Demand variation, strategic flexibility and market entry: Evidence from the US airline industry

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Claussen, Joerg; Essling, Christian; Peukert, Christian
• 署名单位: University of Munich; Copenhagen Business School; Universidade Catolica Portuguesa
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.2940
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 2877-2898
• 关键词: airline industry; demand change; flexibility; Market entry; uncertainty

摘要

Research SummaryEntry into dynamic environments can be challenging for firms. We study if, and under which circumstances, firms can use strategic flexibility to enter markets with variable demand. In the airline industry, we find broad support for our hypotheses. We observe less entry with more demand variation, more entry of more flexible firms, and that more flexible firms are more likely to enter markets with greater variation in demand. Furthermore, we find that this relationship is especially strong when variation in demand is harder to predict, which suggests that strategic flexibility is most valuable in unpredictable turbulent environments. Managerial SummaryWe show that firms in the airline industry that choose strategic flexibility over operational efficiency are more likely to enter volatile markets. This finding is especially true when future demand is difficult to forecast using historical data. We conclude that strategic flexibility can be a useful complement to investments in business analytics.