Business Model Innovation: Insights from a Multiple Case Study of Slovenian SMEs

Background and Purpose: Business model innovation (BMI) has become increasingly important, especially in the fast changing business environment. While large enterprises approach these changes systematically, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are left to their own resourcefulness. For the purpose of developing dedicated methods and tools to support different SMEs in addressing these challenges, we have conducted a multiple case study to gain insights into factors that drive SMEs to innovate their BM, how they approach BMI and what changes they made to their BM.

Design/Methodology/Approach: First the framework of analysis was developed based on BMI research frameworks identified in literature review. Then the multiple case studies were conducted following the case study protocol developed by Envision project.

Results: Based on the proposed framework the results of four Slovene SME cases revealed differences between enterprises regarding the drivers behind BMI and changes in usage of the different BMI elements.

Conclusion: Overall, the results suggest all four SMEs, coming from different sectors, are facing BMI challenges without systematically addressing it and without using any dedicated BM ontologies or tools.