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Creativity in strategic lock-ins: The newspaper industry and the digital revolution

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  • Rothmann, Wasko
  • Koch, Jochen

Abstract

During the last decade newspapers all over the world have faced a severe and in many cases even existential crisis. At the same time, the technology for producing and supplying journalistic content has changed dramatically. While digitalization, along with socio-cultural and technological changes, threatened the established newspaper business models and therefore increased the necessity for change, it simultaneously offered various opportunities to establish new business models, not least for quality journalism, which is crucial to a vital democracy. Adopting a strategy process perspective and introducing the concepts of “horizontal” and “vertical” creativity, we analyze how the key players in the quality-newspaper sector in Germany have tried to benefit from digitalization and why they have failed so far. Our analysis of select cases shows that, under specific conditions, organizations tend to use up all their creative potential in order to maintain problematic strategies rather than explore new ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Rothmann, Wasko & Koch, Jochen, 2014. "Creativity in strategic lock-ins: The newspaper industry and the digital revolution," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 66-83.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:83:y:2014:i:c:p:66-83
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2013.03.005
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    3. Joern Hoppmann & Alice Sakhel & Marcel Richert, 2018. "With a little help from a stranger: The impact of external change agents on corporate sustainability investments," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1052-1066, November.
    4. Johann Fortwengel & Arne Keller, 2020. "Agency in the face of path dependence: how organizations can regain scope for maneuver," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(3), pages 1169-1201, November.
    5. Wenzel, Matthias & Will, Matthias Georg, 2019. "The communicative constitution of academic fields in the digital age: The case of CSR," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 517-533.
    6. Bohnsack, René & Kurtz, Hannes & Hanelt, André, 2021. "Re-examining path dependence in the digital age: The evolution of connected car business models," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    7. Wang, Lili & Jiang, Shan & Zhang, Shiyun, 2020. "Mapping technological trajectories and exploring knowledge sources: A case study of 3D printing technologies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    8. Wu, Linfei & Sun, Liwen & Chang, Qing & Zhang, Die & Qi, Peixiao, 2022. "How do digitalization capabilities enable open innovation in manufacturing enterprises? A multiple case study based on resource integration perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).

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