A Kuhnian Analysis of Revolutionary Digital Disruptions

Abstract: Disruption has become a term of fashion. While overused, disruption refers to an important phenomenon; how certain new technologies bring about profound changes to markets and society, thereby devaluing established business practices. Since the dominant theory, Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation, focuses only on one narrow aspect of the disruption phenomenon, alternative approaches are needed to theorise how digital technologies bring about revolutionary changes to industries and society more broadly. We propose to consider disruption akin to a Kuhnian revolution. By drawing direct parallels between paradigmatic shifts in scientific fields and technology-induced industry disruptions, we come to understand disruption as a shift in understanding that fundamentally alters what counts as customer value or product quality and as a result puts the industry on a new trajectory. We draw on the music industry to illustrate our line of argument.