and (ii) explain company performance variance especially when heterogeneity in resources and capabilities is not strong and barriers to imitation are weak. Overall, we propose that a promising research avenue for the business model literature is to integrate complexity theory with demand-side and supply-side theories of strategy to generate more nuanced insights on what activities to connect and how to develop superior interdependencies among activities that can form the basis of superior strategies.