畢業(yè)論文外文文獻

畢業(yè)論文外文文獻

Electroniccopyavailableat:/doc/92bf53650b1c59eef8c7b49c.html/abstract=1490251TheBusinessModelinPracticeanditsImplicationsforEntrepreneurshipResearchGERARDGEORGEIMPERIALCOLLEGELONDONBusinessSchoolSouthKensingtonLondonSW72AZU.K.(o)442075941876g.george@/doc/92bf53650b1c59eef8c7b49c.htmlADAMJ.BOCKIMPERIALCOLLEGELONDONBusinessSchoolSouthKensingtonLondonSW72AZU.K.(o)442075941438adamjbock@/doc/92bf53650b1c59eef8c7b49c.htmlENTREPRENEURSHIPTHEORY&PRACTICE(FORTHCOMING)September09,2009ThefirstauthoracknowledgesthegeneroussupportoftheAdvancedInstituteofManagementFellowshipoftheUK’sEconomicandSocialResearchCouncil(RES331-27-0011).1Electroniccopyavailableat:/doc/92bf53650b1c59eef8c7b49c.html/abstract=1490251TheBusinessModelinPracticeanditsImplicationsforEntrepreneurshipResearchWhiletheterm“businessmodel”hasgainedwidespreaduseinthepracticecommunity,theacademicliteratureonthistopicisfragmentedandconfoundedbyinconsistentdefinitionsandconstructboundaries.Inthisstudy,wereviewpriorresearchandreframethebusinessmodelwithanentrepreneuriallens.Wereportonadiscourseanalysisof151surveysofpracticingmanagerstobetterunderstandtheirconceptualizationofabusinessmodel.Wefindthattheunderlyingdimensionsofthebusinessmodelareresourcestructure,transactivestructure,andvaluestructure,anddiscussthenatureandimplicationsofdimensionaldominanceforfirmcharacteristicsandbehavior.Thesefindingsprovidenewdirectionsfortheorydevelopmentandempiricalstudiesinentrepreneurshipbylinkingthebusinessmodeltoentrepreneurialcognition,opportunityco-creationandorganizationaloutcomes.2Whatarebusinessmodelsandhowdopractitionersusethem?Thesebroadquestionscombineorganizationaldesignandstrategyperspectives(Chandler,1962;Zott&Amit,2007)withaviewtowardsimplicationsforentrepreneurshipstudies.Theformation,growthpotentialandsuccessofneworganizationalformsisoftencreditedtothedevelopmentofnovelbusinessmodels,especiallyinturbulentindustries(Venkatraman&Henderson,1998;Frankeetal,2008).Researchershavesuggestedthatbusinessmodelsarecriticalconstructsforunderstandingvaluecreation(e.g.Amit&Zott,2001;Chesbrough&Rosenbloom,2002;Mahadevan,2000),whileothersnotethelackofconstructclarityandcominglingwithbusinessstrategy(Porter,2001).Thisarticlepresentsasystematicreviewandpresentsfindingsfromaninductivestudyofpractitionerperspectivestoreconstructthebusinessmodelandidentifyitsunderlyingstructuresusinganentrepreneurshiplens.Weintegratethescholarlydialogonbusinessmodelstoemphasizethelinkbetweenbusinessmodelsandopportunityenactment.Definitionsforbusinessmodelsvarywidely,incorporatingorganizationalnarrative(Magretta,2002),processesthatconvertinnovationintovalue(Chesbrough&Rosenbloom,2002),recipesforfirmactivitiesthatincorporateorganizationaldesignandstrategy(Slywotzky&Wise,2003),‘flows’ofinformationandresources(Timmers,1998),anddesignedstructuressuchasthefirm’ssetofboundary-spanningtransactions(Amit&Zott,2001).Moststudies,however,failtoclearlydistinguishthebusinessmodelfromreceivedorganizationalconstructssuchasstrategy,inpartbecausetheconstructemergedasatermofconvenienceinthepopularpressandpracticecommunity(Osterwalder&Pigneur,2005).Thelackofaconvergent,well-definedtheoreticalconstructhasledtoinconsistentempiricalfindingsinitseffectonfirmperformanceandorganizationalchange.Disparatedefinitionssuggestthatbusinessmodelsforgrowingfirmscouldbeinherentlyuncertain(Heirman&Clarysse,2004;Andriesand3Debackere,2007)or,alternately,pathdependentandpredictable(Willemstein,vanderValk,&Meeus,2007).Thestudyofbusinessmodelsispertinenttoentrepreneurshipresearchasoftenstudiestendtoexaminenewventuresorinnovation-drivenindustries.Businessmodelsmayrepresentaformofentrepreneurialopportunitycreation(Downing,2005;Frankeetal.,2008;Markides,2008)explicitlyinitiatedbymarketimperfections(Cohen&Winn,2007).Butthelackofaconsistentframeworkhasresultedinfragmentedresearchquestionsandfindings,especiallywithinanentrepreneurialcontext.Studiesaskwhetherabusinessmodelshouldbefocusedandformalized(Tracey&Jarvis,2007),adaptedtoenvironmentalcircumstances(Hurt&Hurt,2005)orspecifictotheentrepreneurialmode(Morris,Schindehutte,&Allen,2005).Developingaconvergentconstructcouldsignificantlyreduceconfusionandhelpreconcileconflictingempiricalresults.Theorydevelopmentshouldprogresstowardsanecessarilyartificialconstructthatbestapproximates“thehypothesizedcourseof*observed+events”(Weber,1949:44)intheserviceofencouragingrigoroustheory-building,well-characterizeddescriptiveresearch,andhigh-impactnormativepredictions.Ourgoalthenistoprovideabridgefromtheliteraturetoobservationofthephenomenoninmanagerialpractice.LITERATUREREVIEWReviewingtheliteratureonbusinessmodelshasbecomeasignificanttask,ifonlyforthequantityofdocumentspublished.AnEBCSO?databasesearchfor“businessmodel”onDec1,2008generated929titlehits,10,715abstract/keywordhits,and89,923all-texthits.Atthesametime,useofthebusinessmodelconstructisrelativelyrecent—ofthe929titlehits,only107werepublishedbefore2000,andonlysevenofthosebefore1990.Theliteraturespansnumerousfieldsandoftenfocusesoninformationandcommunicationstechnology,thoughmanycrossover4articlespresente-businessmodelsinanorganizationaltheorycontext(e.g.Bienstock,Gillenson,&Sanders,2002;Eden&Ackermann,2000).ModelsofbusinessdatebacktocomputationalworkbySimonandothers(seeIjiri,1964,foranearly"businessmodel"ofgrowth).Tomaximizetherelevance,weexcludedpurelycomputingandmodelingresearchaswellasnon-managementfieldssuchaspoliticaleconomy.Asearchwasconductedfor“businessmodel”usingthe“alltext”featureviaEBSCO?BusinessSourcePremiereinthemanagementandbusinessstudies,generatingatotalof288citations.Asecondsearchwasconductedfor“businessmodel”usingthe“topic”featureviatheISIWebofScience?searchengine,generating194citations.Combiningthesearchresultsyieldedatotalof474uniquecitationsinthebasereviewset;onlyeightcitationsoccurredinbothsearchoutputsconfirmingthefragmentednatureofthefield.Abroadersearchyieldedavarietyofbooks,websites,andunpublishedmanuscripts.Intotal,420publicationsweresearchedfor“businessmodel.”Publicationswereeliminatedunderthefollowingconditions:nouseofthephrase[n=102],irrelevantmentionbasedongrammaticalcoincidence[n=9],singleusewithoutexplanationorrelevancetoorganizations[n=106],multiplementionwithoutsignificantconceptelaborationordevelopment[n=78],andmultiplementionunrelatedtoorganizationaltheory[n=17].Theremainingresearchstudies[n=108]werereviewedfortheoryandempiricalcontributions.Theimmediatefindingwasthenon-accretivequalityoftheliteratureonbusinessmodels:researchhasfailedtoconvergeondefinitions,muchlessframeworksfornormativeorpredictivefindings.Withfewexceptions(seeZott&Amit2007,2008)researchonbusinessmodelshasnotbuiltuponpriorresearchwithinacoherentframework.Infact,publicationsthatreviewtheliteratureonbusinessmodelsregularlycommentonthelackofaconstructdefinition(EdenandAckerman,2000).Research“groupings”havefocusedonspecificindustrialsegmentssuchas5biotechnology(Bigliardi,Nosella,&Verbano,2005;Nosella,Petroni&Verbano,2005),thedot-comeindustry(Lechner&Hummel,2002;Fay,2004),andspin-outvariants(e.g.Heirman&Clarysse2004;Garnsey,Lorenzoni,andFerriani,2008).Theliteraturespansresearchfieldswithoutexplicitlinksbetweenresearchtopics,methodologies,orpreviousfindings.Despitethisconfusion,businessmodeltheory-buildingandempiricalresearchappearstogerminatefromestablishedorganizationaltopicssuchasstrategicchoice,resourceaccumulation,andinnovation.Fromthisstartingpoint,sixbroadthemesemergedwithinthevocabularyoforganizationaltheory.Thebusinessmodeliscommonlydescribedandreflectson[1]organizationaldesign,[2]theresource-basedviewofthefirm,[3]narrativeandsense-making,[4]thenatureofinnovation,[5]thenatureofopportunity,and[6]transactivestructures.Table1identifiesthekeycharacteristicsofthesethematicgroupsandrepresentativeconstructdefinitions.Werevieweachofthesethemesbelow.------------------------------InsertTable1Here------------------------------BusinessModelasOrganizationalDesignTheroleofmanagerialagencyindeterminingorganizationalstructuresresonateswiththeconfigurationoffirmproducts,activities,andmarkets(Hunt,1970).Managersandentrepreneursrationallyassessexistingandpotentialbusinessmodelstoestablishneworganizationsandensurefirmsurvival(Perlow,Okhuysen,&Repenning,2002).Slywotzky’s(1999)practitioner-focusedworkinterlinksbusinessmodelsandstrategyandsuggeststhatbusinessmodelinnovationisthecornerstoneoflong-termperformance.Alternateanalysessuggestthatfirmperformanceislinkedtobusinessmodelfitwithstrategy(Zott&Amit,2008)orbusinessmodelconsistencyacrossinternationalsubsidiariesorpartners(Roberts&Senturia,1996).The6businessmodelasdesignrequiresthatmanagersimplementasinglebusinessmodeltoavoidoperationalinefficiencies(Markides&Charitou,2004).Ontheotherhand,theco-evolutionofstrategyandbusinessmodelsmayoccurasacumulative,emergentprocessdirectedbypurposive,coordinatedlearning(Ghoshal&Bartlett,1994).Evenifbusinessmodelchangeisinitiatedandexecutedtop-down,emergentbusinessmodelsmaydeviatefromagent-drivendesign(Cule&Robey,2004).Inaddition,questionsofbusinessmodelpathdependenceremainunresolved.Studieshavefoundpathdependenttransitionsbetweenbusinessmodelsinmanufacturing(Lovins,Lovins,&Hawken,1999)andbiotechnology(Willemstein,vanderValk,&Meeus,2007),butotherresearchsuggeststhatbusinessmodelevolutionisinherentlyuncertain(Heirman&Clarysse,2004).Generalmechanismsfortheevolutionofsuccessfulordominantbusinessmodelsremainunexplored.Atheoryofbusinessmodelsinwhichorganizationaloutcomesareprimarilyinfluencedbymanagerialknowledge,expertise,choice,andexecutionhaspracticalappealbutdoesnotclearlyexplainbusinessmodelinnovation,thecontingencyeffectsofresourceacquisitionanddeployment,oropportunitycreation.Parallelresearchinmultiplecontextshasemphasizedthebusinessmodelasacomponentoforganizationaldesignwithoutconvergingonitscomponents.BusinessModelandtheResource-BasedViewTheresource-basedview(RBV)commonlylinksbusinessmodelstoresourceacquisitionandallocation(Garnsey,Lorenzoni,&Ferriani,2008).Hamel(1999)suggeststhatfirmsmustacquireresourcesconcomitantlytotheimplementationofnewbusinessmodels.Mangematinetal.