The business model and its impact on job creation

Abstract This paper aims to analyse empirically the relationship between the application of the key elements of the business model and the evolution of employment during the Great Recession. a period of enormous economic criticality due to the financial crisis around 2008. The analysis is based on data from 75 manufacturing companies across seven different business sectors in the Corredor del Henares (near Madrid), one of Europe’s fastest-growing business areas in recent decades due to its location, infrastructure, communications network, and human resources. A model with latent variables is estimated using the Structural Equation Modelling with Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) method. The independent variables are the key elements of the business model as assessed by the companies’ top managers and the evolution of their sales; the dependent variable is their employment performance. The key elements of the business model are taken to be those proposed by Orea et al. (Contemp Econ 12(4):497–518, 2018, https://doi.org/10.5709/ce.1897-9254.293 ), as follows. Its central foundation is the value proposition and its adaptability; it is formed by customer and talent management; its key concerns are financial sustainability and infrastructure, which includes key partners and technology, safety and transparency. The business model underpins the success of the whole company: it is directly connected to business performance and, therefore, to employment generation. The analysis of the data confirms the positive impact of the business model on job creation and, specifically, that the value proposition positively impacts employment through talent, leadership and technology. Talent, oriented towards the customer and performance throughout the entire customer relationship process, is integrated into the management of the business, incorporating key partners and suppliers, leadership and technology. When the value proposition is well-defined and known to the entire workforce, it facilitates its own transformation, when necessary, in response to all new situations. There have been no other multi-sectorial studies of this kind in the field, and therefore, the conclusions provide new, generalizable and relevant information for research and business practice.