Innovation strategies for non-existent markets - Profiting from urban air mobility

Technological advances have paved the way for urban air mobility (UAM) as a new mode of transportation, providing solutions for both inner-city and regional transportation. Novel vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles promise to be less noisy and safer than existing helicopters, thus allowing for an integration of UAM into current mobility systems. However, as this market is non-existent today, companies engaged in this field face several uncertainties. Strategic decision factors supporting VTOL manufacturers to successfully commercialize their innovation are still mainly unassessed. Looking into the innovation strategy literature we find little guidance on how high-technology companies can profit from innovation in so far non-existent markets. We therefore conduct expert interviews that allow us to identify eight decision factors that VTOL manufacturers are expected to take into account when setting up their commercial strategy. Building on the findings from these interviews we suggest to enhance the Profiting from Innovation (PFI) framework by a peripheric sphere that incorporates the impact of external factors on commercial success. This approach on the one hand, allows to provide insights into strategic management approaches of VTOL manufacturers, while on the other hand, this research adds to the scientific literature on strategic decision factors in non-existent markets.