(2003)presentabusinessmodeltypologywithintheFrenchbiotechsectorbasedonthefinancial,human,andsocialcapitalresourcesthatdriveorganizationalforms.TheinclusionofknowledgeanddynamiccapabilitiesintotheRBVpavedthewayformorelinkagesbetweenthe7businessmodelandRBV.VenkatramanandHenderson(1998)suggestthatleveragingtraditionalandknowledgeassetsenablesvirtualorganizingasanewbusinessmodel.“Neweconomy”firmshavebeencreditedwithleveragingintangibleassetstogenerateextraordinaryvalue(Boulton&Libert,2000).EdenandAckerman(2000)definethebusinessmodelasthedynamiccapabilitythatlinksthefirm’sdistinctivecompetenciestoorganizationalaspirationsandoutcomes.Analternateperspectivelinksthebusinessmodeltosocialnetworksandknowledgesharing(Chung,Yam,&Chan,2004).Fewstudiesframethebusinessmodelasanevolvingbundleofactivities,a.“complexsetofinterdependentroutinesthatisdiscovered,adjusted,andfine-tunedby‘doing’”(Winter&Szulanski,2001:731).Somevariantsconnectthetransactiveelementofmarketneedtothekeybusinessactivities(McEvily,Das&McCabe,2000).Inthisevolutionaryframework,businessmodelelementsarediscoveredexperientiallyandevolvewithoutmanagerialagency.TheRBVhaspermeatedmuchoftheresearchonbusinessmodels,influencingtheory-buildingandempiricalanalysis.Noconsensushasemerged,however,onhowbusinessmodelsinteractwithappropriabilityregimes,andmuchoftheresearchonbusinessmodelsframedwithinRBVdoesnotclarifyhowbusinessmodelsdifferfromproduct-marketpositioningstrategy.BusinessModelasOrganizationalNarrativeThebusinessmodelconstructlendsitselftoaninstitutionalframeworkthatincorporatesorganizationalnarrative.CitingPricelineandWal-Martasexamples,Magretta(2002:97)definesthebusinessmodelasthegestaltembodimentoffirmexecution,integratingallelementsofoperationsandstructureintonarrativeas“storiesthatexplainhowenterpriseswork.”Thestorytellingframeworkhasprovenapowerfultoolforunderstandingandinterpretingorganizationalbehavior(Gabriel,2000)butthenecessarilysubjectivenatureofstoryformulation8presentschallengesforobjectivelyassessingorganizationalbehaviorsandoutcomes.Iftheeconomiclandscapeisobjectivelyspecified,businessmodelnarrativemaybelimitedtothebusinesslogicofthefirmoperatinginaconstrainedenvironment,usuallyabstractedtothefirm’srevenuemechanism(Lewin,Long,&Carroll,1999).Arelatedperspectivefocusesonsensemakingandenactment(Daft&Weick,1984)whereinstitutionalpressuresonthebusinessmodelshapefirmgrowthprocesses.Firmsmaycontrolthelegitimizationprocessifthemodelisinnovativeandthefirmdrivesnarrativesense-makingatorganizationalandcommunitylevels(Zimmerman&Zeitz,2002).Narrativesense-makingwouldberelevantinemergingmarketswhereinvestorsareunabletoevaluateunprovenbusinessmodelswithoutclarification(Sanders&Boivie,2004).Businessmodelsmaybeanimportantcomponentintheco-evolutionofstoriesthatdeterminelegitimacyasanecessarycomponentoffirmsurvival(Lounsbury&Glynn,2001).Ifbusinessmodelsplayakeyroleinlegitimization,wewouldexpecttoseeisomorphismbasedontheadoptionofcommonbusinessmodels(Kostova,Roth,&Dacin,2008).Thenarrativesensemakingofbusinessmodelscouldoccurwithinthefirmaswell.Businessmodelswouldevolveviainternally-drivenstructuration,influencedbythenarrativedynamicsthatdrivethedevelopmentofthefirm’ssocialorder,rules,organizationalstructure,hierarchy,andmeaning-making(Downing,2005).Thenarrativeperspectiveallowsforfuzzinessinbusinessmodeldevelopmentanddeployment.Firmsmaytrialmultiplebusinessmodelsatthesametime(Brown&Gioia,2002).Atthesametime,thebusinessmodelasnarrativemechanismlimitsthescopeofresearchtostory-formationandcatalogingofnarrativecommonalities;wecurrentlyhavenoprocessesthatmediatenarrativemodelsandfirmbehaviororoutcomes.9BusinessModelasInnovationFormManystudiesassesstherelationshipbetweentechnologyinnovationandbusinessmodelsorthechangeinbusinessmodels.Thisperspectiveframesbusinessmodelswithinaninnovationcontext,definingitas“acoherentframeworkthattakestechnologicalcharacteristicsandpotentialsasinputsandconvertsthemthroughcustomersandmarketsintoeconomicoutputs.Thebusinessmodelisconceivedasafocusingdevicethatmediatesbetweentechnologydevelopmentandeconomicvaluecreation”(Chesbrough&Rosenbloom,2002:532).Abusinessmodelwouldbeacomponentofinnovationcommercializationseparatefromproductandprocessinnovation.Here,businessmodeldevelopmentandchangearepunctuatedphenomenathatfollowdisruptionsorenactmentofnewopportunities.Anadaptiveframeworkforinnovationsuggeststhatbusinessmodelsadjustinparalleltothefirm’slifecycleevolution(Andries&Debackere,2007).Businessmodelchangeatthefirmlevelwouldthenbeespeciallyprevalentamongimmaturefirmsincapital-intensiveandhigh-velocitysectors.Thebusinessmodelmaybeanimportantlinkbetweeninnovationandorganizationalstructure.Itremainsunclear,however,whetherbusinessmodelchangeresultsinreconfigurationofthefirm’sorganizationalstructure(Francis&Bessant,2005)orwhetherorganizationaldesignandknowledgemanagementdeterminebusinessmodelstructure.Moreresearchisneededtoclarifythelinksbetweenbusinessmodelsandorganizationalinnovationaswellasthemechanismsandprocessesofbusinessmodelinnovationandchange.BusinessModelasOpportunityFacilitatorInarelativelyundevelopedframework,thebusinessmodelisafacilitativeintermediaryintheopportunitycreationprocess.Thebusinessmodelhasbeendescribedasthelinkbetweeninnovationandvaluecreation(Chesbrough&Rosenbloom,2002)aswellasthecognitivelink10betweenentrepreneurialappraisaloftheopportunityanditsexploitation(Fiet&Patel,2008).Othersfocusonthetransactiveelementandviewthebusinessmodelasthemechanismforopportunityexploitation(Amit&Zott,2001).Iftheopportunityisuncertain,theoptimalbusinessmodelcannotberationallydetermined(Heirman&Clarysse,2004).Thebusinessmodelissometimesequatedtotheunderlying“businessidea”orthefirm’svaluecreationmechanism(Afuah,2003;Markides,2008),butseparatingtheentrepreneurialopportunityfromtheestablishedfirm’sprofit-managingprocesshasnotbeenaddressed.Researchonventurecapitalists’useofbusinessmodelframeworkslinksbusinessmodeldevelopmentwithperceivedcommercialpotential(Frankeetal,2008;GeorgeandNathusius,2007),butthemechanismsbywhichtheunderlyingopportunityandthebusinessmodelareinterconnectedhavenotbeenexplored.Theresultsoftheinductivestudydescribedinthispaperpresentpromisingdirectionsforreconceptualizingthebusinessmodelalongtheselines.BusinessModelasTransactiveStructureThemostrigorousandengagingconstructdefinitionsintheliteraturecenterontransactivestructuressuchasthestreamsoflogisticsandrevenue(Mahadevan,2000).AmitandZott’sdeductiveconstruct(2001)seekstoexplainextraordinaryvaluecreationmechanismsine-businesses.Thebusinessmodelisproposedasaunifyingmechanismdescribingthe“content,structure,andgovernanceoftransactions”(Amit&Zott