Innovation Business Model: Adoption of Blockchain Technology and Big Data Analytics

Abstract

Blockchain technology (BC) and big data analytics capability (BDAC) are two crucial emerging technologies that have attracted significant attention from businesses and academia. However, their combined effect on business model innovation (BMI), along with the moderating role of environmental uncertainty and the mediating influence of corporate entrepreneurship, remains underexplored. To fill this gap, the present study investigates the combined effects of BDAC and blockchain adoption on BMI and explores the mediating role of corporate entrepreneurship as well as the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty. Drawing on the dynamic capability view (DCV) and the related literature, this study investigates these relationships using a conceptual framework hypothesising that (1) BDAC and blockchain adoption affect BMI through corporate entrepreneurship and (2) environmental uncertainty moderates these relationships. Consistent with the main theoretical arguments, our results, based on a sample of 284 employees working in Australian firms, indicate direct and indirect impacts of both BDAC and blockchain adoption on BMI. Corporate entrepreneurship was found to play a partial mediating role in the relationship between the two technologies, while BMI and environmental uncertainty were found to be significant moderators. These findings have significant theoretical and practical implications for companies striving to innovate their BMI. The results suggest that the synergistic effects of BDAC and blockchain technologies together create entrepreneurial activities and strategies to generate value, thus enabling BMI. Furthermore, the mediating role of corporate entrepreneurship and the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty have important theoretical implications for innovative BMI and management. As such, this study highlights the potential of BDAC and blockchain technologies to drive sustainable business practices, offering insights into how these technologies can contribute to economic, social, and environmental sustainability through innovative business models.