Research

The topic of my PhD research: “Market disruption and Rapid changes fuelling sustainable business model innovation in the Hospitality Field”

Radical changes in the business environment (COVID-19, war in Ukraine) have forced also Finnish companies to face a totally new disruption that is far more complicated and bears even longer-lasting and more radical effects than the previous major crises, such as the financial crisis. To survive, firms have had to come up with agile solutions to modify their business models and offering according to external factors. Strategic choices in business modeling have a critical influence on firm’s success or failure even on the long-term prospects of the companies.

Gursoy and Chi (2020*) stated COVID-19 to present great research opportunities for hospitality scholars. They also highlighted that it is critical to generate new knowledge that can provide insight to the industry about how to transform their operations. According to Foss and Saebi (2015**) not all firms succeed in adapting their business model to new market demands or competitive threats. Attaining alignment with the environment is the main motivation of business model adaptation. Kaplan (2012***) stated business model innovation to become a new strategic imperative for all organization leaders.

Research gap and aim

There is an identified research gap in rapid changes implications to business model innovation within Hospitality Field in Finland and globally. The Aim of this research is to grow service firms’ competitive advantage capabilities by creating new insight on successful business model innovation practices when rapid changes occur. As a result, the research outcome will be of direct benefit to managers in Finnish Hospitality Field firms. The research will focus on two subfields within Hospitality Field: Hotels and Events but is not limited to those, as the business ecosystem as a whole in Hospitality Field needs to be examined as relations between different operators are also relevant to this research topic.


References

* Gursoy, D & Chi, G. 2020. Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on hospitality industry: review of the current situations and a research agenda. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, Vol. 29, No. 5, pp527-529

** Foss, N. J. & Saebi, T. 2015. Business model innovation: The organizational dimension. Oxford University Press. New York

*** Kaplan, S. 2012. The Business Model Innovation Factory: How to Stay Relevant When The World is Changing. Hoboken: Wiley