Beyond the Business Model Canvas Universe

Abstract

The business model canvas (BMC) has become the leading way to visualize business models and an omnipresent global language in management practice and education. This chapter draws on critical entrepreneurship research and applies semiotics to conduct an analysis of the BMC language and to explore what entrepreneurship narratives unfold in the BMC. The analysis shows that the BMC language (re)emphasizes an established view of business models with an underlying planning perspective and an individualistic understanding of the (male) entrepreneur in a traditional business context. In addition, the BMC language stresses a non-critical, bright side of entrepreneurship where value is transmitted from entrepreneurs to waiting customers. The suggested semiotic method and the presented analysis of the BMC can be used by mangers and educators to reflect on what the BMC universe offers in terms of, for example, disruptive and digital perspectives, and thus the consequences for logics in new business models.