Disruptive Innovation in Aviation
by Tuba ÖZBOL
Disruptive innovation has a positive meaning for some and a negative meaning for others. In today’s world, which is in constant motion in terms of services and products, organizations that are far from this concept cannot hold on to the market and are doomed to be erased. So; can we say that disruptive innovation has a positive meaning for companies that think in this field and put forward successful works and enable them to climb the steps of success one by one?
First of all, let’s look at what innovation means. Innovation is to create a meaningful whole by bringing together multiple factors without being bound by certain areas and boundaries. It is not to change completely but to be transformation-oriented. In order to introduce an innovation, companies need to be able to take certain risks, see all opportunities and shortcomings, and be courageous in taking steps in line with these shortcomings. Innovations such as cloud technologies, robots and scanning systems used at airports ensure that the human-machine-process triad operates easily and quickly.
Established and successful brands and companies did not get to where they are by magic wand. Innovation is a process and needs to be constantly thought about and developed, to create awareness and to be beneficial for both the organization and the recipient of the product or service. Most companies and brands innovate internally to gain competitive edge. But not every innovation is successful. For example, although the “Silent Airport” application, which has been implemented in recent years to prevent noise at airports, has emerged as an innovation, the lack of last call announcements to the aircraft has brought many customer complaints and it has been revealed that this innovation has not been completely successful.
Innovation, which is the heart of companies and located in the most important place, acts as a driving force in ensuring permanence and competition. However, in our rapidly developing technological world, it is no longer enough for companies and brands to just innovate. At this point, we see the emergence of the concept of ‘disruptive innovation’.
My disruptive innovation approach was first mentioned in 1995 in the prestigious Harvard Business Review, where Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen used the term disruptive innovation in his research on the disk drive industry. Disruptive innovation can be defined as the cheaper introduction of an existing product or service to the market, replacing its relatively more expensive counterpart in the market. The important point here is that when established and well-established companies focus more on high profitability and ignore the needs of other segment customers, companies that see this deficiency and offer services and products suitable for that customer segment realize a disruptive effect.
But is every innovation disruptive? What characteristics does an innovation need to have to be disruptive?
At this point, the concept of disruptive innovation should not be confused with sustainable innovation. Sustainable innovation is the improvement of an existing product, management or service for existing customers and its continuity. For example, a car consumes less fuel, plastics are transformed into biodegradable plastics… Sustainable innovation has economic, social and environmental dimensions. The environmental dimension of sustainable innovation is to create a new product (good or service) without harming nature and without consuming resources. Because the purpose of sustainable innovation is not only to provide vital and economic benefits, but also to enable the resources in the world to be transferred to future generations in a recyclable way. For this reason, companies should have criteria such as using minimum materials when creating a product, preferring environmentally friendly and recyclable materials, and trying to minimize energy consumption as much as possible.
Disruptive innovation opens up new markets. Disruptive products are simpler and cheaper, and often disruptive innovation represents an opportunity rather than a threat, is non-standard and creates value. It would not be correct to conclude that every disruptive innovation will be successful. However, recognizing these opportunities and making the right applications can help companies to consolidate their position in the market.
Our world is changing and developing every day. Companies need to adapt to this change as we humans need to adapt. Otherwise, it may lose its share in the market because of a company that produces its existing products or services cheaper, even if there is no difference. The cheaper cost of the product or service both increases internal profits and prevents new competition in the market. For example, Amazon entered the market as an online bookstore. But in a short period of time, its innovations had a disruptive effect and changed the industry from top to bottom. Alibaba designed global trade to be cheaper and easier. Apple changed the definition of mobile phone with its iPhone product. Now, if we have a smartphone, we can take near-professional photos and we don’t need to buy an extra camera. We can access many functions cheaper and easier with our phones. Airbnb brought easier accessibility in the accommodation sector. While Netflix was just a movie CD rental company, today it has made the production of many productions and the films of many more producers cheaper and more easily accessible on a common platform. And eliminated other competitors from the market. At the same time, it created a new market area. Such companies may be in their golden age today, but they were not always leaders in their markets. When Apple introduced the first Iphone, Nokia had a phone in almost every home, but it couldn’t keep up with the change. While smartphones had many functions, Nokia phones only had the ability to call and text. This resulted in Nokia not being able to escape the disruptive innovation effect and the company took a serious hit and went bankrupt.
When we look at the aviation industry, the concept of disruptive innovation emerges in many areas. It is possible to say that disruptive innovation in aviation is applied in a wide range of areas such as business models, aircraft manufacturers, and the services provided at the contact points in the process where each passenger uses the airline service. In airport service processes, applications that can create a disruptive effect such as kiosks, artificial intelligence and blockchain are used to ensure that these processes are carried out quickly and satisfactorily. In this way, time and cost savings are achieved, as well as minimizing the need for personnel.
In a market dominated by traditional airlines, Southwest changed its business model and introduced the low-cost business model. Unlike the traditional airline, the perception of luxury was avoided, the number of seats was increased at more frequent intervals, secondary airports were used, in-flight food and beverage service was made paid, and a new business model was created with the aim of minimizing the cost and providing service at the lowest price and serving customers who could not prefer the traditional airline. In this way, it has created a disruptive effect by enabling every segment of passengers to receive service easily and at a cheaper price.
Interior design of a passenger aircraft of a traditional airline;
Interior design of a passenger plane of a low-cost airline;
Many of the companies we have given examples of have driven many local companies into bankruptcy and bankrupted other competing companies in the market thanks to their low cost, globalization, usability and easy accessibility. As good as innovation sounds, it can turn into a nightmare for many companies that miss the change and lose market share by being exposed to disruptive innovations implemented by other companies. Companies should consider the concept of disruptive innovation in all decision chains in order to gain market dominance, increase competitiveness and not fall behind.
References
Markafikirleri (2022) https://www.markafikirleri.com/inovasyon-nedir/
Özçakmak, F. (2016). Yıkıcı teknolojilerin tespiti. Ankara.
Tan, A. E. (2021). Herkes için havacılık derneği. https://herkesicinhavacilik.com/2021/09/16/havalimani-kiosklari-ne-ise-yarar
TRT Haber (2020). https://www.trthaber.com/haber/turkiye/havalimanlarinda-sessiz-terminal-donemi-basliyor-461209.html
Yılmaz, A. (2020, NİSAN 2). medium.com: https://medium.com/@solidinovation/havacılık-ve-i̇novasyon-jim-collins-good-to-great-isimli-klasik-kitabında-iyi-şirketlerin-bir-75a08b790b61
Pictures: pexels.com, cntraveler.com
