Criticisms on “the Innovator's Dilemma” Being in a Dilemma

Abstract

The Innovator's Dilemma (Christensen, 1997) has been cited in many studies since Christensen published it in 1997. Some of these studies have advocated that concepts such as "dynamic capability," "ambidexterity," and "market orientation" can be used to overcome the environmental changes caused by the innovator's dilemma. However, these studies are categorized into two general types that are not logical refutations: (a) those which merely suggest the concept without suggesting an opposing example, and (b) those which do not demonstrate that a trajectory disruption has occurred even when suggesting an example. We must demonstrate that a trajectory disruption has occurred and then suggest a case in which the environmental changes were mitigated to suggest an example of overcoming the innovator's dilemma. However, arguments exist that doubt Christensen's concept of trajectory disruption, indicating that the arguments are not facile.

A bandwagon with few passengers

“…Long-term observation is needed to see whether new technologies will replace existing technologies or merely complement them. As was noted by Christensen (1997), this fits the pattern of disruptive technologies that have garnered much attention in business management, and many express doubts (Akiike & Iwao, 2015;King & Baatartogtokh, 2015). Christensen (1997) In addition, it is true that the quality of minimill products has steadily improved but not to the extent shown in the ever-increasing graph shown by Christensen (1997).…”

Organizational Routine and Coordinated Imitation

“…As organizations and companies are, strictly speaking, not the same, the reader should refer to Takahashi (2014) for a more detailed discussion. 6 Research on the topic of innovation is in a state of confusion (Akiike & Iwao, 2015). 7 Their assertion led to the new field of "evolutionary economics" within economics and also helped create the Journal of Evolutionary Economics.…”

The Power of Existing Design for Establishing the Dominant “Industrial” Design

“…However, the cases used by Utterback (1994) still show a strong technical perspective. 8 In regard to Foster (1986), see Ogami (2015Ogami ( , 2016; for more information on Christensen (1997), see Akiike and Iwao (2015), Takamatsu and Tomita (2015), and Takahashi, Shintaku, and Ohkawa (2013).…”