Shifting from an analytical paradigm to a systems paradigm: A fundamentally systemic approach of the business model concept to tackling complexity

Abstract

We are witnessing increasing complexity of the business world and a need for business renewal. However, our common way of thinking, based on analytical thinking and its guiding principles—determinism, reductionism, and disjunction—has limitations in regard to tackling these challenges. In line with this analytical approach, the current literature is confronted with many issues, including three major ones: the vagueness of the notion of ‘value creation’, the lack of consensus on the components, and the questioning of the scope and level of analysis. Thus, the present manuscript proposes a systemic approach to the business model. After presenting the main principles of systems thinking—teleological, interdependence, and holistic principles—we present directions for conceptualizing the business model concept to present avenues of development, thereby overcoming inherent limits of the concept and renewing the approach to face complexity.