Abstract/Summary

The study of business models is an important topic for strategic management research because business models affect firms’ possibility for value creation and value capture (Amit and Zott, 2001). The thesis provides additional evidence to the theory of business models, and the understanding of whether some business model types deliver higher firm performance than others, and whether a higher adherence to a certain business model type delivers above-industry firm performance (the “business model coherence premium”). There is little prior theorising on business models on which to draw in the study of business model coherence. For that reason, a new measurement scale is proposed that allow for better investigating of the business model coherence and the constructs for each company. To calculate the adherence to a certain business model type, the measurement scale sums up the dominant business model score, less the sum of the other business model scores plus 1. Using a sample of 97 large Consumer Goods companies, a triangulation research method was deployed to determine the business model coherence. For each company, a business model profile was completed and compared to the findings from an external survey with 77 executives. Based on the findings from the research, the thesis identifies four dominant business model types in the Consumer Goods industry: (i) Network Model, (ii) Solutions Model, (iii) Product Model and (iv) Operational Model, hereby adding to the Configuration theory and to Miles and Show’s theory of strategy, structure and process (1978), and to existing empirical evidence around business model types (see: Zott and Amit (2008), Libert et al. (2014)). By deploying a multiple correlation analysis, the thesis empirically demonstrates that the construct of business model coherence is positively associated with firm performance (adjusted R2 = 0.204), thereby adding a new dimension to the theory of business model, by introducing the notion of business model coherence premium. This research found that the business model type was not the main factor of firm performance, and superior performance can be achieved with any business model type in the Consumer Goods industry.