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Purpose-The purpose of this paper is twofold: to connect strategic agility and business model (BM) innovation, and to explore how capabilities underlying strategic agility fit the SME context. Design/methodology/approach-Qualitative in approach, the paper develops a longitudinal, in-depth, single case study focussing on how BM renewal occurs in the dynamic and increasingly important sector of temporary work agencies. Findings-The findings suggest a partial fit of the existing strategic agility framework for SMEs. Two of the proposed meta-capabilities (leadership unity and resource fluidity) seem inherent to SMEs because they apply easily to this context, although they need to be downscaled. One meta-capability (strategic sensitivity) is less natural and therefore more critical for an SME. An additional meta-capability (resourcefulness) arises as very important for SMEs to be able to overcome some of their size-caused limitations. Research limitations/implications-The contribution is limited by using a single case study from a specific sector and should be considered as exploratory and theory-grounding research in the field of SMEs' strategic agility and BM renewal. Originality/value-The originality of this paper is that it looks at the SME context in an industry with intensive change and dynamism, which is ideal for illustrating the objective. The authors contribute a model of strategic agility for SMEs.

This study contributes to the literature on inbound open innovation in three ways. Firstly, it verifies the suitability of three groups of innovation activities (external information sources, cooperation, and acquisition of machinery, knowledge or R&D) as indicators of open innovation, by modelling their relationship with the openness of the development of new products. Secondly, it relates these activities to three non-financial product-oriented outcomes of SMEs: quality, product range, and market share. When significant, the signs of the relationships are always positive. Thirdly, it is the first to link two streams of the literature on innovation within SMEs: open innovation and entry-timing. We distinguish between pioneers (the first to introduce innovations onto the market) and followers and find that most open innovation activities relate to the pioneering behaviour. This should be taken into consideration when designing public policies supporting innovation. Data include Spanish innovative SMEs from the Community Innovation Survey.

Purpose The car no longer serves simply as a means of transport but is at the core of a new concept of mobility. Car manufacturers are seizing opportunities to change the traditional business model of the auto business. Innovation in this business model has become vital to survival in today’s dynamic market conditions. This paper aims to find out what factors motivate and drive business model change and what the resulting business model innovation is. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study is based on a single case, namely, BMW as an illustrative example of an advanced, highly innovative customer-centric service business model (BM). The study adopts a document analysis method to reveal the firm’s BMI process. Findings First, the study presents a conceptual framework for business model change with the factors –motivators and drivers – that impact on the process of change. BMW’s BMI and its impacting factors are discussed based on this model. The McKinsey 7 s Model framework, the elements of which are strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills is used as an analytical tool to discuss new business model implementation. The study highlights the BM configuration of a traditional car manufacturer, the car as a product and the new car as a service concept. Originality/value This study reveals the BMI of BMW’s digital services and its key motivators and drivers. BMW mostly innovates in three key dimensions of the Business model. These are value creation, value delivery and value capture. Most of the elements in these dimensions are innovated.

This study contributes to the current literature on open innovation by analysing the effects of open innovation activities on the introduction of new-to-the-world innovations versus imitation. We base our analysis on data provided by the Eurostat Community Innovation Survey (CIS) carried out in Germany in 2012, which for the first time made a distinction between world–first innovation and imitation. We use both logit models and CHAID trees. The results of both analyses show that traditional in-house innovation and patents continue to make the largest contribution to world-first innovation in the so-called open-innovation era, while some specific open innovation activities contribute to a lesser extent: cooperation with customers, information from universities, cooperation with suppliers, and acquisition of machinery. Thus, promoting open innovation can be advantageous not only for imitative innovation but also for introducing world-first innovations. The European Commission should continue to include open innovation policies in its agendaAcknowledgements are due to Eurostat for providing us with the Community Innovation Survey microdata. Authors have all responsibility for the results obtained. The first author was supported by the University of Girona grant (BR-UdG). The second author was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivenessgrant ECO2013-46954-C3-3-R, by the Catalan Autonomous Government grant 2014SGR868, and by the University of Girona grant MPCUdG2016/093. The third author was supported by the Catalan Autonomous Government grant 2014SGR551, by the Spanish Health Ministry grant CB06/02/1002, by the Spanish Economy and Competitiveness Ministry grant MTM2015-65016-C2-1-R, and by the University of Girona grant MPCUdG2016/06