پیکربندی شبکه، مشتری ‌مداری و عملکرد مدل های کسب و کار باز

ABSTRACT Network configuration, customer centricity, and performance of open business models: A solution provider perspective

Increasing specialization and division of labor in today’s economy have led to the emergence of open business models in many industries. One instance of these business models are firms which rely on external service providers in delivering integrated solutions. While the business model, in general, illustrates the logic of how firms create and capture value (Chesbrough & Rosenbloom, 2002; Mason & Spring, 2011; Teece, 2010; Zott & Amit, 2009), the open business model specifically describes value creation and capturing by “systematically collaborating with outside partners” (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010: 109). Scholars in this field explain how the integration of external resources and exchange with partners can create additional value (Chesbrough, 2006, 2007; Sandulli & Chesbrough, 2009). Business model scholars also highlight the importance of customer orientation as a key characteristic of business models (Amit & Zott, 2001) and especially of open business models, whereby multiple actors co-create value for the same customer (Storbacka, Frow, Nenonen, & Payne, 2012). Solution customer centricity – the degree to which the focal firm focuses on solution customers in the joint delivery of solutions – is hence an important aspect in studying open business models involving partner networks.

Although open business models are by definition closely linked to the establishment and management of external networks, research falls short in explaining the configuration of these networks and their impact on the performance of open business models. Understanding these relationships is of particular relevance for manufacturing companies facing the organizational challenge to become solution providers. A solution provider manufactures stand-alone products as well as bundling them with related services into solutions that solve customers’ problems (Davies, Brady, & Hobday, 2006; Galbraith, 2002). For these firms, utilizing services provided by partners in the network is an attractive means of achieving successful integrated solutions (Gebauer, Paiola, & Saccani, 2013; Helander & Möller, 2008; Jaakkola & Hakanen, 2013; Martinez, Bastl, Kingston, & Evans, 2010; Windahl & Lakemond, 2006) and, in turn, successful open business models. Scholars have studied partner networks in the context of the development of new integrated solutions (Liu & Hart, 2011; Windahl & Lakemond, 2006), but not the required network setup and logic for successful delivery of solutions.

This raises two research questions we aim to answer in this article: Firstly, how do various network configurations in relation to service partners influence the performance of open business models? Secondly, what is the role of varying degrees of customer centricity of open business models in this setting? We study these questions in the context of solution providers as a good backdrop.

To come to an answer we build on network theory, which argues that a network of relations of firms produces positive but also negative results (e.g., Lechner, Frankenberger, & Floyd, 2010). Positive effects include information benefits (Burt, 1992; Granovetter, 1985; Hansen, 1999; Rindfleisch & Moorman, 2001), efficient knowledge transfer (Reagans & McEvily, 2003; Uzzi, 1996, 1997), and access to resources (Gnyawali & Madhavan, 2001). Conversely, negative effects stem from reduced information benefits (e.g., Uzzi, 1997) and costs of maintaining additional ties (Burt, 1992). Such networks are characterized on the basis of three dimensions: the relational, the structural, and the cognitive (Lechner et al., 2010; Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998; Simsek, Lubatkin, & Floyd, 2003).

Our results suggest patterns new to existing theory. We find the influence of networks on performance of open business models contingent on the level of customer centricity. That is, to ensure superior performance, different levels of solution customer centricity in the business model require different network configurations to service partners. The realization of these relationships contributes to the open business model, solution provider, and network fields.