A dilemma in response: examining the newspaper industry's response to the internet

Response to strategic change is at the heart of firm sustainability. In the case of disruptive technology, previous research shows that firms historically fail to commit resources because proposals do not fit the criteria considered in the existing resource allocation process (Christensen and Bower, 1996). The following research seeks to address the phenomenon of when incumbent do commit substantial resources, but still mismanage disruptive technology. Efforts are made to the link the resource allocation (Noda and Bower, 1996; Bower, 1970) and threat rigidity literatures (Dutton and Jackson, 1987; Staw, Sandelands, and Dutton, 1981). The analysis applies extensive longitudinal data collected from firms in the newspaper industry as they responded to the Internet. The data shows that threat framing helps build impetus and commitment for disruptive projects that would otherwise stall. However, this same threat induced action invokes a set of rigidities that prove maladaptive in the face of disruptive change....