Managing the risky matter of business model innovation in the context of the airline industry

Global players habitually put forward resources aiming at worldwide exchanges (e.g., advances in technology, telecommunications and transportation) to commercialise products, services, processes or business models. Looking at dynamic business environments, we often observe that the development of innovative business models, alone, does not always promise improvements in overall productivity and operational efficiency. Organisations strive to create economic value for all interested parties through the inherent value of an innovative concept, which can be commercialised. Such concepts are often linked to sales revenues and company profitability and may also secure organisational access to new business niches. However, the launching of a business model could be a risky matter for corporations. To address this issue we propose a conceptual framework that views threats related to imitation from competitors, and the short life cycle of products, services or processes, as variables of the best risk function of business model innovation using the airline industry as the context of the study.