Corporate strategies for identifying and responding to disruptive technologies

Disruptive Technology

Focus on how a company might use the knowledge that there is a disruptive technology out there.

If a company knew of the existence of a potentially disruptive technology to their current market position, the company could attempt to circumvent the potential encroachment by addressing the needs the new technology focused upon, but with the aim of making their existing technology cheaper, faster, or better, yet still addressing the same needs targeted by the disruptive technology. Also, as disruptive technologies tend to be initially inferior in quality, such as the early, inefficient automobiles that replaced horses and buggies, a company could attempt to focus on improving the quality of its existing product so the disruptive technology would appear even more inferior in relation to the existing product.

How would a company organize so that they would have a good chance of knowing about the technology?

Often, it does not 'pay' in the short-term for a company to recognize a disruptive technology, as they are initially inferior in quality. However, by keeping apace of industry trends and consumer desires, it can be better poised to be aware of potential threats, as these are areas disruptive technologies often wish to target.

What strategies might they use when they do identify a technology that could be disruptive?