What are disruptors doing? Understanding entrepreneurial practices on disruptive innovations

Ramirez Torres, Natalia Lizzeth [UCL] Jacquemin, Amélie [UCL]

Despite the growing importance of disruptive innovation, literature still lacks conversations on the entrant perspective, especially those addressing the effort at early stages to cause disruption. Prior research reveals that disruptive innovation follows a trajectory composed of three phases, but the fastest entrants' growth occurs during the first two phases. In these stages, the rate on which new entrants develop and launch product and services increase drastically. Considering that disruption occurs during this period, this study explores the entrepreneurial practices that new entrants use to accelerate their innovation processes to cause disruption. To analyze them, we use a three-tier framework that emerged from entrepreneurship research. The framework decomposes entrepreneurial methods into logic, model, and tactics. The tactical level covers the entrepreneurial practices, which is our main concern in this study. We conducted a process research approach, identifying the entrepreneurial practices on four disruptors. Then, we reconstructed and analyzed their trajectories across 311 events. Early quantitative analysis revealed confirmation of their disruptive roadmap. Further results identify entrepreneurial practices overlaps among their journeys, recognizing mostly iterative and effectual practices behind the disruption. Additionally, we distinguish the operationalization behind the new entrants' strategies to change their innovation processes' pace to seek recognition and legitimation. Findings from this study can help entrepreneurs and scholars point out how disruptive innovations could purposefully be created.