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Why Do Incumbents Respond Heterogeneously to Disruptive Innovations? The Interplay of Domain Identity and Role Identity

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  • Nadine Kammerlander
  • Andreas König
  • Melanie Richards

Abstract

We adopt a multifaceted view of organizational identity to contribute to research on organizational identity and incumbent adaptations to disruptive innovations. Based on a qualitative, multi‐case study on the responses of German publishing houses to the emergence of digitalization, we distill a novel and thus far disregarded facet of organizational identity: organizational role identity. We show how organizational role identity and organizational domain identity – the facet that has so far dominated research on identity and innovation – interactively determine how organizations interpret and respond to a disruptive innovation. In contrast to previous studies, we show that incumbents experience dysfunctional identity‐driven struggles when one of the two identity facets is challenged by the disruptive innovation while the other is enhanced. We also induce that domain and role identities can jointly determine how quickly incumbents react to a disruption, whether they adopt that disruption, and the innovativeness of their responses.

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  • Nadine Kammerlander & Andreas König & Melanie Richards, 2018. "Why Do Incumbents Respond Heterogeneously to Disruptive Innovations? The Interplay of Domain Identity and Role Identity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(7), pages 1122-1165, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:55:y:2018:i:7:p:1122-1165
    DOI: 10.1111/joms.12345
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    Cited by:

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    2. Marianne Kuhlmann & Catharina R. Bening & Volker H. Hoffmann, 2023. "How incumbents realize disruptive circular innovation ‐ Overcoming the innovator's dilemma for a circular economy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 1106-1121, March.
    3. Julia K. de Groote & Werner Conrad & Andreas Hack, 2021. "How can family businesses survive disruptive industry changes? Insights from the traditional mail order industry," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(8), pages 2239-2273, November.
    4. Antonio, Jerome L. & Kanbach, Dominik K., 2023. "Contextual factors of disruptive innovation: A systematic review and framework," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. Rodriguez Serna, Lil & Nakandala, Dilupa & Bowyer, Dorothea, 2022. "Stakeholder identification and prioritization: The attribute of dependency," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 444-455.
    6. Soluk, Jonas & Kammerlander, Nadine & Darwin, Solomon, 2021. "Digital entrepreneurship in developing countries: The role of institutional voids," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    7. Jacques Bughin & Nicolas van Zeebroeck, 2024. "Strategic Renewal and Corporate Return of Digital Transformation," Working Papers TIMES² 2024-071, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Owen, Richard & Pansera, Mario & Macnaghten, Phil & Randles, Sally, 2021. "Organisational institutionalisation of responsible innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    9. Christopher Kurzhals & Lorenz Graf‐Vlachy & Andreas König, 2020. "Strategic leadership and technological innovation: A comprehensive review and research agenda," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 437-464, November.
    10. Szewczyk, Justin & Kurzhals, Christopher & Graf-Vlachy, Lorenz & Kammerlander, Nadine & König, Andreas, 2022. "The family innovator’s dilemma revisited: Examining the association between family influence and incumbents’ adoption of discontinuous technologies," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(4).
    11. Dimitrios Georgakakis & Mads E. Wedell-Wedellsborg & Tommaso Vallone & Peder Greve, 2023. "Strategic leaders in multinational enterprises: A role-specific microfoundational view and research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(3), pages 514-537, April.
    12. Guo, Bin & Zhang, Jiale & Tan, Ziyan, 2024. "Firm digitalization as strategic response: An integrated model based on the awareness-motivation-capability (AMC) framework," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    13. Mike W. Peng & Joyce C. Wang & Nishant Kathuria & Jia Shen & Miranda J. Welbourne Eleazar, 2023. "Toward an institution-based paradigm," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 353-382, June.
    14. Sean T. Hsu & Susan K. Cohen, 2022. "Overcoming the Incumbent Dilemma: The Dual Roles of Multimarket Contact During Disruption," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 319-348, March.
    15. Annosi, Maria Carmela & Appio, Francesco Paolo & Martini, Antonella, 2024. "Institutional context and agile team innovation: A sensemaking approach to collective knowledge creation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    16. Zhi-Guang Li & Yanrui Wu & Yao-Kuang Li, 2024. "Technical founders, digital transformation and corporate technological innovation: empirical evidence from listed companies in China’s STAR market," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 3155-3180, December.
    17. Brinkerink, Jasper & Rondi, Emanuela & Benedetti, Carlotta & Arzubiaga, Unai, 2020. "Family business or business family? Organizational identity elasticity and strategic responses to disruptive innovation," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4).
    18. Kristina Stoiber & Kurt Matzler & Julia Hautz, 2023. "Ambidextrous structures paving the way for disruptive business models: a conceptual framework," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1439-1485, May.

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