Business Model Innovation and exaptation: A new way of innovating in SMEs

Although research underlines the need for SMEs to innovate their Business Model, they face considerable challenges in exploring external business opportunities and experimenting/developing their available resources in unexpected ways. We posit that one way that SMEs can innovate their Business Model is through exaptation, a discontinuous evolutionary process that allows utilizing and adapting existing resources in new application domains. Using a case study approach, we investigate the case of a SME that has successfully innovated its Business Model through exaptation. We then discuss how three key exaptation processes lead to value creation, delivery and capturing, thus supporting Business Model Innovation in SMEs.

Automated summary

Although SMEs face challenges in exploring external business opportunities and experimenting with their available resources, exaptation can be a way for them to innovate their Business Model. By utilizing and adapting existing resources in new application domains, SMEs can create, deliver, and capture value, thus supporting Business Model Innovation. This study investigates a case where a SME successfully innovated its Business Model through exaptation, and discusses the key exaptation processes that led to this success.