Disciplined imaging: Learning business model innovation and internationalization through sociocognitive innovation and the blank business model canvas

In today’s fast-paced, interconnected, and unpredictable business environment, innovation is not merely an option but a necessity. Firms face continuous pressures from macro-level forces—globalization, digital transformation, climate change, regulatory shifts, and geopolitical issues—and micro-level dynamics—customer demands, competitive pressures, rapid product and service innovation. To navigate this complexity, business models must not only capture a company's current approaches to value creation, delivery, and capture, but also embody flexibility, creativity, and imagination to adapt and shape the future. internationalization. As scholars, experts, and critical evaluators of business model frameworks, we must approach theory development with both creativity and rigorous scrutiny. Weick (1989) aptly captures this balance, stating, “Theory construction is a process of disciplined imagination.” This perspective underscores the necessity of combining innovation with structured evaluation to advance theoretical understanding. In this context, the BMC holds significance as a Middle-Range Theory, bridging grand theories and empirical observations. Middle-range theories, as Weick emphasizes, play a crucial role in making theory construction more manageable by linking abstract, overarching principles to real-world applications. A critical evaluation of the BMC’s theoretical contribution is essential to understanding its role in advancing business model research and practice—particularly within international business and entrepreneurship. The Business Model Canvas (BMC), introduced by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010), has become a foundational tool for entrepreneurs, established businesses, and experts—such as consultants, teachers, and lecturers—shaping how we learn, teach, and apply business models in practice. With its nine structured building blocks, it offers a clear, visual way to articulate a business model and has established itself as a global language for business modeling (Huang-Saad et al., 2016; Nybye & Ellborg, 2023). However, business environments are not static; they are shaped by the actions and interpretations of key actors (Weick, 1995), making them inherently uncertain and increasingly ambiguous. Yet, meaning emerges through cognition and structured actions (Weick et al., 2005). This calls for a rethinking or reimaging of how we approach business model innovation (BMI) and This article aims for two key contributions: 1) highlighting the value of a sensemaking perspective for business model research, particularly in the contexts of innovation and internationalization, and 2) proposing an alternative framework to the dominant language, logic and structure of the BMC by applying Weickian theories of sensemaking and mindful organizing as socio-cognitive innovation.