TMT transactive memory system and business model design: the moderating effect of strategic orientation

Purpose Top management team (TMT) serves as the critical designer of a firm’s business model, whose cognition exerts key influence on business model design (BMD). Drawing insights from the managerial cognition and knowledge-based views, this paper aims to examine the effect of TMT transactive memory system on BMD and investigate how the relationship between TMT transactive memory system and BMD is contingent upon the firm’s strategic orientation. Design/methodology/approach Survey data collected from 210 Chinese firms was used to test the research hypotheses through multivariate regression analysis. Findings This paper reveals that TMT transactive memory system facilitates novelty- and efficiency-centered BMD. Furthermore, both differentiation orientation and cost leadership orientation can strengthen the effect of TMT transactive memory system on novelty-centered BMD; the impact of TMT transactive memory system on efficiency-centered BMD is weakened by differentiation orientation but strengthened by cost leadership orientation. Originality/value This paper adds to the business model literature by unraveling the effect of TMT transactive memory system on BMD, which not only enriches the internal cognitive antecedents of BMD but also provides an in-depth understanding of how TMTs can use their knowledge structure to proactively design a certain business model. Moreover, this paper also offers insights into how TMTs can better use transactive memory system to design business models according to the specific strategic orientation.