,2001:511).Firmperformanceisafunctionofspecificbusinessmodelcharacteristics(Zott&Amit,2007)andthefitbetweenbusinessmodelsandstrategy(Zott&Amit,2008).Thisframeworkhasbeenmostcommonlyappliedtoe-businesssectors,usuallyinthedevelopmentofclustersolutionsandtypologiesthatdeconstructexchangecharacteristics(e.g.Bienstock,Gillenson,&Sanders,2002).Thetransactive-baseddefinitionisinherentlyattractive:itrestsonobservedfirm11behavior,combineselementsofentrepreneurshipwithstrategy,andpresentsaspectrumofopportunitiesforempiricalassessmentandtheorybuilding.FietandPatel(2008)arguethatsomebusinessmodelsare“forgiving”byshiftingtransactionrisktooutsideresourceswithoutcommensurateremuneration.ResearchhasextendedAmitandZott’stransactivemodeltoassessstrategicgrowthinvestmentoutcomesafterthe/doc/92bf53650b1c59eef8c7b49c.htmlcrash(Eisenmann,2006)andvaluecreationassociatedwithinternetfirmacquisitions(Uhlenbruck,Hitt,&Semadeni,2006).Thetransactivethemehasbeenaproductiveframeworkinthebusinessmodelliterature,butyetlackstheory-buildingandempiricalresearchoutsideofthee-businesssector.ADISCOURSEANALYSISOFBUSINESSMODELSINPRACTICEAcriticalchallengetobusinessmodelresearchisitslackofcoherence.Effortstoreviewtheliteratureanddevelopconsensustendtoyieldall-encompassingdefinitionsthatsubsumeestablishedorganizationalconstructssuchasvaluecreationandstrategy(e.g.Morris,Schindehutte,&Allen,2005;Osterwalder&Pigneur,2005).Whileperfectcoherenceoragreementmaynotbestrictlynecessary,futureresearchmaybehamperedbynon-convergentdefinitions.Giventhelackofaconsistentframeworkandthenon-accretivecharacteristicofempiricalstudies,weundertookanalternateapproachtocomparepractitionerperspectivesandconstructdefinitionsintheliterature.PilotInterviewsOurinductiveinvestigationintobusinessmodelsbeganwithpilotinterviewsofmanagersatventuringgroupsandearly-stagetechnologyfirmsidentifiedinTable2,becauseearlyuseoftheconstructdevelopedinthecontextofrapidadoptionofinternettechnologyfueledbyventurefunding(Osterwalder&Pigneur,2005).Intervieweesrespondedtoasemi-structuredinterviewtemplateutilizingopen-endedquestionsthatnarrowedtofirm-specificcharacteristicsofbusiness12models.Participantswerepromptedtodescribebusinessmodelelementsandthemechanismsofbusinessmodelchange.Threeobservationsfromthesepilotinterviewsemerged.First,everyintervieweerecognizedtheconstruct.Second,manyintervieweesexpresseduncertaintyaboutdefiningthegeneralconstructoridentifyingcomponentsofthebusinessmodel—noconsistentframeworksordefinitionswereevident.Finally,thedefinitionsandexamplesofferedbyintervieweescenteredonthreekeycharacteristics:survival,organizationalstructure,andopportunityexploitation.Basedonthefragmentedliteratureandlackofprecisioninpractice,weinitiatedabroaderstudytoassesspractitionerperceptionsofbusinessmodels.------------------------------InsertTable2Here------------------------------SurveyAdministrationThestudyutilizedasurveyinstrumentwithopen-endedquestionspromptingtextresponsesaswellasquantitativeassessmentsofnumerousfirmcharacteristicsinastandardizedformat.Thesurveyaskedtwoopen-endedquestions:“Whatisabusinessmodel”and“Whatisyourcompany’sbusinessmodel.”Thequestionswerepurposefullykeptsimpleandplacedatthestartofthesurveyinordertoobtainatabularasaresponse.Surveyresponseswereaffectedbytheavailablewritingspaceandthewrittendirectionto“explainin1or2sentences