Innovator Dilemma vs. Innovator Phenomena: The Theory of the Firm’s Phenomena

The article discusses the challenge faced by established firms in mastering the economics of choosing. There are unresolved relationships between technical-technological, economic, and social aspects within firms. The article proposes the unification of the Innovator Dilemma and Innovator Phenomena to reconcile candidate innovation methods. The article argues that disruptive innovation originates from a shift of a technical-technological component, while the capability principle is advocated as the best method to reach the economics of choosing. However, practitioners acknowledge the insufficiency of this method. The proposal is to extend the repertoire of capabilities with a disruptive capability that reveals a much larger systemic economic phenomenon. Reconciled candidate innovation methods include both the technical-technological and organizational fronts. The article also discusses disruptive innovation capability, path dependency, and capabilities theory. A new repertoire of action is needed to isolate a firm's disruptive capability that will be instrumental in reconfiguring.