Decoupling: customer-centric perspectives on disruption and competitive advantage

Abstract

Purpose

The masterclass describes how companies are rapidly moving away from firm-centric views of value to a more customer-centric perspective of how value is created and co-created in an age of ubiquitous connectivity and producer-consumer real-time interaction.

Design/methodology/approach

This masterclass focuses on the insights of Harvard marketing expert Thales Teixeira’ book Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption.

Findings

Professor Teixeira argues that change in consumer behavior, rather than technology, is the primary source of disruption in many industries, particularly in those likely to be most impacted by digitization. By paying close attention to the customer’s value chain, entrepreneurs can spot potential new opportunities for disruption and incumbents can figure out how best to respond to potential challenges.

Practical implications

When delving deeply into the customer value chain for disruptive innovation opportunities, it is important to recognize that customers always pay you with three ‘currencies,’ their money, their time and their effort.

Originality/value

By highlighting the common phenomenon of decoupling and how it operates, Teixeira helps make its disruptive potential more transparent and predictable for both disruptors and incumbents alike. Teixeira’s research identified three different types of decoupling: value-creating decoupling, value-eroding decoupling and value-charging decoupling.

Citation

Leavy, B. (2020), "Decoupling: customer-centric perspectives on disruption and competitive advantage", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 48 No. 1, pp. 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/SL-10-2019-0151