On the road to commercialize autonomous road mobility. A case study of a scale-up to determine how four critical factors influence international business model scalability

Abstract

Reaching profitable growth for a startup is a difficult quest. Finding a viable business model that is possible to scale internationally is vital for a scale-up to succeed. This becomes especially critical when working with technology innovations because of their novelty and associated uncertainty. The applications of autonomous road mobility are currently gaining traction, partly because autonomous road mobility is seen to mitigate inefficiencies. Increasing the efficiency of road mobility has great potential to reduce the sector’s negative impact on sustainability, as it is currently responsible for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. The advancement of the technology necessary suggests that widespread usage of autonomous road mobility is approaching. This highlights the importance of conducting research on what role the business model has on facilitating the commercialization of the technology, which is essential to maximize the sustainable impact of autonomous road mobility. The purpose of this thesis is to provide knowledge about scale-up companies working with autonomous road mobility and how these companies can affect the international scaling process. Little prior attention has been given to factors affecting business model scalability. To contribute to research, the following research question was chosen: How do the factors Legal Frameworks, Complementary Technologies, Customers, and Teams affect international business model scaling for a scale-up company working with technology innovations in autonomous road mobility? The research approach for this study was qualitative and abductive, designed as a single-case study. The data was collected via interviews at a case company. Findings show that first, the factors Legal Frameworks and Customers mostly affected the scaling process negatively, mainly because these factors include aspects that are difficult for a company to control. This complicates the scaling process as it impedes product development and introduces uncertainty. Second, it was found that the factors Complementary Technologies and Teams mainly affect the scalability positively long-term and that the scale-up has bigger opportunities to control these effects. Third, by investigating the interrelations between factors, it was found that the factor Complementary Technologies was the one affecting most other factors. This relation mainly increased already positive effects on scalability or mitigated negative effects.