To replicate or to renew your business model? The performance effect in dynamic environments

It is often assumed that business model innovation drives firm performance, especially when firms operate in highly dynamic environments. However, despite the rise in research on business models, there is little systematic evidence of how various levels of environmental dynamism actually influence the performance effects of two basic types of business model innovation, namely replication (i.e., scaling up and improving an existing business model) and renewal (i.e., introducing a new business model). In this paper, we delineate a conceptual distinction between these two types of business model innovation and investigate how environmental dynamism impacts their performance outcomes. Based on a cross-industry survey that includes both SMEs and larger firms, we show that environmental dynamism weakens the positive effects of business model replication on firm performance. By contrast, in environments where the level of dynamism is intermediate, rather than high or low, environmental dynamism strengthens the performance effects of business model renewal. We discuss how these insights contribute to the business model innovation literature and how they can provide top managers with guidance on when and how to innovate a business model to turn it into a competitive advantage. •Business model innovation is more than just a fundamentally new model.•Business model innovation is also about refining and upscaling an existing model.•A more dynamic environment does not always require more business model innovation.•Refining and upscaling an existing model pays off especially in stable environments.•Business model renewal pays off mainly in not too stable nor too dynamic settings.