# Incumbent failure `kaal:entity:incumbent-failure` **Status.** derived This node is assembled mechanically from the 10 claims that carry the concept tag `incumbent-failure`. It is a roster of what the corpus says under this term. It is **not** an adjudicated definition: no single statement here has been ruled canonical, and no first-appearance call has been made. Read the claims and judge for yourself. ## Every claim under this term 10 claims across 3 works, 2016 to 2021. **2016** - [2808132-007](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2808132-007) [failure/evidenced] *(failure mode)* -- A market leader's failure to invest in disruptive technologies often results in an abrupt loss of market dominance and frequently in total replacement in that market. > technology. 36 A market leader's lack of investment in disruptive technologies often results in the abrupt loss of market dominance and often even total replacement in such markets.37 Market leaders often shortsightedly refuse to cannibalize their market dominance Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen, How to Regulate Disruptive Innovation - From Facts to Data (2016). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2808132 - [2808132-008](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2808132-008) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- Market leaders, successful institutions, and managers fail specifically when they do not distinguish sustaining technologies from disruptive technologies. > markets.38 Market leaders, successful institutions, and managers fail when they do not distinguish sustaining technologies from disruptive technologies.39 Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen, How to Regulate Disruptive Innovation - From Facts to Data (2016). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2808132 **2019** - [3411897-010](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3411897-010) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- Market leaders, successful institutions, and managers fail specifically when they do not distinguish sustaining technologies from disruptive technologies. > Market leaders, successful institutions, and managers fail when they do not distinguish sustaining technologies from disruptive technologies. Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization - Past, Present, and Future (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3411897 - [3411897-011](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3411897-011) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- A market leader's lack of investment in disruptive technologies often causes abrupt loss of market dominance and even total replacement, because market leaders shortsightedly refuse to cannibalize their own dominance through disruptive technologies. > A market leader's lack of investment in disruptive technologies often results in the abrupt loss of market dominance and often even total replacement in such markets. Market leaders often shortsightedly refuse to cannibalize their market dominance through the use of disruptive technologies. Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization - Past, Present, and Future (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3411897 - [3411897-012](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3411897-012) [failure/evidenced] *(failure mode)* -- Nokia, Kodak, and Blackberry all collapsed after fast changes in their markets rendered their products and services irrelevant, illustrating that successful companies drift into obscurity when they fail to embrace change. > examples of successful companies that drifted into obscurity after failing to embrace change. Nokia, Kodak, and Blackberry are prominent examples. All these firms collapsed after fast changes in their respective markets rendered their products/services irrelevant. Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization - Past, Present, and Future (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3411897 - [3411897-013](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3411897-013) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- Less successful companies share a myopic short term focus on shareholder value maximization, which produces an unhealthy emphasis on share price, market valuations, and financial metrics that obscure issues of relevancy. > Less successful companies often share a myopic and short-term focus on shareholder value maximization that has led to an unhealthy emphasis on firm share price, market valuations, and financial metrics that obscure issues of relevancy. Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization - Past, Present, and Future (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3411897 - [3411897-014](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3411897-014) [failure/evidenced] *(failure mode)* -- Microsoft under Steve Ballmer missed the shift to networked technologies and mobile consumption because it focused on short term financial metrics rather than on designing products relevant to the next generation of consumers, and so ceased to be relevant despite excellent traditional metrics. > Microsoft missed these developments because it focused on short-term financial metrics, rather than on designing products relevant for the next generation of consumers. Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization - Past, Present, and Future (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3411897 - [3411897-016](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3411897-016) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- RegLegalTech startups will force the legal profession to innovate, but that task is not easily accomplished by overextended and cumbersome legal organizations that have lost the capacity for agile reinvention. > Second, and most importantly, the legal profession will be forced by such startup companies to innovate, a task that is not easily accomplished by overextended, and often cumbersome, legal organizations that have lost the capacity for agile reinvention. Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization - Past, Present, and Future (2019). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3411897 **2021** - [3808859-002](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3808859-002) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- Market leaders fail against disruptive technologies because they shortsightedly refuse to cannibalize their own dominant position, and that refusal often produces abrupt loss of market dominance or total replacement. > A market leader's lack of investment in disruptive technologies often results in the abrupt loss of market dominance or even total replacement in such markets. Market leaders often shortsightedly refuse to cannibalize their market dominance Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization – Why We Need Technology Infrastructure Upgrades (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3808859 - [3808859-003](https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3808859-003) [failure/argued] *(failure mode)* -- Firms that fare worst under disruptive innovation share a myopic short-term focus on shareholder value maximization, because emphasis on share price and financial metrics obscures the question of whether the firm remains relevant. > Less successful companies often share a myopic and short-term focus on shareholder value maximization that has led to an unhealthy emphasis on firm share price, market valuations, and financial metrics that obscure issues of relevancy. Wulf A. Kaal, Decentralization – Why We Need Technology Infrastructure Upgrades (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3808859 ## Verify Every claim above resolves to a record carrying a verbatim source quote, the sha256 of the source PDF, and a preformatted citation. Nothing here asks to be taken on trust. curl -s https://wulfkaal.github.io/entities/incumbent-failure.md | sha256sum **Canonical form.** This markdown file is the canonical hashed representation of this entity node. Its sha256 is the content hash.