Reconfiguring the innovation ecosystem: An explorative study of disruptive change

This paper examines the variables that determine innovation ecosystem reconfiguration under disruptive technological change. The study focuses on the impact of disruption upon the innovation ecosystem, which is the network of firms that collaborate in producing a holistic, integrated product system. Three disruptive innovations — Bakelite, the microwave oven, and the photocopier — and respective ecosystems that have formed around the incumbent and the disruptive innovations are investigated by using historical data. Special attention is paid to the variables that are likely to have explanatory power in reshaping of the ecosystem. Four tentative research propositions are derived that can be examined in future research endeavors.