دانلود رایگان مقاله ارزیابی مدل تجاری محموله هوایی خط هوایی ترکیبی

abstract

Notwithstanding the fact that the air cargo business is generally a secondary one to the passenger business for combination airlines, it can have an important role to play in their profitability. However, growing challenges are threatening the market positions of the combination airlines. Improving their market positioning depends, amongst other factors, on appropriate business models. Yet, the literature on the air cargo business models of combination airlines is scarce. This paper aims to contribute to closing this gap. The research presented herein aimed to identify the representative business models of the combination airlines' cargo strategies. Three strategies have been considered. The research method included a series of structured interviews with key informants from combination airlines, namely: TAP Cargo, Brussels Airlines Cargo, SATA Cargo, Turkish Cargo, SWISS WorldCargo, Finnair Cargo, AF-KLM Cargo, Emirates SkyCargo, Lufthansa Cargo and IAG Cargo. The ten air cargo business models and the representative business models of each strategy are described. The results suggest an overlap between the business models of different strategies. In addition, the results show that an evolution in strategy does not necessarily require a redesign of the business model, but tailored changes in specific components.

5. Discussion of results and conclusions

The research presented in this paper set out to identify representative business models in various air cargo strategies. Strategy and business models are different concepts. In this research, we used the concept of planned strategy proposed by Mintzberg and Waters (1985) and the concept of business models proposed by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010). Additionally, we also considered the hypothesis laid down by Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart (2009). The analysis of the business models was based on the framework proposed by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010). These authors proposed a total of nine variables (i.e., building blocks) to characterise a business model. The air cargo strategies were defined according to Dewulf (2014) taxonomy, in a total of three. The research method included a set of eleven structured interviews with key informants. This paper makes important contributions to the literature. A first contribution stems directly from the results and it included 1) the characterisation of the business models of ten combination airlines (listed in Appendix B) and 2) the characterisation of the representative business models of each air cargo strategy, including the identification of the limits of every building block (listed in Appendix C). Due to the lack of literature on air cargo business models, this research adds new insights and knowledge on this field.