The Shift from Owning to Sharing – how SMEs advance their business model in the B2B sharing economy

Abstract

The sharing economy has witnessed tremendous growth, with much focus on sharing transactions between consumers. However, the potentials of sharing between businesses have been poorly researched so far. While some rationales for sharing between businesses along with obstacles that inhibit such sharing transactions have been researched, it remains unclear, how businesses manage the shift from ownership to sharing. This research therefore aimed to determine what managerial actions are required for SMEs to advance their business model to shift from owning to sharing. It addresses the neglected issue of B2B sharing, exhibiting potentials for new business models and increased sustainability.

To understand the managerial actions along a shift from owning to sharing, this research firstly aims to document the transformation of a company’s business model from a state of ownership to a state of sharing by comparing its business model before and after several sharing transactions. Secondly, the type of managerial action needs to be understood; what are managers doing along several iterations of sharing transactions to enable their organisation, systems, and people to shift from a state of ownership to a state of sharing for which semi-structured interviews were conducted with participating managers after each sharing transaction. And finally, the timing of managerial action, i.e. a roadmap of this transformation, needs to be recorded using time-stamped, unstructured data from exchanges in meetings and e-mails between companies participating in the sharing transactions.

As a result, a process of transformation of a company’s business model was jointly developed and recorded, through an action-research-based project, collaborating with managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based in Switzerland. To enable their company’s shift from ownership of resources to a sharing-enabled business model, managers proceeded along three distinct phases: (1) strategically identifying suitable resources and partners; (2) designing and implementing processes and technical infrastructure on a tactical level; (3) developing their organisation towards integration of sharing in their daily operations. And while many challenges remain to the sharing of resources between businesses, this research clarifies the role of managers in transforming their business model towards the sharing economy and offers tangible recommendations on the activities and competencies needed. The findings enable managers to pragmatically transform their companies’ business models towards participation in the sharing economy. With strong benefits on sustainability and a significant untapped potential in the use of existing resources, this research offers a tangible perspective for more SMEs to participate in and benefit from the sharing economy.

Since transformational issues present an ever more frequent challenge and opportunity in applied business management research, the employed action research methodology – through its iterative nature – sheds light on similarly evolving roles and actions of managers along the timeline of other transformational processes in business management.

-