Unpacking the Disruption Process: New Technology, Business Models, and Incumbent Adaptation

Despite the growing importance of digital transformation and the notion of disruptive innovation, strategy literature still lacks a more complete picture of how incumbent organizations adapt their business models after disruptions. This research sheds light on this important process by analyzing a major Italian news media publisher reacting to the advent of the internet and the emergence of new business models by entrants into the industry (1995-2017). We specifically examine: (1) the drivers and impeding factors of business model adaptation; (2) how incumbents change strategies to cope with different components of the disruption process; and (3) how a closed business model can be renewed to develop an open, platform-based business model to seize external opportunities, incur lower costs, and fend off disruptors. This study contributes to the burgeoning literature on disruption, business models, and platforms.