Changing industrial trajectories through business model innovation: a case study of the oil and gas industry in Norway

Abstract

The oil and gas industry is expected to develop and restructure into a sustainable energy industry. This in-depth case study investigates how business model innovation can contribute to industrial restructuring. Our findings imply that, while there is no ‘one size fits all’ business model, most oil and gas companies will need to innovate their customer segments, value propositions, key resources, key partners and cost structures to succeed. The oil and gas industry landscape significantly influences the need for adapting the business model to changing market forces, industry forces, key trends, and macroeconomic forces pushing for sustainable change, the emergence of new technologies and markets, and changes in market conditions. Our findings demonstrate that the need for change differs from the willingness to change. The production companies’ willingness to change is currently low as production is still highly profitable, while the supplier companies’ willingness is high because it is not profitable to expand. Oil and gas companies will face several internal barriers in the process, including challenges with the dominant logic of the company, deficient managerial knowledge, the uncertainty and complexity of new business models and limited business model routines or processes.