Innovation scholars have paid special attention on the managerial approaches that incumbents should adopt to promptly respond to the emergence of disruptive innovations. These approaches include, among the others, the use of open innovation or the establishment of ambidextrous organizations. However, this body of research has not analyzed how incumbents use these approaches over time, although they are very often confronted with waves of disruptive innovations that cyclically take place along the lifecycle of an industry. This paper looks into this issue through a historical analysis of the global music industry. For each of the three waves of disruptive innovations that have hit this industry over the last 15 years (i.e. digital music distribution, permanent digital download and music streaming), we analyze the reactions of incumbents in terms of managerial approaches they adopted to respond to the emergence of the disruptive innovation. Therefore, we develop a model suggesting how incumbents evolve over time their responses to cycles of disruptive technological changes.

How Incumbents Manage Waves of Disruptive Innovations: An Exploratory Analysis of the Global Music Industry

Urbinati A.;Chiaroni D.;Chiesa V.;Franzo S.;Frattini F.
2019-01-01

Abstract

Innovation scholars have paid special attention on the managerial approaches that incumbents should adopt to promptly respond to the emergence of disruptive innovations. These approaches include, among the others, the use of open innovation or the establishment of ambidextrous organizations. However, this body of research has not analyzed how incumbents use these approaches over time, although they are very often confronted with waves of disruptive innovations that cyclically take place along the lifecycle of an industry. This paper looks into this issue through a historical analysis of the global music industry. For each of the three waves of disruptive innovations that have hit this industry over the last 15 years (i.e. digital music distribution, permanent digital download and music streaming), we analyze the reactions of incumbents in terms of managerial approaches they adopted to respond to the emergence of the disruptive innovation. Therefore, we develop a model suggesting how incumbents evolve over time their responses to cycles of disruptive technological changes.
2019
disruptive innovation; disruptive technological changes; incumbents; Innovation management; music industry
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Urbinati et al (2019) How incumbent manage waves.pdf

Open Access dal 04/02/2020

: Post-Print (DRAFT o Author’s Accepted Manuscript-AAM)
Dimensione 420.3 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
420.3 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1123636
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 8
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 7
social impact