The match between business model design and knowledge base in firm growth: from a knowledge-based view

ABSTRACT

Effective knowledge change and reorganisation are important factors in the success of business model (BM) design. However, the existing literature has rarely focused on investigating the suitable match between the existing knowledge base and BM design. Building on the knowledge-based view (KBV), this research analyzes the effects of efficiency- and novelty-centered BM designs on firm growth, which will be differently moderated by the knowledge factors of breadth and depth. With the empirical examination of 290 Chinese enterprises, we found that to foster firm growth, efficiency-centered BM design benefits more from a deep knowledge base than from a broad knowledge base, whereas novelty-centered BM design benefits from both. The above results provide new empirical evidence for understanding the contingency effects of knowledge base on the effectiveness of BM design for firm growth.

KEYWORDS:

• Business model design
• knowledge breadth
• knowledge depth
• firm growth

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71902039, 71572204); Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning of Guangdong Province (GD19CGL24); Major Scientific Research Projects of Guangdong Universities (2017GWTSCX028); Guangdong Provincial Key Platforms and Scientific Research Projects of Universities (2018WQNCX021); Philosophy and Social Science Planning of Guangzhou (2018GZGJ198).

Notes on contributors

Wenwen An

Wenwen An is an associate professor of School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, China. Her current research interests mainly focus on entrepreneurship and firm-level innovation. Her research work has been published in Journal of Product Innovation Management, Small Business Economics, etc.

Qian Huang

Qian Huang is a graduate student of School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, China. Her research interests focus on firm-level innovation.

Heng Liu

Heng Liu is an associate professor in the Lingnan college, Sun Yat-sen University, China. His current research interests mainly focus on strategy and entrepreneurship. He has published in journals such as Journal of Operations Management, Journal of International Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, Management and Organization Review, etc.

Jun Wu

Jun Wu (corresponding author) is an associate professor from Guangzhou Panyu Polytechnic, Guangzhou, China. Her current research interests mainly focus on business model design. Her studies have been published in Management and Organization Review, etc.