The multifaceted concept of disruption: A typology

Abstract

Although strategic management scholars have long been interested in disruption as a phenomenon, the latter has not been systematically categorized yet. Building on the existing literature, we develop a typology that encompasses four types of disruption: technological, business model, regulatory, and social movements. Our semi-systematic review of the literature sheds light on the characteristics of disruptions and proposes a classification along two dimensions rooted in existing research: whether a disruption is “constraining” vs. “unconstraining”, and whether it has an insider-driven vs. outsider-driven origin. We then consider three key phases of strategic action—predictability, ambiguity in response, and imitability—to explore how industry players are affected by the four types of disruption. Our proposed framework is empirically validated in a series of six mini case studies. Our article helps innovation scholars disentangle the nature of different types of disruption depending on their primary cause and shows how non-technological disruptions can challenge incumbents’ status.