What is Business Development? – Possible Ways Forward in Theory Building, Methods and Future Research
(R2020-84719)

AUTHORS

Jonas Steffl, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar; Jutta Emes, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

KEYWORDS

business development; corporate growth; marketing research

ABSTRACT

More and more companies have established business development units in their organization. Still, little is known about what actually characterizes business development. The aim of this study is to explore the scope and nature of business development and thus propose a uniform understanding and definition as well as possible advancements in theory building, methods and suggestions for future research. Therefore, based on a mixed-method content-analysis approach, we conduct a systematic literature review with a dataset of 36 research publications. Our insights indicate seven main topics describing, structuring and defining the scope and status quo of business development in academia.