Business Model Innovation in a Network Company

Currently, many organizations deploy business model innovation (BMI) to respond to changes in their environments. Most studies have focused on understanding BMI only at the organization level and have not explained how it can emerge from a bottom-up process and be diffused at the network level. Consequently, challenges related to the co-existence of BMs in a network company have not been explained, potentially leading to the failure of the new BMI. The aim of this paper is to fill this void through a single-case study of CH Robinson Europe, a transportation and logistics services company. We study a particular BMI that disrupts existing behaviours and resource flows as it was deployed at the organizational and network levels. This case study demonstrates the coordination and collaboration challenges stemming from the complex relationships between actors, due to their interdependence and the complementarity of business models at different levels. Therefore, our findings extend our understanding of the emergence and diffusion of a BMI in network organizations and of the role played by inter-organizational relationships in value capture from BMI.JEL Codes: O3