Antecedents, consequents and moderators of business models in SMEs: a meta-analytical research study

Abstract

Evidence about the influence of different business models (BMs) on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is scarce and contradictory. In this paper, a meta-analytical study of the quantitative literature regarding BMs and SMEs is developed which overcomes biases commonly found in other, more limited works. We found that both innovation-based BMs (I-BMs) and efficiency-based BMs (E-BMs) positively affect the performance of SMEs, but also that, in countries with higher levels of entrepreneurial capabilities, the positive impact of I-BMs increases. We also identified that, while the existence of stronger capabilities in firms affects I-BMs positively, the size of SMEs impacts E-BMs favorably. Finally, key contributions of these findings for practitioners and scholars interested in the usefulness of BMs and their impact on SMEs are discussed.

RÉSUMÉ

Les preuves d’une influence de différents modèles commerciaux (BM) sur la performance des petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) sont rares et contradictoires. Dans cet article, une étude méta-analytique de la littérature quantitative sur les modèles commerciaux et les PME est présentée, surmontant les biais couramment rencontrés dans d’autres travaux plus limités. Nous avons constaté que les modèles commerciaux fondés sur l’innovation (i-BM), de même que ceux qui sont fondés sur l’efficacité (e-BM), ont un impact positif sur la performance des PME, mais également que dans les pays où les niveaux de capacités entrepreneuriales sont élevés, l’impact positif des modèles basés sur l’innovation est plus important. Nous avons également relevé que, si l’existence de plus fortes capacités au sein des entreprises a un effet positif sur les i-BM, la taille des PME impacte favorablement les e-BM. Enfin, les principales implications de ces résultats pour les praticiens et les universitaires intéressés par l’utilité des modèles commerciaux et leur impact sur les PME sont discutées.

Keywords:

• SMEs
• Business Model
• Innovation
• Efficiency
• meta-analysis

MOTS-CLÉS:

• PME
• Modèle commercial
• Innovation
• Efficacité
• Méta-analyse

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 Massa, Tucci, and Afuah (2017) and other conceptual- and theory-focused papers (e.g., Zott, Amit, and Massa 2011) can be accessed by readers interested in in-depth learning about the theoretical development of the BM concept. Massa et al. (2017) systematized a wide array of BM concepts on pages 77, 81, 85. Zott, Amit, and Massa (2011) present many key definitions of BMs on page 1024.

Additional information

Funding

This study was partially financed by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001.

Notes on contributors

Fernando de Oliveira Santini

Prof. Fernando de Oliveira Santini is Associate Professor at Unisinos University. He obtained his PhD from the Pontifical Catholic University (Brazil). His main research interests are small business entrepreneurship and quantitative methods.

Caroline Kretschmer

Caroline Kretschmer is a PhD student at Unisinos University (Brazil). Her main research interests are strategy, internationalization, entrepreneurship, and small business management.

Diego Antonio Bittencourt Marconatto

Prof. Diego Marconatto is Associate Professor at Unisinos University. He obtained his PhD at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) and did a postdoctoral fellowship at HEC Montréal (Canada). Prof. Marconatto is interested in small business growth and entrepreneurship. He has also worked as operations executive manager and business consultant.