Opening company boundaries for collaborative business model renewal

This paper contributes to current discussion of networked and collaborative innovation by bringing empirical insight into the collaboration models. The objective of the paper is to answer the question of how to renew business models. A second-level question involves how to facilitate the renewal process in a collaborative setting. The paper describes the collaboration of researchers and management in a case company seeking new business opportunities. The research methodology applied in the study is a qualitative case study combined with action research. The objectives, process, and tools were defined by the company and researchers together. The basic objective of the collaboration was realised: a new business model was created. The facilitating factors identified include commitment to genuine collaboration; an open, informal and experimental approach; and the management's capability of conducting experiments, acting, and executing change leadership. The study increases knowledge of business model renewal through collaboration by describing the process and tools, as well as the results achieved in a specific case company