Extreme luxury fashion: business model and internationalization process

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Guercini ◽  
Matilde Milanesi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the defining characteristics of the extreme luxury fashion business model (ELFBM) and the relationship between this business model and the process of firm internationalization. The paper examines the potentially positive outcomes of differences and distances in the internationalization process of extreme luxury fashion companies. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents and discusses the data collected during a five-year case analysis of an Italian luxury company. The main characteristics of the business model are identified in terms of products, manufacturing and sourcing, distribution channels, marketing communications and overall characteristics of consumers. The internationalization process is described, with a focus on the Russian market as an emblematic case, highlighting the role of distances – geographic, psychic and cultural – and liabilities, namely foreignness and outsidership in the international expansion of the firm. Findings The findings of this paper highlight the main features and specific traits of the ELFBM characterized by a global and unique approach to the offer. This business model has in its origin the demand from certain foreign markets, and the elements of the country of origin of the firms coexist and are enhanced by the presence of specific characteristics of the destination countries in terms of niche consumers with economic and cultural characteristics and a strong perception of “Made in” and luxury goods. Originality/value The paper contributes to previous studies on the relationships between business models and internationalization. It provides a framework for the “ELFBM,” in which internationalization is a constitutive element of a specific business model rather than a strategy for a business model already defined. Examining the positive side of differences and distances in the internationalization process of firms adopting such business model, the paper contributes to the international business theory and practice. It also expands research on luxury fashion defining an international company which is under-investigated, the extreme luxury fashion company, and the elements that constitute its business model.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phuc Hong Huynh

PurposeDigital innovation and circular business model innovation are two critical enablers of a circular economy. A wide variety of digital technologies such as blockchain, 3D printing, cyber-physical systems, or big data also diverges the applications of digital technologies in circular business models. Given heterogeneous attributes of circular business models and digital technologies, the selections of digital technologies and circular business models might be highly distinctive within and between sectorial contexts. This paper examines digital circular business models in the context of the fashion industry and its multiple actors. This industry as the world’s second polluting industry requires an urgent circular economy (CE) transition with less resource consumption, lower waste emissions and a more stable economy.Design/methodology/approachAn inductive, exploratory multiple-case study method is employed to investigate the ten cases of different sized fashion companies (i.e. large, small medium-sized firm (SME) and startup firms). The comparison across cases is conducted to understand fashion firms' distinct behaviours in adopting various digital circular economy strategies.FindingsThe paper presents three archetypes of digital-based circular business models in the fashion industry: the blockchain-based supply chain model, the service-based model and the pull demand-driven model. Besides incremental innovations, the radical business model and digital innovations as presented in the pull demand-driven model may be crucial to the fashion circular economy transition. The pull demand–driven model may shift the economy from scales to scopes, change the whole process of how the fashion items are forecasted, produced, and used, and reform consumer behaviours. The paths of adopting digital fashion circular business models are also different among large, SMEs and startup fashion firms.Practical implicationsThe study provides business managers with empirical insights on how circular business models (CBMs) should be chosen according to intrinsic business capacities, technological competences and CE strategies. The emerging trends of new fashion markets (e.g. rental, subscription) and consumers' sustainable awareness should be not be neglected. Moreover, besides adopting recycling and reuse strategies, large fashion incumbents consider collaborating with other technology suppliers and startup companies to incubate more radical innovations.Social implicationsAppropriate policies and regulations should be enacted to enable the digital CE transition. Market patterns and consumer acceptances are considered highly challenging to these digital fashion models. A balanced policy on both the demand and supply sides are suggested. The one-side policy may fail CBMs that entail an upside-down collaboration of both producers and consumers. Moreover, it is perhaps time to rethink how to reduce unnecessary new demand rather than repeatedly producing and recycling.Originality/valueThe pace of CE research is lagging far behind the accelerating environmental contamination by the fashion industry. The study aims to narrow the gap between theory and practice to harmonise fashion firms' orchestration and accelerate the transition of the fashion industry towards the CE. This study examines diverse types of digital technologies in different circular business models in a homogeneous context of the fashion industry with heterogeneous firm types.


