Sometimes the scenario involves changes occurring in the business environment (e.g., technology innovations, new regulations, changes in demand patterns, distress situations involving current players in the market, etc.). Other times the scenario involves a firm implementing a strategy that creates value in a new way (e.g., through rolling up smaller firms and creating economies of scale, through some technology foundation that provides an advantage, etc.). Sometimes the scenario involves changes that undermine the current foundations for industry profitability (e.g., new competitors that overcome barriers to entry). And sometimes the scenario involves growth through the industry's expansion into new global markets or adjacency businesses. In all of these cases, when it is possible to identify a disruptive strategy that creates a "leadership position" that can be sustained, it has to be taken as a serious possibility.
Behind the Wheel
Driving merger and acquisition successes in 2011