Scholars have recently argued that startups and incumbents play differential roles in the disruptive transformations of industries toward sustainability and that the transformations are only likely to succeed if both startups and incumbents contribute. To understand their respective contributions and, thus, to understand how industries make the transition toward sustainability, comparative studies of incumbents versus startups during this transformation have been identified as a central pursuit, but yet they are mostly lacking. Since business models have become a principal way of characterizing firms, the present study takes a business model perspective and derives business model archetypes in the electrical power sector from an analysis of 280 startups and incumbents in three different countries. The selected countries (USA, UK, and India) represent three different energy profiles and leading instances of disruption in the energy sector. The article, then, undertakes a comparative analysis of startups and incumbents based on the empirically distilled business model archetypes and develops propositions on startups, incumbents, and business models in industry transformations. This analysis produces several important insights. First, incumbents do not seem to engage in less business model experimentation than startups. Second, incumbents have adopted several new business models that are not pursued by startups. Third, startups have espoused some business models that are not pursued by incumbents. Fourth, foreign firms can also affect the ‘green’ transformation of an industry in a focal country. Finally, the identified business model archetypes are likely to be of interest to scholars and practitioners who are seeking an improved understanding of business models in the electrical power industry and the industry’s competitive landscape. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.04.003
Research in Innovation Management
Our research focuses on the impact of digital technologies on managerial practices, business models, organizations and society.
Current Research Projects

The Energy Innovation Lab at the Chair for Innovation Management supports the development and commercial exploitation of smart and sustainable business models.

This project examines how intellectual property changes in the context of self-learning systems.

This projects conducts research for the Swiss National Science Foundation on Digital Transformation.

Putting years of research about business model innovation into practice with Hansgrohe

The Chair for Innovation Management collaborates with Siemens to investigate decentralized platforms

The St.Gallen Blockchain Roundtable & The DLT Think Tank

The SCCER CREST is a Swiss national research programme contributing on different levels to the reinforcement of energy reserach in Switzerland. Interested to learn more?

