From concept to business model change: an agricultural case study

To enhance their competitive position, European farmers must adopt a revised strategy. Since a strategy is implemented through a business model (BM), the potential for new BMs must be assessed. The academic literature on these new business models indicates that both a static and a dynamic view of the BM concept are necessary and of interest to the firm. However, as is the case in academic literature, it can be argued that the concept is also, in agricultural practice, predominantly addressed in a static manner. Nevertheless, the efficacy of this information, whether static or dynamic, for farmers to be capable of changing their BM, remains uncertain. Therefore, the question arises whether the industry has sufficient information at its disposal to enable a strategy adjustment and to implement a BM change. The present research was conducted in Flanders (Belgium) with the objective of identifying the information required by the agricultural sector in order to make an informed decision on strategy and BM change. To this end, an existing decision support tool on BMs, the Verdienwijzer, was utilised. The analysis of 18 semi-structured interviews and 20 field observations on the utilisation of the tool led to insights on information needs and the applicability in agriculture of the theory on BMs operationalised in the VerdienWijzer tool. The findings of this study underscore the necessity of developing dynamic capabilities and a dual perspective on the BM concept (i.e. both static and dynamic). This study makes a contribution to the existing body of knowledge regarding the practical application of the BM concept within the context of agricultural practice