AN EMPIRICAL STUDY TO REVIEW BUSINESS MODEL THEORY IN THE DANISH RAILWAY SECTOR

Abstract

PURPOSE:! The! purpose! is! to! explore! the! basic! assumptions! for! innovating! the! Danish! railway! operator¿s! historic! business!model!in! an! unprecedented! institutional!crisis.!! METHOD:! A! management! survey! collects! 22,729! responses! from! 368! managers! (80%!of!the!managers!in!the!Danish!railways!with!average!seniority!of!15! years)! to! explore! these! basic! assumptions! to! specify! the! areas! of! leadership! that! have! a! significant! impact! on! facilitating! innovation! of! business!models!in!times!of!crisis.! RESULTS:! Successful!leadership!in!a!crisis!depends!on! the!articulation!of! the!basic! assumptions!and!challenges!for!the!development!of!the!current!business! model.! It! is! not! enough! to! make! goals! for! the! future,! as! the! related! challenges! should! also! be! articulated.! A! core! task! for! strengthening! the! development! in! the! railway! sector! is! to! prioritize! new! infrastructure! projects! to! innovate! the! existing! railway! operations! gradually,! rather! than!starting!new!business!ventures.! ORIGINALITY/VALUE:! Management!studies!in! times!of!crisis!are!rare.!Furthermore,! the!causes! of!the!institutional!crisis!in!the!Danish!railway!sector!have!until!now!not! been! studied! from! a! management! perspective! based! on! the! managers¿! understanding! of! the! factors! affecting! the! innovation! management! of! a! business! model! in! crisis.! The! doctoral! thesis! identifies! some! emerging! areas! of! cognitive! leadership! that! have! not! yet! received! sufficient! attention! in! the! literature! on! business! models,! but! nonetheless! the! company!managers!believe! that! the!areas!of!cognitive!leadership!have!a! significant! impact! on! the! survival! of! the! organization! and! its! future! success.!