Two leading digital entrepreneurial firms responded to a digital disruption differently. One adapted, whereas the other stagnated and eventually went bankrupt. In this inductive multi-case study, we strive to understand how they came to do so. Through constant comparison analysis between data, emerging theory, and existing literature, we develop a nuanced theoretical model suggesting that for entrepreneurial firms, having an abstract mission and pursuing diverse digital options actually constrain firms’ ability to respond to a digital disruption. But a specific mission and selective options enable adaptive agility. Overall, our emergent process theory highlights critically overlooked entrepreneurial firms, which are increasingly facing disruptions from powerful, established firms. Our emergent theory also prompts us to reconsider the conventional wisdom that digital options inherently enable agility.

中文翻译：

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两家创业公司、一场数字化颠覆和不同的应对措施：组织使命和体验式计算数字化选择的作用


两家领先的数字创业公司对数字化颠覆的反应不同。一个适应了，而另一个停滞不前并最终破产。在这个归纳式多案例研究中，我们努力了解他们是如何做到这一点的。通过对数据、新兴理论和现有文献的不断比较分析，我们开发了一个细致入微的理论模型，表明对于创业公司来说，拥有抽象的使命和追求多样化的数字选择实际上限制了公司应对数字颠覆的能力。但是，特定的任务和选择性选项可以实现适应性敏捷性。总体而言，我们的新兴过程理论强调了被严重忽视的创业公司，这些公司越来越多地面临来自强大的成熟公司的颠覆。我们的涌现理论还促使我们重新考虑数字选项本质上可以实现敏捷性的传统智慧。