Author(s):  
Oleksiy Osiyevskyy ◽  
Milena Troshkova ◽  
Yongjian Bao

A firm's business model is an essential mechanism determining how an organization creates value for its stakeholders and captures part of the created value as profit for its owners. Global enterprises secure their market positions through properly functioning business models that are globally scalable. Once a globally scalable business model is successfully designed and validated in one location, it becomes a non-location-bound firm-specific advantage, promoting the firm's international expansion. This chapter addresses the following research questions: (1) What is the role of a business model in the success of global enterprises? (2) Which common attributes do business models of successful global companies possess? and (3) How to make a business model more suitable for global expansion? The theoretical analysis of these questions yields a conceptual framework for examining the global companies through the business model lens. The developed conceptual framework is illustrated and corroborated with the mini-cases of global companies.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Basile ◽  
Rosario Faraci

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present some evidence on the role of management models in the implementation or in the transformation of the business models, highlighting the pivotal role of managerial dynamic capabilities. The analysis provides relevant lines of managerial action both strategic and operational levels. Design/methodology/approach – An innovative conceptual analysis is proposed. Managerial dynamic capabilities play a central role in the coupled link between management model and business model at the organizational level. Findings – The authors propose a highly usable and generalizable conceptual model for management practices, strategic planning and operational assessment. Originality/value – This paper investigates a new emerging research stream of management innovation theory. The research presents a new and innovative conceptual analysis of management model and business model alignment. This theme has not been explored in prior researches and represents an experiment to pair the management model and the business model evidence.


2020 ◽  
pp. 203-223
Author(s):  
Oleksiy Osiyevskyy ◽  
Milena Troshkova ◽  
Yongjian Bao

A firm's business model is an essential mechanism determining how an organization creates value for its stakeholders and captures part of the created value as profit for its owners. Global enterprises secure their market positions through properly functioning business models that are globally scalable. Once a globally scalable business model is successfully designed and validated in one location, it becomes a non-location-bound firm-specific advantage, promoting the firm's international expansion. This chapter addresses the following research questions: (1) What is the role of a business model in the success of global enterprises? (2) Which common attributes do business models of successful global companies possess? and (3) How to make a business model more suitable for global expansion? The theoretical analysis of these questions yields a conceptual framework for examining the global companies through the business model lens. The developed conceptual framework is illustrated and corroborated with the mini-cases of global companies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 556-572
Author(s):  
Shiva Ebneyamini ◽  
Reza Bandarian

Purpose Technology is named as the most important element of creating the competitive edge in today’s turbulent environment and a key factor of survival in technology-intensive industries. Oil and gas industry is one of the most important, complex, and technology-driven amongst the global industries. “The purpose of this study is to highlight the role of the technology in the the global oil game and argue that in order to survive and maintain the competitive advantage, players need to follow technological advancements closely and consider technology as the critical factor in their business models.” Thus, the aim is to answer the question: does technology have an impact on the business model innovation in the oil and gas industry? Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors conduct an in-depth review of previous studies of oil and gas industry, main players, the role and evolution of technology in each player’s business model and present future challenges and trends of the industry. Findings Theoretically, the results of shows that the relation between the technology and business model in oil and gas industry is defined as a two way interaction which is in line with the theory presented by Baden–Fuller and Haefliger (2013); thus it helps the robustness of the theory as well. We argue that technology gained a “game changer” status in the oil and gas industry, beside all the fundamental premises on which business model is built on, having technology seems to be the key element of survival and the ability to develop in-house or have access to the latest ones in the right time can help the market share, revenue and leadership status. this key element can reinforce other pillars of powers in the oil and gas industry. Originality/value Most of the research in the oil and gas industry are practical, focusing on a specific technology, clean energy issues, regulations, and policies, etc. There exist few studies that present the theoretical issues in the industry or test the theories to see if this important industry falls within them or not. As follows, this study is about to address this gap and observe the dynamics in the oil and gas industry with an academic lens.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maicon Gouvêa de Oliveira ◽  
Glauco Henrique de Sousa Mendes ◽  
Andrei Aparecido de Albuquerque ◽  
Henrique Rozenfeld

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify the elements of the product-service system (PSS) business model of a Brazilian company that has been running it for almost 50 years. It describes the PSS business model and gives special attention to the financial aspects of PSS implementation and to contingent factors of this emerging country. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a single case study. Data have been collected through interviews and document analysis. Results and implications are obtained using Canvas framework to structure information and comparison between theory and practice. Findings Results described in this paper show that the PSS design and implementation can be strongly influenced by financial and contingent factors. This case indicates that the implementation of PSS business models can follow diverse paths and configurations to fit with companies’ organizational features, local regulations and economic factors, including mixed transactional models and less demanding financial assessments. Originality/value This paper provides a roadmap of lessons learned from a multinational manufacturer that has been following the PSS business model for almost 50 years. This paper offers key insights concerning financial aspects and contingency factors that might influence servitization adoption.