88 pattern cards that help you design and implement platform business models in your company
Our Publications
Please find a selection of the most cited publications by the Chair for Innovation Management below. You can find the full publication list of Prof. Dr. Oliver Gassmann here.
Palmié, M., Boehm, J., Friedrich, J., Parida, V., Wincent, J., Kahlert, J., Gassmann, O., Sjödin, D. (2021). Startups versus incumbents in ‘green’ industry transformations: A comparative study of business model archetypes in the electrical power sector. Industrial Marketing Management. Vol. 96.
Schweitzer, F., Palmié, M., Gassmann, O., Kahlert, J. & Roeth, T. (2021). Open innovation for institutional entrepreneurship: how incumbents induce institutional change to advance autonomous driving. R&D Management.
Haefner, N., Palmié, M., & Leppänen, P. T. (2021). With(out) a little help from my friends? Reconciling incongruous findings on stakeholder management, innovation, and firm performance. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, in press.
Haefner, N., Wincent, J., Parida, V., & Gassmann, O. (2021). Artificial intelligence and innovation management: A review, framework, and research agenda. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 162(1).
Palmié, Maximilian, Boehm, Jonas, Lekkas, Charlotte-Katharina, Parida, Vinit, Wincent, Joakim, & Gassmann, Oliver: Circular business model implementation: Design choices, orchestration strategies, and transition pathways for resource-sharing solutions, Journal of Cleaner Production, 280 (2020): 124399.
Lingens, B. Miehé, L., & Gassmann, O. (2020): The Ecosystem Blueprint: How Firms Shape the Design of an Ecosystem According to the Surrounding Conditions, Long Range Planning. doi: 10.1016/j.lrp.2020.102043
Gassmann, O., Frankenberger, K., & Choudury, M. (2020). The Business Model Navigator: The strategies behind the most successful companies. 2nd Edition. FT Pearson, UK.
Neumann, L., Winterhalter, S. & Gassmann, O. (2020): Market maketh magic - consequences and implications of market choice for frugal innovation, International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 83, 55-77.
Schuhmacher, A., Gatto, A., Hinder, M., Kuss, M., & Gassmann, O. (2020): The upside of being a digital pharma player. Drug Discovery Today, (featured in Forbes, July 2020)
Gassmann, O., Böhm, J., & Palmié, M.: Smart Cities: Introducing Digital Innovation to Cities. Bingley, Uk. Emerald Publishing, 2019. ISBN: 978-1-78769-614-3.
Schuhmacher, A., Gassmann, O., Kuss, M.& Hinder, M. (2019): The art of virtualizing pharma R&D. Drug Discovery Today, 24 (11), 2105-2107.
Palmié, M., Huerzeler, P., Grichnik, D., Keupp, M. M., & Gassmann, O. (2018). Some principles are more equal than others: Promotion‐ versus prevention‐focused effectuation principles and their disparate relationships with entrepreneurial orientation. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 13(1), 93-117.
Gassmann, O., Schuhmacher, A., von Zedtwitz, M., & Reepmeyer, G.: Leading Pharmaceutical Innovation: How to win the life science race. 3rd Ed. Berlin, Springer, 2018. ISBN: 978-3-319-66832-1.
Winterhalter, S., Zeschky, M., Neumann, L., & Gassmann, O. (2017): Business Models for Frugal Innovation in Emerging Markets: The Case of the Medical Device and Laboratory Equipment Industry. Technovation, Vol. 66-67, 3-13.
Gassmann, O., & Bader, M. A.: Patentmanagement: Innovationen erfolgreich nutzen und schützen. 4. Auflage - vollständig überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Gabler, 2017. ISBN: 978-3-662-49526-1.
Palmié, M., Zeschky, M, Winterhalter, S., Sauter, P., Haefner, N., & Gassmann, O. (2016): Coordination Mechanisms for International Innovation in SMEs: Effects on Time-to-Market and R&D Task Complexity as a Moderator. Small Business Economics, 46(2), 273-294.
Schweizer, F., Rau, C., Gassmann, O., & van den Hende, E. (2015): Technologically Reflective Individuals as Enables of Social Innovation. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 32 (6), 847-860.
Palmié, M., Keupp, M. M., & Gassmann, O. (2014): Pull the right levers: Creating Internationally 'Useful' Subsidiary by Organizational Architecture. Long Range Planning, 47 (1-2), 32-48.
Keupp, M. M., & Gassmann, O. (2013): Resource constraints as triggers of radical innovation: Longitudinal evidence from the manufacturing sector. Research Policy, 42 (8), 1457-1468.
Keupp, M. M., Palmié, M., & Gassmann, O. (2012). The strategic management of innovation: A systematic review and paths for future research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 14(4), 367-390.
Gassmann, O., Zeschky, M., Wolff, T., & Stahl, M. (2010): Crossing the industry-line: Breakthrough innovation through cross-industry alliances with 'non-suppliers'. Long Range Planning, 43 (5-6), 639-654.
Gassmann, O., Enkel, E., & Chesbrough, H. (2010). The future of open innovation. R&D Management, 40(3), 213-221.
Enkel, E., Gassmann, O., & Chesbrough, H. (2009). Open R&D and open innovation: exploring the phenomenon. R&D Management, 39(4), 311-316.
Keupp, M. M., & Gassmann, O. (2009). The past and the future of international entrepreneurship: A review and suggestions for developing the field. Journal of Management, 35(3), 600-633.
Gassmann, O., & Keupp, M. M. (2007). The competitive advantage of early and rapidly internationalising SMEs in the biotechnology industry: A knowledge-based view. Journal of World Business, 42(3), 350-366.
Gassmann, O. (2006). Opening up the innovation process: Towards an agenda. R&D Management, 36(3), 223-228.
Gassmann, O., & Enkel, E. (2004). Towards a theory of open innovation: Three core process archetypes. In: R&D Management Conference (RADMA), Lissabon.
von Zedtwitz, M., & Gassmann, O. (2002). Market versus technology drive in R&D internationalization: Four different patterns of managing research and development. Research Policy, 31(4), 569-588.