Innovating for impact: Harnessing business model innovation to tackle grand challenges

Research Summary This Special Section of the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal explores how business model innovation (BMI) can address grand challenges (GCs), including artificial intelligence (AI), business and global unrest, and climate change through a proposed "ABC" classification and "BMI-GC" concept. Highlighting BMI's role as a boundary-spanning, collaborative approach to innovation, we demonstrate its potential to drive sustainable solutions by rethinking value creation, delivery, and capture mechanisms. We examine how BMI may foster resilience and help firms and organizations adapt to global volatility, integrate ethical AI, and advance sustainability in business ecosystems. We offer a roadmap for future inquiry into BMI-GC, including measurement and assessment, digital transformation, and collaborative ecosystems. By embracing these research pathways, scholars can contribute to a deeper theoretical and practical understanding of BMI to address grand challenges. Managerial Summary We investigate how business model innovation (BMI) can help tackle pressing global challenges (GCs), including artificial intelligence (AI), business and global unrest, and climate change, captured in a proposed "ABC" classification and "BMI-GC" concept. We illustrate how BMI can help firms and organizations create sustainable, resilient, and future-proof solutions. Practical strategies include integrating ethical AI, embedding flexibility in business models to withstand volatility, and adopting sustainable practices that align with regulatory and market demands supported by BMI. The paper identifies key opportunities for businesses to rethink how they create and deliver value, and foster collaboration across ecosystems. Through the ABC classification and BMI-GC concept, we show how BMI can help enhance competitive advantage while responding proactively to the complexities of a rapidly changing world.