مدل های کسب و کار مبتنی بر نوآوری زنجیره تامین Supply chain innovation-driven business models – exploratory analysis and implications for management

1. Introduction Competitive pressures and turbulent business environments push companies toward innovation. Very often, innovation is not a choice but a must if companies are to survive. Innovation is however not restricted to products and services, as it also embraces new ways of business organization and marketing. In this regard, management literature has witnessed the emergence of a new stream of research called business model innovation (e.g. Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010). In simple terms, business model innovation denotes the design of new ways of making money and, as such, focuses on the essence of entrepreneurial activity—the generation of revenues (e.g. Johnson, 2010). While the concept of business models is appealing to academics and practitioners, researchers are still looking for solid theoretical underpinnings. Authors have related business models to several theories, including resource-based theory, transaction cost theory, and the dynamic capabilities concept (e.g., Gassmann et al., 2016; Trkman et al., 2015). In this paper, we contribute to this literature by advancing our understanding of business models by connecting it to the concept of supply chain innovation. In contrast to business models, supply chain design management is already well-established in academia and practice (Petersen and Autry, 2014). Interestingly, very often companies considered as best case examples of innovative supply chain management are also used to illustrate innovative business models. For example, Dell has been known for its virtual supply chain, which eliminates retailers between the company and its customers (Simchi-Levi et al., 2003) but also for its direct business model (Magretta, 1998). Amazon is known for its advanced logistics execution but is also referred to as a company with a revolutionary business model that transformed the book-selling business (Johnson, 2010). Very few attempts have been made to connect the business model and supply chain management streams of research. Munksgaard et al. (2014) is the first study that attempts to explore how supply chain innovation contributes to value creation, value delivery and value capture. The mentioned case examples (Dell and Amazon) suggest, however, that new ways of designing and managing the supply chain can give rise to new business models.