Unraveling the airline value creation network with fuzzy cognitive maps

Abstract

The creation of value is a critical factor that determines the competitive capacity of firms and their ability to survive. Notwithstanding its importance, value creation usually becomes a fuzzy concept that is difficult to grasp, especially when increasingly complex elements of reality are incorporated into its analysis. Building on the narrative of the firm as a complex adaptive system, this article provides empirical evidence showing value creation as emergent behavior resulting from hyper-connected value repositories. Several implications for scholars and practitioners are discussed. For scholars, expert knowledge is provided from 28 airline industry executives around the world together with a method based on fuzzy cognitive maps that allows modeling and simulating value creation in airlines through 26 value repositories and 77 interdependencies. For practitioners, the article raises awareness of the need to incorporate a complexity mindset into value creation analysis and smooths the transition towards a value performance management tool.