Interdisciplinary research approach and research questions

Due to these characteristics, the topic of business model innovation calls for an interdisciplinary research approach that integrates the fields of strategic management, innovation, management control, organization, and corporate governance. Our research program addresses the following research questions:

• What are antecedents and consequences of business model innovation both on the industry- and firm-level and across the different sectors?

• What management control mechanisms facilitate business model innovations and how do business model innovations correspond with specific management control mechanisms and control packages?

• Which new organizational forms facilitate business model innovations and how do business model innovations induce new organizational forms?

• How do inter-firm collaborations facilitate business model innovations and how are certain types of inter-firm collaborations associated with business model innovations?

• What are critical success factors of business model innovations that use sources of innovation outside of firm boundaries?

• What business model innovations are needed to integrate principles of sustainability, responsibility and accountability towards various stakeholders in corporate practices, strategies, and cultures?

With respect to the latter research question, the Department of Strategy and Innovation at WU Vienna is a key partner within the multistakeholder initiative G.O.L.DE.N. for Sustainability http://goldenforsustainability.com/ together with Bocconi University, The Harvard Kennedy School of Government and EABIS as well as leading companies (e.g. Microsoft). The director of GOLDEN, Professor Maurizio Zollo, is Distinguished Professor of Strategic Management and Sustainability at the Department of Strategic Management and Innovation at WU Vienna and contributes to the department’s research program on business model innovation.