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Incumbents Facing Disruptive Innovation

Angelin, Alexander LU and Svensson, David LU (2022) INTL01 20221
Innovation Engineering
Abstract
How can established companies successfully manage disruptive innovations that change the basis of market demand? Since the publication of Clayton Christensen’s influential book on disruptive innovation, research on managing disruptive innovation has primarily focused on finding effective strategies for industry-leading companies (incumbents). However, there is a lack of research into what key factors affect the process of disruption. Therefore, the purpose of this bachelor thesis is to contribute to existing research by identifying and analyzing the key factors affecting the success or failure of incumbents in managing disruptive innovation. The thesis relies on a comparative study based on qualitative case studies, which are based on a... (More)
How can established companies successfully manage disruptive innovations that change the basis of market demand? Since the publication of Clayton Christensen’s influential book on disruptive innovation, research on managing disruptive innovation has primarily focused on finding effective strategies for industry-leading companies (incumbents). However, there is a lack of research into what key factors affect the process of disruption. Therefore, the purpose of this bachelor thesis is to contribute to existing research by identifying and analyzing the key factors affecting the success or failure of incumbents in managing disruptive innovation. The thesis relies on a comparative study based on qualitative case studies, which are based on a literature review, chronicling the management of disruptive innovation in the cases of Blockbuster vs Netflix, Record Labels vs Spotify, and the U.S. Automotive Industry vs Tesla.

The analysis concludes the following regarding which factors affect the successful management of disruptive innovation: 1) Successful industry incumbents quickly react to the disruption, first testing several strategies before committing to a specific strategy. 2) By identifying the exact type of disruption faced, managers can make better decisions around whether to apply an offensive or defensive strategy. 3) This particular comparative analysis found no significance in launching a separate organization for managing disruptive innovation. 4) Market readiness impacts the speed of disruption, as high market readiness correlates with an increased rate of disruption. 5) The amount of competition in an industry affects the incumbent’s ability to find a successful strategy for managing disruptive innovation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Angelin, Alexander LU and Svensson, David LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
A Qualitative Study Analyzing Key Factors Impacting Whether an Incumbent Succeeds or Fails in Managing Disruptive Innovation
course
INTL01 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Disruptive Innovation, Incumbent Strategy, Clayton Christensen, Netflix, Tesla, Spotify.
language
English
id
9087556
date added to LUP
2022-06-13 08:14:41
date last changed
2022-06-13 08:14:41
@misc{9087556,
  abstract     = {{How can established companies successfully manage disruptive innovations that change the basis of market demand? Since the publication of Clayton Christensen’s influential book on disruptive innovation, research on managing disruptive innovation has primarily focused on finding effective strategies for industry-leading companies (incumbents). However, there is a lack of research into what key factors affect the process of disruption. Therefore, the purpose of this bachelor thesis is to contribute to existing research by identifying and analyzing the key factors affecting the success or failure of incumbents in managing disruptive innovation. The thesis relies on a comparative study based on qualitative case studies, which are based on a literature review, chronicling the management of disruptive innovation in the cases of Blockbuster vs Netflix, Record Labels vs Spotify, and the U.S. Automotive Industry vs Tesla.

The analysis concludes the following regarding which factors affect the successful management of disruptive innovation: 1) Successful industry incumbents quickly react to the disruption, first testing several strategies before committing to a specific strategy. 2) By identifying the exact type of disruption faced, managers can make better decisions around whether to apply an offensive or defensive strategy. 3) This particular comparative analysis found no significance in launching a separate organization for managing disruptive innovation. 4) Market readiness impacts the speed of disruption, as high market readiness correlates with an increased rate of disruption. 5) The amount of competition in an industry affects the incumbent’s ability to find a successful strategy for managing disruptive innovation.}},
  author       = {{Angelin, Alexander and Svensson, David}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Incumbents Facing Disruptive Innovation}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}