Importance of CEO Attention in Influencing Incumbent Responses to Disruptive Innovation

Heesun Gha, Min Young Kim, Hyeon Jin Ro and Seungho Choi ()
Additional contact information
Heesun Gha: Department of International Studies and Business, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
Min Young Kim: Department of Psychology and Business, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
Hyeon Jin Ro: Department of Life Sciences and Business, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
Seungho Choi: Ewha Schoool of Business, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea

Administrative Sciences, 2023, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: This study investigates incumbent firm responses to disruptive innovation in the rapidly evolving South Korean retail industry. The study explores the factors behind an incumbent firm’s decision-making processes when responding to disruptive innovation and examines the reasons behind varied incumbent responses. It investigates the agents that influence a firm’s decision by conducting the qualitative case study of a South Korean retail giant, Lotte. By collecting archival data from various sources, this paper was able to analyze different interviews and statements of the chief executive officer (CEO). From the analysis, it was determined that the firm’s overall actions were aligned with the CEO’s assertions. Thus, this paper asserts that Lotte’s response to disruptive innovation was directly influenced by the CEO’s attention. The results of this study further add to the discourse of disruptive innovation by highlighting the importance of CEO discretion in deciding a firm’s direction and by further emphasizing the relationship between managerial leadership and innovation.

Keywords: disruptive innovation; CEO attention; incumbent response; retail; e-commerce (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/13/6/142/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/13/6/142/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:13:y:2023:i:6:p:142-:d:1158547

Access Statistics for this article

Administrative Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Nancy Ma

More articles in Administrative Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().