Leveraging the incumbent's advantage

MIT Sloan Management Review

Volumn 44, Issue 4, 2003, Pages 58-64

  Iansiti, Marco ^a   McFarlan, F Warren ^a,b   Westerman, George ^c  

^a HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL   (United States)

^b Department of Business Administration ^*  (United States)

^c MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 3343015903     PISSN: 7653697     EISSN: 1782155X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (5)

1. For examples of disruptive strategic innovations and incumbent responses, see C. Christensen, "The Innovator's Dilemma" (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1997);
2. C.D. Charitou and C.C. Markides, "Responses to Disruptive Strategic Innovation," MIT Sloan Management Review 44 (winter 2003): 55-63.
3. For more on industry dynamics and incumbent responses, see J.M. Utterback, "Master the Dynamics of Innovation" (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1994);
4. M.L. Tushman and P. Anderson, "Organizational Environments and Industry Exit: Effects of Uncertainty, Munificence and Complexity," Industrial and Corporate Change 10, no. 3 (2001): 675-711.
5. There are, of course, situations in which separation makes sense for the long term, but the drivers for such actions have little to do with nurturing a fledgling group. A corporation might, for instance, spin off a mature business unit once it reaches a certain size and senior management feels that the group deserves the same legitimacy and negotiating power as other businesses.