Internationalization and the Need of Business Model Innovation - A Theoretical Approach

ABSTRACT The global market can be considered a volatile environment and the internationalization of a firm through the adoption of any entry mode may lead to the need to innovate or adapt its business model (BM) to better fit specific contexts of international markets. Even though entry modes have been deeply investigated during the last decades, the relation of business model innovation (BMI) and entry modes is a new study subject. This article assumes that the internationalization process is a trigger for innovation, and it aims to answer what are the different possibilities of BMI generated through the entry modes. The concepts of BM, BMI, and its relationship with internationalization and entry modes are investigated in this paper. Based on the literature review, a theoretical model is proposed to relate entry modes and the need of business model innovation. We identified that little is known about the relation between these subjects and applied research is required.

摘要
全球市场可被视作一个充满不确定性与波动性的环境，企业通过采用任意一种国际市场进入模式（entry mode）推进国际化进程时，往往需要创新或调整其商业模式（Business Model，BM），以更好适配国际市场的特定情境。尽管近数十年来学界已对国际市场进入模式展开了深入研究，但商业模式创新（Business Model Innovation，BMI）与进入模式之间的关联仍是一个新兴研究议题。本文认为国际化进程是创新的触发动因，旨在解答不同进入模式所催生的商业模式创新存在哪些差异化可能性。本文对商业模式、商业模式创新的核心概念，以及二者与国际化、进入模式之间的内在关联展开了系统探讨。基于文献综述，本文构建了一个用以关联国际市场进入模式与商业模式创新需求的理论模型。研究发现，目前学界对二者之间的关联尚缺乏充分认知，亟需开展针对性的应用研究。