Disruptive innovation in a dynamic environment: a winning strategy? An illustration through the analysis of the yoghurt industry in Algeria

Abstract

Disruptive strategies have only been studied in stable environments. To overcome this limitation, this article aims to show through an in-depth study of the main actors in the yoghurt industry in Algeria that these strategies are possible in a dynamic environment. This research was carried out on the basis of an exploratory qualitative study. We have focused our efforts on two types of players, including new entrants and incumbent businesses. Our results show that the strong factors of the competitive dynamics pushed companies and industries to undertake disruptive innovation, which strategy became an indispensable element to survive and succeed for all the actors in the industry. Overall, our study indicates that the link between the competitive dynamics and disruptive innovation is not only in need of, but is deserving of, more consideration.