Designing a Process for Tracking Business Model Change

The paper has adopted a design science research approach to design and verify with key stakeholders a fundamental management process of revising KPIs (key performance indicators), including those indicators that are related to business model change. The paper proposes a general guide for such process design, which is applicable in similar settings, i.e. other multi-subsidiary global firms operating in dynamic industries. The management of the focal case uses a set of KPIs to track performance and thus to allow for bringing about strategic and tactical changes, including the initiatives that may alter the business model of the firm. The decision-making process about which metrics to track affects what management’s attention is focused on during the year. The rather streamlined process outlined here is capable of facilitating swift responses to environmental changes in local markets by establishing new KPIs on an ongoing basis together with the business units on the ground, and is thus of key importance to strategic management of the firm. The paper concludes with a discussion of its methodological compliance to design science research guidelines and revisits the literature in process innovation, performance management and business model change that informed the design throughout the project.