Searching for the missing link between business model and strategy: the Integrated Reporting perspective

The concept of “business model” is receiving an increasing attention by the academic literature. However, despite the growing use of the concept, a clear definition has rarely been provided, and several studies enquired its relationship with the concept of business strategy. Overall business model and strategy are usually considered separate although interconnected concepts. Starting from these considerations, this chapter aims at contributing to the debate aforementioned, focusing on the relationship between business model and strategy as presented by the Integrated Reporting Framework drafted by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). To achieve this aim, this chapter relies on the public IIRC database as the primary source of information and documents, and discusses six reports developed by six organizations belonging to the healthcare industry. The choice of this business sector relates to its peculiarities, such as the unpredictability of its outputs, the duration of its R&D plans, and the necessity of designing and implementing sustainable strategies to gain long-term competitive advantage. The six reports are analyzed adopting content analysis as the main methodological choice. Additionally the chapter analyzes and discusses the business model visual representations inserted into the six integrated reports selected for this study.