Knowledge management and business model innovation: a systematic review

Abstract

Knowledge management (KM) plays a critical role in innovation, but little is known about the research of KM in business model innovation. This study seeks to address this gap by systematically reviewing KM in business model innovation studies. Following a nine-step systematic review protocol, we searched the Scopus database using the keywords ‘knowledge management’ and ‘business model’, retrieving 673 records; after abstract screening, an accessibility check, full-text assessment against explicit relevance and methodological-fit criteria, and reference snowballing, 57 papers published between 2000 and 2026 were retained for review. The findings reveal that KM is a salient driver of business model innovation from different research avenues of the KM field, e.g., KM activities, technologies, customer KM, KM and sustainability, KM in supply chain management, and intellectual capital. These six categories were derived inductively from recurring themes identified during screening of the reviewed papers. Descriptively, the reviewed studies concentrate in Asia and Europe, are dominated by case-study and conceptual designs, and span industries from manufacturing and healthcare to supply chain and financial services. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first review studies that investigates KM and business model innovation. This study comprehensively links the knowledge-based view of the firm with innovation theory to provide a KM-based business model innovation framework. We recommend entrepreneurs initiate this framework to manage their knowledge in their entrepreneurial projects to facilitate the successful development of business models.