Exploring the Boundary Conditions of Disruption: Large Firms and New Product Introduction With a Potentially Disruptive Technology in the Industrial Robotics Industry

Abstract

We explore the boundary conditions of Christensen's theory of disruption. Using technological changes that were potentially disruptive to the manufacturers of industrial robots as the context, we find that, unlike Christensen's suggestions, large hydraulic robot manufacturers introduced new products with the disruptive technology fairly early during the changes. We extend Christensen's theory by suggesting that the boundary conditions of the theory are more nuanced than what the extant literature suggests.