Responding to disruptive innovation may be one of the greatest
challenges managers in established firms face. On the one hand, they’ve
been warned that disruption can sneak up and destroy their business. On
the other, experience tells them that disruptions can take years, even
decades, to play out. And some that threaten never occur at all. Whether
a company moves too early to adopt a disruptive technology or too late,
it ends up wasting resources and squandering competitive advantage. In
this article, the authors outline an effective way to manage the
uncertain transition from an established technology, service, or
business model to a disruptive one. Companies should develop hybrids,
which combine elements from a disruptive technology with the current
technology to create a new offering that sits between competing
innovation generations: Think Prius, which combines elements from both
internal combustion and electric engines. The authors identify seven
types of hybrids that companies can use, depending on whether a
disruption is already under way, just getting started, and/or a distant
possibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]