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How Business Models Evolve in Weak Institutional Environments: the case of Jumia, the Amazon.com of Africa

How Business Models Evolve in Weak Institutional Environments: the case of Jumia, the Amazon.com of Africa
How Business Models Evolve in Weak Institutional Environments: the case of Jumia, the Amazon.com of Africa
We advance research on the antecedents of business model design by integrating institutional and imitation theories to explore how the business model of new ventures evolves in a weak institutional environment. Based on a case study of Jumia—an online retailing company in Africa established with the aim to emulate the success of Amazon.com—we propose a process model entitled “imitate-but-modify” that explains how business models evolve through four distinct phases (i.e., clarification, legitimacy, localization, and consolidation). In essence, this model explains how new ventures surrounded by considerable uncertainty deliberately seek to learn vicariously by imitating the business model template of successful firms. However, because of significant institutional voids, the ventures’ intentional imitation is progressively replaced by experiential learning that blends business model imitation with innovation.
Africa, Business models, Imitation, Innovation, Institutional voids
431-463
Peprah, Augustine Awuah
bae898c9-95d3-4010-966a-f06785f645fb
Giachetti, Claudio
a3a1a1ea-92c6-42b5-a44d-3d66789b8372
Larsen, Marcus M
b63864cc-3bb0-40c0-9799-170eb9b0a024
Rajwani, Tazeeb S
28a5ff0a-a80f-48a9-b655-0970c9abb8c2
Peprah, Augustine Awuah
bae898c9-95d3-4010-966a-f06785f645fb
Giachetti, Claudio
a3a1a1ea-92c6-42b5-a44d-3d66789b8372
Larsen, Marcus M
b63864cc-3bb0-40c0-9799-170eb9b0a024
Rajwani, Tazeeb S
28a5ff0a-a80f-48a9-b655-0970c9abb8c2

Peprah, Augustine Awuah, Giachetti, Claudio, Larsen, Marcus M and Rajwani, Tazeeb S (2022) How Business Models Evolve in Weak Institutional Environments: the case of Jumia, the Amazon.com of Africa. Organization Science, 33 (1), 431-463. (doi:10.1287/orsc.2021.1444).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We advance research on the antecedents of business model design by integrating institutional and imitation theories to explore how the business model of new ventures evolves in a weak institutional environment. Based on a case study of Jumia—an online retailing company in Africa established with the aim to emulate the success of Amazon.com—we propose a process model entitled “imitate-but-modify” that explains how business models evolve through four distinct phases (i.e., clarification, legitimacy, localization, and consolidation). In essence, this model explains how new ventures surrounded by considerable uncertainty deliberately seek to learn vicariously by imitating the business model template of successful firms. However, because of significant institutional voids, the ventures’ intentional imitation is progressively replaced by experiential learning that blends business model imitation with innovation.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 2 April 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 2 April 2022
Published date: 2 April 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: Funding: M. M. Larsen has received funding by the Carlsberg Foundation under the grant “The firm in the informal economy” [Grant CF17-0384]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.1444
Keywords: Africa, Business models, Imitation, Innovation, Institutional voids

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 469463
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/469463
PURE UUID: e2a9aad5-1ef9-46a8-9ac1-f5e09d6e491b
ORCID for Augustine Awuah Peprah: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6497-9161

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Sep 2022 16:33
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:14

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Contributors

Author: Augustine Awuah Peprah ORCID iD
Author: Claudio Giachetti
Author: Marcus M Larsen
Author: Tazeeb S Rajwani

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