Perspectives on Disruptive Innovations

• Author: Arun Kumaraswamy,Shahzad (Shaz) Ansari,Raghu Garud
• Published date: 01 November 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12399
• Date: 01 November 2018

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and S ociety for the Advancement of Ma nagement Studies

Perspectives on Disruptive Innovations*

Arun Kumaraswamy, Raghu Garud and Shahzad (Shaz) Ansari

Florida International University; The Pennsylvania State University; University of

Cambridge, Cambr idge Judge Business School

ABST RACT Everyday experiences speak to the accelerated pa ce of innovation in this er a

of continual change. Sometimes, innovat ions enhance the value of existing products

and services. At ot her times, they render existing bu siness models obsolete, disrupt

value-networks, prompt providers to ret hink who their customers are, and lead custom-

ers to rethink what they v alue. What does it mean to mana ge in such a world of disrup-

tive changes, and how might we research th is phenomenon? Together with the

contributors to this specia l issue, we anchor, explore and extend the meanings assoc i-

ated with the concept of disrupt ive innovation. In part icular, we discuss several perspec-

tives on disruption – evolutionar y, relational, temporal and fr aming – that culminate in

a performative (as opposed to a predict ive) approach to thinking about the phenom-

enon. In doing so, our intention is to open up the agenda for both researchers and

practitioners.

Keywo rds: disr uption, disruptive in novation, ecosystems, plat forms, process,

performativity, temporality

INTRODUCTION

It is hard to deny that we are living in an age of continual disr uptions, defined

vernacularly as fundamental changes that disturb or re-order the ways in which

firms and their ecosystems operate. In the 1980s, researchers studying techno -

logical innovation focused on (among other issues) transilience (Abernathy and

Clark, 1985), which culminated in the emergence of dominant designs (Tushman

and Anderson, 1986; Utterback and Abernathy, 1975). The 1990s saw the advent

Journal of Manageme nt Studies 55:7 2018

doi:10.1111/j oms .12 39 9

Address for reprints: Raghu Garud, Smeal Col lege of Business, M anagement and Organ ization

Department, The Penns ylvania State Universit y, 431 Business Building, University Pa rk, PA 16802,

USA (rgarud@psu.edu).

*This is a fu lly collaborative effort , with authors listed in revers e alphabetical order. We, the guest

editors and contributor s to this special i ssue, are indebted to Dries Faems, t he Journal of Management

Studies handling editor, and the many anony mous reviewers for t heir generous and construct ive

feedback.

1026 A. Kumara swamy et al.

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and S ociety for the Advancement of Ma nagement Studies

of disruptive technologies, a concept that Christensen (1997) introduced to explore

why incumbents may lose ground to innovations introduced by new entrants.

This century is best descr ibed as an era of continual disruption in which technolog-

ical innovations and new business model changes are affecti ng not just individual

firms, but entire industries and ecosystems.

In this introductory essay, we open up the agenda for studying the process of

continual disruption. To anchor our arguments, we begin with an overview of

the classical evolutionary perspective on disruption. Next, we extend this classi-

cal view by considering several additional perspectives on the phenomenon. For

instance, by endogenizing the contexts within which disruption unfolds, we offer

a relational perspective that considers ecosystem dynamics. Moreover, by consid-

ering the process dynamics associated with disruption, we provide a temporal

perspective. Considerations of relationality and temporality suggest a heteroge-

neity of responses and strategies by disruptors and incumbents to innovations

as they unfold over time, which leads to a framing perspective. In combination,

these perspectives suggest the utility of taking a performative, as opposed to a

predictive, approach to disruption. After presenting the performative approach,

we introduce the papers featured in this special issue, each of which deepens and

broadens our understanding of the phenomenon.

EVOLUTIONARY PE RSPEC TIVE ON DISRUPTION

Christensen (1997) offered a theory on disruptive technologies (later disruptive

innovations) in a book evocatively titled The Innovator’s Dilemma. This theory high-

lights how challengers can offer what he labelled as disruptive technologies (or

innovations) to unseat established incumbents. The challenger begins by offer-

ing innovations that are inferior in terms of features or performance, but also

cheaper or more accessible than products and services in the mainstream market.

Because these ‘inferior’ innovations appeal primarily to niche customer segments

that are overserved or ignored by established incumbents, the challenger is able

to circumvent selection environments constituting mainstream markets.

Although it may be possible for the incumbent to offer an equivalent innova-

tion to compete with the challenger, doing so would cannibalize its profitable

offerings in mainstream markets. Faced with this innovator’s dilemma, the incum-

bent ignores the challenger and its innovation, and continues improving the

performance of its existing products and services. Over time, though, the perfor-

mance of the challenger’s innovation gradually improves, while at the same time

remaining cheaper or more accessible than the incumbent’s products or services.

At a critical juncture, the disruptive innovation becomes good enough to serve

mainstream customers, who then migrate to this cheaper or more accessible alter-

native. The incumbent, wedded to its long-standing offerings and business model,

then finds it almost impossible to compete with the challenger and suffers declin-

ing performance. To avoid this outcome, incumbents are advised to ‘develop a

disruption of your own before it’s too late to reap the rewards of participation in