A framework for the alignment of business model and business processes

Purpose The creation of a service is enabled by a “strategic‐level” business model (BM), while the implementation or execution of the service is described by “operational‐level” business processes (BPs). In many innovation projects, especially trans‐sector projects, a lack of alignment between the strategic “what to do” and the operational “how to do it” is often a severe obstacle undermining BM viability and feasibility. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework that identifies the generic horizontal and vertical inter‐organizational and intra‐organizational interaction components to bridge BM with underlying BPs, with the aim of improving the alignment between the two levels. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper identifies a theoretical gap between strategic BM and operational BPs. Building on existing literature the authors synthesize various theoretical concepts to create a generic framework to analyze the theoretical gap. Findings The proposed conceptual framework is useful in innovation projects, especially in complex scaled‐up trans‐sector innovation projects, where numerous BPs stemming from multiple actors from diverse industries should support a collective BM. This framework can be used as an analytical basis for further research into BM/BP alignment. Practical implications There are many BM theories and concepts, and BP ontologies available. The proposed alignment framework can be used to bridge the gap between the BM theories and concepts such as BMO Canvas and BP tools and ontology's (e.g. ARIS, ArchiMate or BPMN). Originality/value Through a novel integration of a number of relevant theoretical concepts, a generic conceptual BM/BPs alignment framework is proposed and the practical implications and applications of the proposed framework are presented.