Abstract
The theory of disruptive innovation has had a profound effect on academic literature and management mindsets. Nevertheless, the processes that are required to develop disruptive innovations are not yet well understood. An essential part of creating disruptive innovations is gathering the right information on potential and current customers. The research questions that are addressed in this paper deal with the suitability of customer analysis methods for providing this information. The customer analysis model that is formulated in this paper summarizes the results of a literature review regarding the requirements of customer analysis for the success of disruptive innovations. With insights on context, customers, constraints and effects, the model reveals what information is needed to successfully shape the disruptive innovation process. Following the literature on disruptive and radical innovation, a group of eight customer analysis methods is selected and assessed. The analysis reveals that none of the existing methods can generate all of the required information. By combining and modifying the associated methods, the requirements of the proposed model and, by extension, the market can be met. Managers who follow the suggestions of this paper will develop a better understanding of current and potential customers and, therefore, unveil the potential of disruptive innovations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adner R (2002) When are technologies disruptive? A demand-based view of the emergence of competition. Strategic Manage J 23(8):667–688
Adner R, Zemsky P (2005) Disruptive technologies and the emergence of competition. RAND Journal of Economics 36(2):229–254
Alam I (2006) Removing the fuzziness from the fuzzy front-end of service innovations through customer interactions. Ind Market Manag 35:468–480
Anthony SD, Johnson MW, Sinfield JV, Altman EJ (2008) The innovator’s guide to growth: putting disruptive innovation to work. Harvard Business Press, Boston
Charitou C, Markides C (2003) Responses to disruptive strategic innovation. MIT Sloan Manage Rev 44(2):55–63
Christensen CM (1997) The innovator’s dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail. Harvard Business School Press, Boston
Christensen CM (2006) The ongoing process of building a theory of disruption. J Prod Innovat Manag 23:39–55
Christensen CM, Bower JL (1996) Customer power, strategic investment, and the failure of leading firms. Strategic Manage J 17(3):197–218
Christensen CM, Raynor ME (2003) The innovator’s solution: creating and sustaining successful growth. Harvard Business School Press, Boston
Christensen CM, Anthony SD, Roth EA (2004) Seeing what’s next: using the theories of innovation to predict industry change. Harvard Business School Press, Boston
Ciccantelli S, Magidson J (1993) From experience: consumer idealized design: involving consumers in the product development process. J Prod Innovat Manag 10:341–347
Danneels E (2004) Disruptive technology reconsidered: a critique and research agenda. J Prod Innovat Manag 21(4):246–258
Dalkey NC, Helmer O (1963) An experimental application of the Delphi-method to the use of experts. Manag Sci 9(3):458–467
Denning S (2005) Why the best and brightest approaches don’t solve the innovation dilemma. Strat Leadership 33(1):4–11
Enkel E, Kausch C, Gassmann O (2005) Managing the risk of customer integration. Eur Manage J 23(2):203–213
Gilbert C (2003) The disruption opportunity. MIT Sloan Manage Rev 44(4):27–32
Govindarajan V, Kopalle PK (2006a) The usefulness of measuring disruptiveness of innovations ex post in making ex ante predictions. J Prod Innovat Manag 23:12–18
Govindarajan V, Kopalle PK (2006b) Disruptiveness of innovations: measurement and an assessment of reliability and validity. Strategic Manage J 27:189–199
Green PE, Krieger AM, Wind YJ (2001) Thirty years of conjoint analysis: reflections and prospects. INTERFACES 31(3):S56–S73
Hauser J, Tellis GJ, Griffin A (2006) Research on innovation: a review and agenda for marketing science. Market Sci 25(6):687–717
Henderson RM (2006) The innovator’s dilemma as a problem of organizational competence. J Prod Innovat Manag 23:5–11
Hippel E (1986) Lead users: a source of novel product concepts. Manage Sci 32(7):791–805
Leonard D, Rayport JF (1997) Spark innovation through emphatic design. Harvard Bus Rev 75(6):102–113
Lynn G, Morone JG, Paulson AS (1996) Marketing and discontinuous innovation: the probe and learn process. California Manage Rev 38(3):8–37
Markides C (2006) Disruptive innovation: in need of better theory. J Prod Innovat Manag 2:19–25
McDermott CM, O’Conner GC (2002) Managing radical innovation: an overview of emergent strategy issues. J Prod Innovat Manag 19:424–438
Meiren T (2005) Innovationsmanagement bei schnell wachsenden Unternehmen. In: Ganz W, Meiren T, Woywode M (eds) Schnelles Unternehmenswachstum: Personal–Innovation–Kunden. Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, pp 127–142
Noori H, Munro H, Deszca G, McWilliams B (1999) Developing the ‘right’ breakthrough product/service: an umbrella methodology–Part A. Int J Technol Manage 17:544–562
Paap J, Katz R (2004) Anticipating disruptive innovation. Res Technol Manage 47(5):13–22
Raulerson P, Malraison JC, Leboyer A (2009) Building routes to costumers: proven strategies for profitable growth. Springer, New York
Rowe G, Wright G (1999) The Delphi technique as a forecasting tool: issues and analysis. Int J Forecast 15:353–375
Sandberg B (2002) Creating the market for disruptive innovation: market proactiveness at the launch stage. J Targeting Meas Anal Market 11(2):184–196
Schmidt GM (2004) Low-end and high-end encroachment strategies for new products. Int J Innovat Manage 8(2):167–191
Slater SF, Mohr JJ (2006) Successful development and commercialization of technological innovation: insights based on strategy type. J Prod Innovat Manag 23:26–33
Slater SF, Narver JC (1998) Customer-led and market-oriented: let’s not confuse the two. Strategic Manage J 19(10):1001–1006
Sood A, Tellis GJ (2011) Demystifying disruption: a new model for understanding and predicting disruptive technologies. Market Sci 30(2):339–354
Steinhoff F (2006) Kundenorientierung bei hochgradigen Innovationen: Konzeptionalisierung empirische Bestandsaufnahme und Erfolgsbetrachtung. Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag, Wiesbaden
Tellis GJ (2006) Disruptive technology or visionary leadership? J Prod Innovat Manag 23:34–38
Thomond P, Lettice F, Herzberg T (2004) Disruptive innovation: enabling practitioners to tackle the “Innovators Dilemma”. With graphical techniques. In: Proceedings design to deliver: the challenge of international integration—the 11th international product development management conference
Ulwick AW (2002) Turn customer input into innovation. Harvard Bus Rev 80(1):91–97
Urban GL, Hauser JR, Qualls WJ, Weinberg BD, Bohlmann JD, Chicos RA (1997) Information acceleration: validation and lessons from the field. J Market Res 34:143–153
Yu D, Hang CC (2009) A reflective review of disruptive innovation theory. Int J Manage Rev. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00272.x
Zollenkop M (2006) Geschäftsmodellinnovation: Initiierung eines systematischen Innovationsmanagements für Geschäftsmodelle auf Basis lebenszyklusorientierter Frühaufklärung. Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag, Wiesbaden
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reinhardt, R., Gurtner, S. Enabling disruptive innovations through the use of customer analysis methods. Rev Manag Sci 5, 291–307 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-011-0069-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-011-0069-2