IMP Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 398-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella La Rocca ◽  
Ivan Snehota

Purpose The expanding body of research on business models generally assumes that firms operate in a “transactional” context. Several recent studies suggest that the concept of business models in contexts where relationships matter, such as business markets, involves issues that the transactional microeconomic perspective is ill suited to capture. In the expanding literature on business models, the role of context in how business models emerge and evolve is a topic that appears under researched. The purpose of this paper is to review the findings of these studies and explore how “relational context” affects the emergence and evolution of business models. Design/methodology/approach The authors review the literature on business models in business markets where high-involvement relationships with customers and suppliers are common, and report a case to illustrate the critical issues involved. Findings The authors find that context where high-involvement relationships are common implies that business models are relationship specific and tend to be different across key relationships of a business; the involvement of others limits the autonomy of a single business in developing its business model; business models are continuously emergent and transient. Originality/value This study is among the few that examine the emergence and evolution of business model in business network in a longitudinal perspective. The value of the study also lies in the implications of the relationship-centric business model for management practice and research.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Poul Houman Andersen

Subject area Development of business models, base of the pyramid (BoP) markets. Study level/applicability This study can be used at Bachelor as well as on Master's level courses to reflect activities and practices within corporate sustainability, base of the pyramid and international expansion of MNEs. Case overview This is a case study of Grundfos LIFELINK's development process, relating to the successful development of a business model for serving base of the pyramid (BoP) markets for potable water. Grundfos LIFELINK is a turnkey water solution that encompasses a solar-driven pump facility, a GPS-based monitoring system, and charges based on digital payments of water credits. Together, they represent the business model of Grundfos LIFELINK. At the same time the modules represent a business architecture that can be mixed and matched to match the skills and ensure the adaptive involvement of local partners in BoP markets. Since its cautious start in 2009, Grundfos has successfully expanded its operations to 30 villages in Kenya and LIFELINK systems will operate in 70 villages in Kenya within the next two years. Expected learning outcomes In an international business/international management context, especially the first and the last part of the case could be used as a showcase of the current transformation efforts multinational companies (MNCs) in the developed world are pursuing. Pressured by the cost advantages of Dragon multinationals from Asia, India and Brazil, MNCs search for new ways to provide value and at the same time utilize their existing knowledge. The Grundfos LIFELINK case shows some of the important consequences and challenges that multinational organizations are facing, once such business models needs to be integrated in the current MNC activities. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-28
Author(s):  
Robert J. Allio

Purpose The article guides the process for each aspiring leader to develop his or her own unique approach to leading. Design/methodology/approach Executives and managers can deepen theirunderstanding of leadership by mining three sources: the burgeoning archives of contemporary leadership theory and practice, case histories of leaders and leadership and the classic writings of literature, history and philosophy. Findings More managers must learn to be leaders, and the best way to make it happen is to avoid the clichés, the leadership training marketing hype, the platitudes and the pseudo-scholarly research and take charge of your own leadership journey. Practical implications The core of the do-it-yourself approach is to learn to lead by doing. Mastering the role of a leader is a challenge that, like mastering any craft, requires continual practice. Originality/value The article is an antidote to leadership training marketing hype. Instead of buying dubious advice, potential leaders can seize the opportunity to be creative, to discover a personal approach to leading that fits the time and place and is compatible with their own persona, values and beliefs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 520-541
Author(s):  
Varvara A. Dyshko ◽  
◽  
Olga A. Klochko ◽  

The purpose of this paper is to explore the specifics of the internationalization process of carsharing companies as the largest players in the new sector of a sharing economy. The comparative analysis of the internationalization process of carsharing companies in European countries was conducted from four directions: the intensity of car use, the way to enter foreign markets, internationalization rate, and the choice of locations within a country for doing business. Carsharing companies with B2C and P2P business models pursue various strategies to penetrate foreign markets. B2C companies lead the internationalization process; in most cases they are large European automotive corporations or car rental companies. When entering the same foreign market, companies with a P2P business model cover more cities in a country than B2C firms. Also, over the internationalization period carsharing companies with a B2C business model enter the markets of more countries than P2P companies. The latter primarily enter the markets of neighboring countries, while the former internationalize in the largest markets. The further global expansion of carsharing is determined by several contradicting factors. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, most scholars had predicted a growing popularity of carsharing services. The use of electric vehicles and automated guided vehicles within the framework of carsharing sparked the main growth impacts. However, the coronavirus pandemic poses a threat to the development of sharing economy. Reinforcement of safety requirements as to minimize personal contacts and consumer interactions along with the aspiration of states to reduce their level of involvement in global processes can lead to the transformation of the process and internationalization strategies.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document