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To develop sustainable competitive advantages, organizations, young and old, strive for continuous improvement (Thompson et al. [2014]). At the very core of continuous improvement is innovation (Christensen [1992]; Schumpeter [1943]). Innovative firms are at the cusp of new product, service, and technological advancement (Koskinen [2005]). These new offerings have a shelflife, however, meaning that the glory associated with the competitive advantage gained from them does not last forever-they are subject to a life cycle.
Life cycle theory of products, innovations, and businesses, from young start-ups to well-established firms, is founded in biology (Lichtenstein and Lyons [2008]; JurgensKowal [2012]). Just like animals, plants, and all living organisms, in general, there is a birth, growth, maturity, and eventually, death of organizations, technologies, and innovations. Based on the life cycle of living organisms, the S-curve was developed to capture the progressive destruction of technologies from nascence to death (Lichtenstein and Lyons [2008]), which follows an "S" trajectory with slow growth followed by rapid financial gains that lead to maturity and, eventually, decline.
In the innovation literature, the technology S-curve theory is based on the premise that as technologies mature, they become obsolete (Christensen [1992]). In the diffusion of technology literature, the innovation adoption curve is used to project the life cycle stages of innovations (Rogers [2010]). To prolong the life cycles of these innovations, additional resources are required, but with the additional effort at latter stages in the trajectory, organizations are typically faced with depreciating returns (Rifkin [1994]). However, if organizations can pivot at the right time, by releasing new technologies into the market, mortality can be avoided (JurgensKowal [2012]). In this way, organizations attempt to strive for continuous innovation (Zawisklack et al. [2009]) to sustain longterm performance goals (Aragon-Correa [2007]; Christensen [1992]; Kaplan [1999]; Lyon and Ferrier [2002]).
Although perhaps easier said than done, many organizations fall to the same fate- peddling obsolete technologies and failing to jump the notorious S-curve onto the next innovation (Rifkin [1994]). Companies that fail to make this leap of faith often lose their industry leading positions (Christensen [1992]. It happens not only to mediocre companies, but also to some of the most successful companies (Rifkin [1994])-Research in Motion, the makers of the Blackberry Smartphone, is a case in point.
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