.”Thesurveywasadministeredto182seniormanagersofIndianfirmswhoattendedexecutiveeducationprogramsbetweenWinter2008andSpring2009.Firmsrangedinsizefrom2employeestomorethan20,000employeesandinagefromstart-upstomorethan100yearsold.Themedianannualgrowthratewas23%,consistentwiththerapidgrowthoftheIndianeconomyin2008.ThesamplecoveredarangeofindustrysectorswithstrongrepresentationinICT,manufacturing,high-technologysectors,andservicesfirms.Asecondary,testsamplewas13obtainedbyadministeringthesurveyto13managersofUnitedKingdomfirmswhoattendedanunrelatedexecutiveeducationprograminFall2009.DiscourseAnalysisDiscourseanalysis,alsoreferredtoas“contentanalysis”or“textualanalysis,”isananalyticaltoolattributedtoFoucault(1982)thatdistillsinformationfromtextusingquantitativetechniques(Fairclough,2003).Fromanepistemologicalperspective,analysisseekstounderstandtheproductionofrealityviauseandevolutionoflanguage“asconstitutiveofthesocialworld—notaroutetoit…theworldcannotbeknownseparatelyfromdiscourse”(Phillips&Hardy,2002).Althoughthetoolswereprimarilydevelopedinfieldssuchaspoliticalscienceandsociology(e.g.Weber,1990),discourseanalysishasbeenusedinorganizationalresearchtoassessmechanismsoforganizationalchange(O’Connor,1995),developameta-analysisoforganizationalscienceinthebroadercontextofhumanitiesstudies(Zald,1996),andevenre-definethefieldofstrategicmanagement(Nag,Hambrick,&Chen,2007).Discourseanalysisrequiresthreetechnicaldecisions(Stemler,2001):first,thediscoursecontentmustbeidentified;second,theunitofanalysisischosen;finally,textisanalyzedviaanemergentoranapriorisetofcategories.Inourstudy,thediscoursecontentwasthesetofresponsestothewrittensurveyquestion:“Whatisabusinessmodel.”Datawereanalyzedatboththewordandresponseunittoenablecomparisonandincreaseobjectivity.Thelackofcomparableanalysesrequiredthedevelopmentofeitheranemergentornovelaprioricategorizationscheme.Establishedwordcategorizationsetswereunsuitablebecauseofthespecializednatureofthisanalysis.Althoughanemergentcategorizationwouldhavebeenappropriategiventhelackofpreviously-establishedcategorizationsets,thethematiccategorizationdevelopedintheliteraturereviewprovidedausefulbasisforassessingsurvey14contentwiththebenefitofdirectcomparisonbetweenpractitionerperceptionsandreceivedtheory-building.Inordertomaximizethevalidityofthecategorizationandtoenablejuxtapositionbetweenpracticeandtheory,wedevelopedasetofsubcategoriesbasedontheoutputoftheliteraturereview.Thecategoryandsub-categorysetisshowninTable3.------------------------------InsertTable3Here------------------------------TheBaseDataThebasedataarethe182surveysfrommanagersofIndianfirms.Thetargetcontentincludeshand-writtenresponsestoopen-endedsurveyquestions.Asampleresponsetothequestion(Q1)“Whatisabusinessmodel?”isshown:[76]Thewaybywhichorganization'sresourcesaredeployedtocreatevaluetocustomersintheformofproductandservicesleadingtogrowthandhigherprofitsfortheorganizationOfthe182surveyscompleted,18wereeliminatedfromthesamplebecauseofincompleteresponsesordifficultiesinhandwritingtranscription.Thirteenadditionalresponseswereexcludedfromthediscourseanalysisbecausetheresponseappearedtobefirmspecific,suchas,“*23+Designandmanufactureofstainlesssteelprocessequipmentforanyprocess.”Theremaining151surveysrepresented130uniqueorganizations.Thedatawerecleanedasfollows:obvioustypographicalerrorswere