Open Access

Alexander Lennart Schmidt

• Globalization, digitalization and increasingly shortened lifecycles of consumer and business goods require companies to be continuously innovative. Under these domains of innovation, disruptive innovation has developed as a popular term amongst scholars and practitioners alike (Christensen, Raynor, & McDonald, 2015). In fact, the concept of disruptive technolo-gies was introduced to explain the failure of incumbent businesses in times of change (Bower & Christensen, 1995). Later, research broadened the concept towards disruptive innovations thereby going beyond technologies alone (Yu & Hang, 2010). Indeed, recent literature stresses the embracing business model that needs to be designed appropriately to make use of the technology and push it forward in the process of disruption. Subse-quently, current research concludes that disruption in its core is a “business model problem, not a technology problem” (Christensen, 2006). Despite the recognition of the relevance of a firm’s business model for disruption, a clarifi-cation of the business model concept in the disruptive innovation process appears to be necessary in two dimensions. First, there is only limited knowledge regarding the actual design of (potential) disruptive business models. Second, from a dynamic perspective, less is known about how organizations manage the process of disruptive innovation until their business model yields a disruptive effect in the market. The PhD research project aims at shedding light on the role of the firm’s business model in regard to the concept of disruptive innovation. Insights from this research project will not only add to a deeper understanding of disruptive innovation from a theoretical perspective but also deliver guidance for managers facing an increasingly changing environment.