FIGHTING THE (RIGHT) WINDMILLS: An extended view on business model innovation impediments for the energy transition

The energy industry is facing technological, societal and regulatory pressures. Business Model Innovation (BMI) is regarded as a means to withstand the challenges of the changing industry by leveraging competitive advantages stemming from novel, innovative Business Models (BM). However, BMI theory has largely been developed based on empirical data from the e-commerce and internet industries. Thus, the question arises whether BMI can reach its envisioned potential in a regulated industry such as the energy industry. By addressing the question of how BMI functions in the energy industry in light of its regulatory impediments, we uncover that BMI is hampered by different industry- and firm-level factors. Based on these results, we suggest that BMI theory should be adapted to better account for boundary conditions such as regulation and the type of the firm (incumbent vs. start-up). We contribute to practice by revealing different kinds of impediments to BMI and we contribute to BMI theory by suggesting a research agenda.