Changing the Rules of the Hotel Business: The Case of citizenM’s Digital Business Model Disruption

Abstract

Both managers of hospitality businesses and researchers are discussing how hospitality businesses manage digital transformation. While recent contributions focus on technological innovations and their impact on optimising existing operational processes, we lack insights into how hospitality businesses build on digital technologies for continuous business model innovations. Recent reviews highlight the need to better understand shifts in competitive positioning based on technological innovations. This paper investigates how citizenM, a Netherlands-based hotel business, designs a disruptive business model based on digital technology. To this end, secondary data has been systematically collected to analyse citizenM’s strategic decisions and business model innovation activities. This study presents in-depth insights into the disruptive mechanisms based on qualitative content analysis. Moreover, it is showcased how the case company operationalises a business model of a ‘performance reducer’. This study makes a twofold contribution to the ongoing debates. First, this paper delivers knowledge which furthers our understanding of the intertwined mechanisms of digital disruption in hospitality. Second, a tentative framework is presented to understand the performance reducer’s digital disruption.