Disruptive Innovation and Dynamic Capabilities Approach: Sensing, Seizing, and Transforming

Abstract

Disruptive innovation (DI) has been widely discussed in academic and business environments. It has been defined as a product or process that changes the basis of competition, offering valuable attributes for emerging segments ignored by the mainstream market. On the one hand, DI requires the firm ability to identify and take advantage of the opportunities offered by new markets and new technologies in highly changing and volatile environments. On the other hand, dynamic capabilities portray the firm ability to achieve new and innovative ways of competitive advantage in highly volatile environments through integration, building, and reconfiguration of a set of internal and external competences. The process of disruptive innovation is related to the dynamic capabilities approach in its application and relevance to the context of disruption. They are addressed through an analytical–descriptive perspective. The literature review regarding both dimensions—dynamic capabilities and disruption theory—was analyzed by capturing foundations and characteristics in order to integrate them as a powerful way for disruption. The methodological tools used were disruptive innovation attributes, dynamic capabilities approaches and characteristics, and two dimensions: articulation and integration. All of them are qualitative. Based on the findings, it has been established that a powerful way to catalyze disruption is an iterative and no lineal process of: sensing—disruptive opportunities identification; seizing—deploying disruptive strategy; and transforming—organizational asset reconfiguration.