The Innovator's Dilemma as a Problem of Organizational Competence

This paper explores the role of embedded organizational competencies in shaping the innovator's dilemma. I argue that while popular accounts of Christensen's theories often focus almost entirely on the role of cognitive failure in the senior team as the central explanatory construct, this...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of product innovation management 2006-01, Vol.23 (1), p.5-11
Main Author: Henderson, Rebecca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Disruptive innovation
Innovations
Organizational behavior
Product development
Theory
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Summary:This paper explores the role of embedded organizational competencies in shaping the innovator's dilemma. I argue that while popular accounts of Christensen's theories often focus almost entirely on the role of cognitive failure in the senior team as the central explanatory construct, this focus obscures the critical role played by deeply embedded customer or market-related competencies in shaping the ways firms respond to disruptive innovations. Christensen's concept of disruptive innovation has had a dramatic effect on both practice and scholarly research. It has reminded us of just how difficult it can be for an established firm to respond to significant shifts in the environment, throwing into high relief problems of cognitive framing and resource allocation. It my view it also makes another critical contribution: It highlights the role of market-facing competence in shaping a firm's response to disruptive innovation, opening up an important new field for future research.
ISSN:0737-6782
1540-5885
DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5885.2005.00175.x