Radical innovations are often characterized by a rapid shift from one dominant design to another. The theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation present two important and independent explanations for why these shifts occur. This research tests the usefulness of combining these two theories into a single integrated typology. First, a typology is constructed that classifies shifts in dominant designs according to the theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation. Next, the usefulness of this typology is tested with a taxonomy derived from 100 randomly selected shifts in dominant designs from across a broad range of industries. This research reconciles the theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation and proposes an integrated typology to assist managers in determining the circumstances under which each theory is best applied. Additionally, the resulting taxonomy suggests anomalies—shifts in dominant design that are not well classified by either theory—that illuminate promising avenues for future research.
","abstract_html":"<p>Radical innovations are often characterized by a rapid shift from one dominant design to another. The theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation present two important and independent explanations for why these shifts occur. This research tests the usefulness of combining these two theories into a single integrated typology. First, a typology is constructed that classifies shifts in dominant designs according to the theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation. Next, the usefulness of this typology is tested with a taxonomy derived from 100 randomly selected shifts in dominant designs from across a broad range of industries. This research reconciles the theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation and proposes an integrated typology to assist managers in determining the circumstances under which each theory is best applied. Additionally, the resulting taxonomy suggests anomalies—shifts in dominant design that are not well classified by either theory—that illuminate promising avenues for future research.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kern, David Jeffery"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Engineering Management & Systems Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Rafael Landaeta","Resit Unal","Ariel Pinto","Anil Nair"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2009-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:34:25Z","subjects":["Radical innovations","Typology","Designs","Industrial Engineering","Systems Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9781109335972"],"render_values":[{"text":"9781109335972","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/emse_etds/93","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Rafael Landaeta","Resit Unal","Ariel Pinto","Anil Nair"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kern, David Jeffery"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-03-15T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Engineering Management & Systems Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Radical innovations","Typology","Designs","Industrial Engineering","Systems Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9781109335972","https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/emse_etds/93"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Radical innovations are often characterized by a rapid shift from one dominant design to another. The theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation present two important and independent explanations for why these shifts occur. This research tests the usefulness of combining these two theories into a single integrated typology. First, a typology is constructed that classifies shifts in dominant designs according to the theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation. Next, the usefulness of this typology is tested with a taxonomy derived from 100 randomly selected shifts in dominant designs from across a broad range of industries. This research reconciles the theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation and proposes an integrated typology to assist managers in determining the circumstances under which each theory is best applied. Additionally, the resulting taxonomy suggests anomalies—shifts in dominant design that are not well classified by either theory—that illuminate promising avenues for future research.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Reconciling Discontinuities and Disruptions: The Construction of an Integrated Typology"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Rafael Landaeta","Resit Unal","Ariel Pinto","Anil Nair"],"dc:creator":["Kern, David Jeffery"],"dc:date.available":["2019-03-15T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Radical innovations are often characterized by a rapid shift from one dominant design to another. The theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation present two important and independent explanations for why these shifts occur. This research tests the usefulness of combining these two theories into a single integrated typology. First, a typology is constructed that classifies shifts in dominant designs according to the theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation. Next, the usefulness of this typology is tested with a taxonomy derived from 100 randomly selected shifts in dominant designs from across a broad range of industries. This research reconciles the theories of discontinuous and disruptive innovation and proposes an integrated typology to assist managers in determining the circumstances under which each theory is best applied. Additionally, the resulting taxonomy suggests anomalies—shifts in dominant design that are not well classified by either theory—that illuminate promising avenues for future research.
"],"dc:identifier":["9781109335972","https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/emse_etds/93"],"dc:subject":["Radical innovations","Typology","Designs","Industrial Engineering","Systems Engineering"],"dc:title":["Reconciling Discontinuities and Disruptions: The Construction of an Integrated Typology"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Engineering Management & Systems Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:34:25Z"}