Breaking With Tradition: Insights From the Literature on Disruptive Innovation

How can established organizations (as opposed to new entrants or start-up firms) break with tradition successfully? The literature on disruptive innovation is a good lens to examine this topic because a break with tradition is disruptive to established organizations, and the conflicts and challenges it creates have already been explored in the context of disruptive business models. The author uses this literature to identify several ways in which firms can break with tradition successfully by limiting the costs associated with such an innovation.