The Shape-Shifting Dynamics of Digital Platform Disruption: How Grab Leveraged Established Players

Abstract

Through our historical case study of the Southeast Asian digital ride-hailing platform ecosystem, we find evidence that incumbents faced with an innovative platform entrant first ignore and then accommodate them, rather than repelling them. This is because there is no clear sense of who is an entrant or incumbent, friend or foe, as industry boundaries are effaced and proactively reconstructed over time. The digital platform entrant we studied, Grab, had the advantage of being able to morph and transform itself. Rather than trying to adapt to the existing industry architecture, it repositioned its business model with little regard for the focal industry or its incumbents, who ultimately clamored to support the disruptive digital platform entrant. Our study contributes a novel perspective on incumbent–entrant dynamics to research on disruptive innovation and digital platform ecosystems.