Seminar – Business Models and Business Model Innovation

Professor Christopher Tucci, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

This talk offers a broad review of the nexus between Business Models and innovation studies, and examines the notion of Business Model Innovation in three different situations: Business Model Design in newly formed organisations, Business Model Reconfiguration in incumbent firms, and Business Model Innovation in the broad context of sustainability. Tools and perspectives to make sense of Business Models and support managers and entrepreneurs in dealing with Business Model Innovation are reviewed and organised. The framework elucidates the nature of the complementarities across various perspectives. Finally, the use of business model-related ideas in practice is discussed, and critical managerial challenges as they relate to Business Model Innovation and managing business models are identified and examined. I also discuss a recent review performed with Allan Afuah and Lorenzo Massa on why it is difficult to cumulate knowledge in business model research, and work with Gianluigi Viscusi and Lorenzo Massa on complexity and business models.

Speaker bio

Christopher L. Tucci is Professor of Management of Technology at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where he holds the Chair in Corporate Strategy and Innovation. He is Visiting Professor of Innovation at Imperial College London and Visiting Thought Leader at CEIBS in Shangai, China. He received the degrees of PhD in Management from the Sloan School of Management, MIT; SM in Technology & Policy from MIT; and BS in Mathematical Sciences, AB in Music, and MS in Computer Science from Stanford University. He was an industrial computer scientist involved in developing Internet protocols and applying artificial intelligence tools. Professor Tucci joined EPFL in 2003 where he teaches courses in Design Thinking, Digital Strategy, and Innovation Management. His primary area of interest is in how firms make transitions to new business models, technologies, and organisational forms. He also studies crowdsourcing, Internetworking, and digital innovations. He has published articles in, among others, Academy of Management Review (AMR), Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, Research Policy, Communications of the ACM, Search Engine Journal, Academy of Management Annals, and Journal of Product Innovation Management. His article with Allan Afuah, “Crowdsourcing as solution to distant search,” won the Best Paper of 2012 for AMR. He is currently an Associate Editor of Academy of Management Discoveries. He has served in leadership positions in the Academy of Management (AOM) and the Strategic Management Society.