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The goal of this paper to identify the success factors for business model innovation, evaluate the theoretical hypotheses statistically with partial least squares, and give recommendations for managerial actions on the basis of a cluster analysis. A cross-industry management survey was done to collect the sample data. The study consists of ten constructs, that are all critical components of a business model. To assess the complex nature of business model innovation, we choose a second-order SEM-model. The contribution of this paper to the management literature is achieved by providing concrete and validated entrepreneurial action strategies for superior economic growth.
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the topics around the development of changed business models have been the focus of both managers and researchers as well (Seidenstricker, Scheuerle, & Linder, 2014; Planing, 2018; Clause, Resting, & Naskrent, 2018; Ritter & Lettl, 2018). For instance, the IBM CxO studies (IBM Global Business Services, 2018) suggested that the awareness of top management has significantly increased due to business model innovation. It has been argued that innovation across traditional product and process development tends to have a higher possibility to create a competitive advantage in the long run, which was also mentioned by Reymen et al. (Reymen, Berends, Oudehand, & Stultiēns, 2017). Therefore, the reasons suggested are that it is nowadays more difficult to differentiate based only on products or services and, furthermore, business model innovation strategies tend to be harder for competitors to imitate than pure product innovations (Spieth & Schneider, 2016). This refers to the complexity of the business innovation process, which needs to fit the company's culture, its core competencies and the corporate strategy. Furthermore, according to several authors, business model innovation tends to create a strategic flexibility, which refers to flexibility in resource allocation, coordination and capabilities (Clauss, 2017; Spieth & Schneider, 2016). Therefore, to overcome the new challenges (Planing, 2018) and to delay "the end of competitive advantage" (McGrath, 2013), it is necessary for enterprises to adapt to the new form of innovation. Therefore, it can be seen as a major priority for managers in business practice. Further, Hacklin, Björkdahl, and Wallin (2018) pointed out that especially when value is migrating e.g., through the effect of industry convergence or digital disruption, firms continuous need to...