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How do they do it? Understanding business model innovation in the context of disruptive innovation
(2018)
There are many challenges in identifying and managing a disruptive innovation stemming from the limited knowledge on how it unfolds over time. Researchers have identified early signals and ex ante conditions that indicate its occurrence. However, an analysis from a process view acknowledging the underlying dynamics is yet to be done. By taking a process view within a systematic literature review, we analyse the scattered findings on the process of disruptive innovation to identify events and actions leading to a disruptive effect over time. We challenge the understanding of disruptive innovation as an outcome and the linearity of the process by proposing that disruptive innovation can be understood as occurring through emergent dynamics. These dynamics are constituted by: (a) the timing of entry and underlying processes that influences (b) the synchronization of events and actions and is shaped by (c) the adaptability of strategic actions. Thus, we complexify the concept of disruptive innovation to support the understanding of its unfolding and advance its manageability.
Multi‐sided platforms are becoming increasingly relevant in understanding industry changes. The literature has focused on the inception and growth of platforms, neglecting how entrants develop and grow disruptive platforms. To address this shortcoming, we study an entrant that was spun off from an established catalog retailer and is steering a multi‐sided disruptive platform in the German fashion retail industry. We conduct a longitudinal study on how the entrant leverages the relationships with its multiple platform sides during 2014–2019 by analyzing secondary data using topic modeling and qualitative content analysis. We propose three levers: (1) “guarded inception,” which is the collaboration with a knowledgeable partner unaffected by disruption to quickly overcome the chicken‐and‐egg problem; (2) “activating force multipliers,” which is the strategic orchestration of complementors being contractually tied to the entrant and working to extend the entrant's value network. Enabled by these two levers, the entrant was (3) “building on others” to develop the platform along a disruptive path while circumventing internal limitations and external resistance. We contribute to the intersection of the literature strands on platform and disruptive innovation by showing how the entrant strategically leveraged its different platform sides over time to develop and grow a disruptive platform.
This research case study presents a novel way to study the development and growth of a multi-sided disruptive platform built on digital technologies. The corresponding business model unfolds industry-changing dynamics eventually changing competition logic in established markets. Despite the appeal of those models, developing and managing such a multi-sided disruptive platform is challenging because multiple platform sides need to be strategically aligned to develop along a disruptive path. Hence, scholars and practitioners are increasingly debating about the dynamics arising in the development and growth of such platforms. The focal case study discusses a research project which contributes to those debates:
This case study discusses how we used topic modeling and qualitative content analysis to make sense of a large amount of historical data from and about multiple platform sides to understand the strategic management and alignment mechanisms that unfolded over time. We discuss how we studied an entrant that was spun off from an established catalog retailer and is steering a multi-sided disruptive platform in the German fashion retail industry. We present how we faced the challenges of collecting data from multiple platform sides and how we used topic modeling to overcome data asphyxiation (i.e. difficulties in making sense of an overwhelming amount of qualitative data). Readers of this case study are equipped with practical insights about a) studying the development of multi-sided platforms over time, and b) using topic modeling and qualitative content analysis as complementing methodological approaches.
