Most research on business models lies in the literature on strategy and competitive advantage and focuses on their role as descriptors of actual phenomenon, often by reference to taxonomic categories. In this article, we explore how business models can be seen as a set of cognitive configurations that can be manipulable in the minds of managers (and academics). By proposing a typology of business models that emphasizes the connecting of traditional value chain descriptors with how customers are identified and satisfied, and how the firm monetizes its value, we explore how business model configurations can extend current work on cognitive categorization and open up new possibilities for organization research.

This article builds on the analogy between the business model concept and a recipe to discuss the concept of a business model portfolio (which we analogise as a dinner). In this context, we view analogies as concise, shorthand ways to describe important concepts and propose principles to organise new ways to make money in existing activities. Considering the different business models of four European biotechnology companies, we explore the their business model portfolios, defined as the range of different ways they deliver value to their customers to ensure both their medium term viability and future development. A firm's portfolio can help balance the levels of promise and interdependency with other firms of its different business models, and help it articulate and finance its activities in the medium run to ensure idiosyncrasy to protect its future health.

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We explore how an incumbent firm's internal knowledge and organization structure influences its strategic alliance formation. We propose that the firm's knowledge breadth and the centrality of its R&D organization structure positively influence its absorptive capacity, and consequently, its propensity to form strategic alliances. We also argue that the centrality of the R&D organization structure may be a substitute for the breadth of the knowledge base. We validate our ideas using data on 2 647 strategic alliances formed over the period of 1993 to 2002 by 43 major biopharmaceutical firms in the U.S. and Europe. Discussion focuses on the application of the knowledge-based view of the firm to strategic alliance research. The implications for public policy in the biopharmaceutical industry are also emphasized.