Morteza Maroufani Asl; Golamreza Tavakoli; Hasan Farsijani; Mohammad Hossin Karimi Gavareshiki
Abstract
Business model innovation is a prominent topic in the field of management. The importance of this concept for complex defense product developers is also increasing. This study analyzes the relationships structure of "internal drivers of business model innovation" for developers of complex defense products. ...
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Business model innovation is a prominent topic in the field of management. The importance of this concept for complex defense product developers is also increasing. This study analyzes the relationships structure of "internal drivers of business model innovation" for developers of complex defense products. After identifying the drivers, with the participation of 12 experts - who were selected through purposive sampling - and using the method of interpretive structural modeling, the framework of relationships "internal drivers of business model innovation" for these organizations, designed. Drivers related to "governance and policies" and "organizational leadership" (at the first level) were identified as the most important drivers in this context, which, affect other drivers by influencing the drivers of "human capital" and "financial resources" (at the second level). At the third level were the drivers related to "Research, Knowledge, Technological and Product Innovations", "Production and Operations", "Supply and CIntroductionThe business model innovation drivers have been introduced as one of the main streams of research in business model innovation. However, not much knowledge has been developed regarding these drivers. The few kinds of research conducted in the field of innovation drivers of business models have mainly investigated the external drivers of business model innovation. Also, the studies conducted in this field often focus on service companies and organizations active in the mass production of consumer products. However, no comprehensive study has been observed in the field of innovation drivers of business models of organizations developing complex products, especially in the defense industry - which has different conditions. The environment of this industry has changed in recent years. The drivers of the strategic environment of the defense industries have made this industry, based on the logic of knowledge-based defense, put a set of transformational programs on its agenda. In order to overcome the challenges caused by the transformations mentioned above, the open innovation strategy has been placed on the agenda of industrial organizations and scientific-research centers affiliated whit the Ministry of Defense. Ignoring the business models of the mentioned organizations will make it challenging to realize the mentioned strategy. Therefore, identifying the drivers of business model innovation and analyzing the structure of relationships between them is essential for organizations, as mentioned earlier. The relevant literature has not yet been clarified for developers of complex products and technology-oriented organizations. Also, there is a gap regarding identifying and comprehensively analyzing business model innovation drivers. The current research aims to comprehensively identify the internal drivers of business model innovation and analyze their relationships with developers of complex defense products.Materials and MethodsThis study is mixed research, and in terms of its purpose, it is applied research. The study data was collected in 1400. The statistical population of the research was experts aware of the opportunities and challenges of developing complex defense products, including senior managers, middle managers, senior experts, and university professors who participated in different stages of the study. For the validity of the research results, qualitative research approaches were used. Using at least three data sources (based on the triangulation approach); long-term involvement of researchers with the research environment; The collaborative nature of the research and receiving the opinions of the participants in the focus groups and reaching a consensus in all stages of the research has achieved the accuracy and scientific validity of the research results. In addition, the validity of the questionnaires was content validity and face validity, and the questionnaires were approved by experts after their design. Also, the parallel method using peer tests was used to check the reliability of the interpretive structural modeling questionnaire. In different steps of the research, in order to collect and analyze the required data, several methods have been used:The first step: the triangulation approach, was used to identify the drivers; In this regard, the following four activities were carried out: The first activity: identifying the drivers by examining the background of the research; In this activity, by reviewing articles published in prestigious international journals, 29 drivers were extracted from 45 selected articles. The second activity: more than ten organizational strategic documents published in the last ten years at the policy level were reviewed. Using the qualitative content analysis method, 41 drivers (having common drivers with the results of the first activity) were identified. The third activity: 8 focus groups were formed with the participation of 81 experts who were purposefully selected, and 41 drivers (having common drivers with the results of the first and second actions) were also included in this activity (using the qualitative content analysis method) was extracted. The fourth activity: the theme analysis method, was used to summarize the results of the three actions and extract the drivers according to the local conditions of the defense industry. Second step: The fuzzy Delphi method was used in two steps to screen and confirm the identified drivers. At this stage, 26 experts were selected purposefully in the policy-making layer of the mentioned industry. Third step: determine the structure of relationships and interactions; the interpretive structural modeling approach was used with the participation of 12 professors and experts at the policy level. Discussion and ResultsIn the identification section: 54 drivers in 8 main business dimensions of organizations developing complex defense products, including: "governance and policies,"; "organizational leadership,"; "human capital,"; "financial and economic resources,"; "knowledge, research, technological and product innovations"; "production and operations"; "supply network and collaborations" and "market and customer" were identified. In the relationship framework design section, Using the interpretative structural modeling method, the relationship framework of intra-organizational drivers of business model innovation for the mentioned organizations was designed in three levels. The drivers related to "governance and policies" and "organizational leadership" at the first level are the most critical drivers in this framework, which by influencing the drivers of "human capital" and "financial and economic resources" at the second level on other drivers in affect the system. In the third level, there are drivers related to "knowledge, research, technological and product innovations," "production and operations," "supply network and collaborations," and "market and customer." With their activation, more value is created for stakeholders.Even though the identified drivers are distributed in all the main dimensions of the business model of the mentioned organizations, the drivers related to the components of "governance and policies," "knowledge, research, technological and product innovations," as well as "supply network and cooperation" are more prominent in the mentioned organizations compared to other service and mass production organizations.Based on the findings of this research, the policymakers of the organizations mentioned above will be able to make strategic decisions more confidently about the issues and challenges of the business model innovation of the respective organizations. A similar study has not been conducted on complex defense product developers. This limitation makes it difficult to compare the results. However, the findings of this study are consistent with studies conducted in small service organizations, mass production organizations, and some large organizations. It should be noted that most previous studies have investigated the effect of a single driver.ConclusionsIn this research, the internal drivers of business model innovation for developers of complex defense products were comprehensively identified, and the structure of relationships between them was designed. The comprehensiveness, variety, and number of drivers identified, as well as the research context (including developers of complex defense products), distinguish this study from previous studies. In this study, while summarizing the results of previous studies, new drivers (25) have been identified that were not mentioned in previous studies. This research showed that the internal drivers of business model innovation for developers of complex defense products with the ISM approach are placed on three levels. In this leveling, drivers related to "governance and policymaking" and "organizational leadership" were at the lowest level. It means that in the business model innovation process of the mentioned organizations, attention to the relevant drivers is a priority. Addressing other drivers will not be very effective without paying attention to the mentioned drivers. A comprehensive awareness of these drivers and the relationships between them helps policymakers adopt more effective policies and decisions in the business model innovation of the mentioned organizations. Conducting more exploratory studies in organizations developing complex products may lead to identifying new drivers.ooperation Network" and "Market and Customer". These drivers affect the "creation of value for stakeholders" by activating Level 1 and 2 drivers.
