Changing the sails to survive the storm: Strategies that foster international business model innovation during a crisis

Abstract

Persisting global crises, such as COVID-19, pose significant challenges for international companies. The increase in uncertainty and instability in foreign markets has profoundly affected firms' strategic decisions, forcing them to adapt to dynamic conditions in order to maintain or improve their international performance. Grounded in the dynamic capabilities view, this study examines how exploration and exploitation strategies drive international business model innovation, ultimately affecting international performance and expectations concerning crisis survival during the COVID-19 crisis.

Utilizing survey data from 1455 internationalized companies, we use structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. The results show that, although both exploration and exploitation strategies foster international business model innovation, exploration has a stronger effect than exploitation. The results further emphasize that international business model innovation has a positive impact not only on the expectation of crisis survival but also on the international performance.