IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/infome/v19y2025i3s1751157725000677.html

Small but not least changes: The art of creating disruptive innovations

Author

Listed:
  • He, Youwei
  • Lee, Jeong-Dong

Abstract

In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, product innovation arises through the replacement of outdated technologies with novel advancements or through technological recombination. This study employs a genetic framework to represent products, extracting chromosomal data to construct a comprehensive product influence network of automobiles using a phylogenetic approach. By introducing the “Product Disruption Index” —inspired by the D index—into the product similarity space, we measure a product’s disruptiveness. Our findings on the decline in disruptiveness of automotive products align with trends observed in previous studies on patents and publications, and the Product Disruption Index is further validated and its credibility reinforced through two compelling case studies. Our statistical analysis reveals that disruptive innovations often arise from minor yet pivotal modifications. Furthermore, inheriting superior technologies from predecessors and making slight adjustments to key technologies are more effective in enhancing a product’s disruptiveness than extensive technological changes. Indeed, small steps taken on the shoulders of giants can lead to significant breakthroughs in disruptive innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • He, Youwei & Lee, Jeong-Dong, 2025. "Small but not least changes: The art of creating disruptive innovations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:19:y:2025:i:3:s1751157725000677
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2025.101703
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751157725000677
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.joi.2025.101703?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Seunghyun Oh & Jaewoong Choi & Namuk Ko & Janghyeok Yoon, 2020. "Predicting product development directions for new product planning using patent classification-based link prediction," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 1833-1876, December.
    2. Ben-Slimane, Karim & Diridollou, Cédric & Hamadache, Karim, 2020. "The legitimation strategies of early stage disruptive innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    3. Lingfei Wu & Dashun Wang & James A. Evans, 2019. "Large teams develop and small teams disrupt science and technology," Nature, Nature, vol. 566(7744), pages 378-382, February.
    4. Donthu, Naveen & Kumar, Satish & Mukherjee, Debmalya & Pandey, Nitesh & Lim, Weng Marc, 2021. "How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 285-296.
    5. Petersen, Alexander Michael & Arroyave, Felber J. & Pammolli, Fabio, 2025. "The disruption index suffers from citation inflation: Re-analysis of temporal CD trend and relationship with team size reveal discrepancies," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    6. Mahmood Khosrowjerdi & Lutz Bornmann, 2019. "Is culture related to strong science? An empirical investigation," Papers 1909.04521, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2021.
    7. Schubert, András, 2012. "Jazz discometrics – A network approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 480-484.
    8. Benzidia, Smaïl & Luca, Ruxandra Monica & Boiko, Sergiy, 2021. "Disruptive innovation, business models, and encroachment strategies: Buyer's perspective on electric and hybrid vehicle technology," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    9. Petr Heneberg, 2013. "Supposedly uncited articles of Nobel laureates and Fields medalists can be prevalently attributed to the errors of omission and commission," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 64(3), pages 448-454, March.
    10. Kara Kedrick & Ekaterina Levitskaya & Russell J. Funk, 2024. "Conceptual structure and the growth of scientific knowledge," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(10), pages 1915-1923, October.
    11. Jeong, Dawoon & Lee, Jeong-Dong, 2024. "Where and how does a product evolve? Product innovation pattern in product lineage," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    12. Macher, Jeffrey T. & Rutzer, Christian & Weder, Rolf, 2024. "Is there a secular decline in disruptive patents? Correcting for measurement bias," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    13. Dosi, Giovanni, 1993. "Technological paradigms and technological trajectories : A suggested interpretation of the determinants and directions of technical change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 102-103, April.
    14. Xia Cao & Xin Zhang & ZeYu Xing, 2024. "Exploring the formation mechanism of new energy vehicle industry-university-research innovation network: the role of structural, cognitive and relational social capital," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(6), pages 3045-3065, June.
    15. Michael Park & Erin Leahey & Russell J. Funk, 2023. "Papers and patents are becoming less disruptive over time," Nature, Nature, vol. 613(7942), pages 138-144, January.
    16. Louis Rhéaume & Mickaël Gardoni, 2017. "Infocom business models innovation with the development of corporate universities," International Journal of Innovation and Learning, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 21(1), pages 98-113.
    17. R. Alexander Bentley & Sergi Valverde & Joshua Borycz & Blai Vidiella & Benjamin D. Horne & Salva Duran-Nebreda & Michael J. O’Brien, 2023. "Is Disruption Decreasing, Or Is It Accelerating?," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 26(02), pages 1-9, March.
    18. Dotsika, Fefie & Watkins, Andrew, 2017. "Identifying potentially disruptive trends by means of keyword network analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 114-127.
    19. Nicholas Argyres & Lyda Bigelow & Jack A. Nickerson, 2015. "Dominant designs, innovation shocks, and the follower's dilemma," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 216-234, February.
    20. Muñoz, María M. & Rojas-de-Gracia, María-Mercedes & Navas-Sarasola, Carlos, 2022. "Measuring engagement on twitter using a composite index: An application to social media influencers," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4).
    21. Masood, Muhammad Ali & Abbasi, Rabeeh Ayaz, 2021. "Using graph embedding and machine learning to identify rebels on twitter," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1).
    22. Arthur, W. Brian, 2007. "The structure of invention," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 274-287, March.
    23. Yiling Lin & Carl Benedikt Frey & Lingfei Wu, 2022. "Remote Collaboration Fuses Fewer Breakthrough Ideas," Papers 2206.01878, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2023.
    24. Sam Arts & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2015. "Technology familiarity, recombinant novelty, and breakthrough invention," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(6), pages 1215-1246.
    25. Godart, Frédéric & Pistilli, Luca, 2024. "The multifaceted concept of disruption: A typology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    26. Zhang, Jun & Guo, Ruey-Shan, 2016. "The D-Day, V-Day, and bleak days of a disruptive technology: A new model for ex-ante evaluation of the timing of technology disruptionAuthor-Name: Chen, Chialin," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 251(2), pages 562-574.
    27. Nelson, Richard R & Winter, Sidney G, 1982. "The Schumpeterian Tradeoff Revisited," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(1), pages 114-132, March.
    28. Karim Ben Slimane & Cédric Diridollou & Karim Hamadache, 2020. "The legitimation strategies of early stage disruptive innovation," Post-Print hal-02892879, HAL.
    29. Patrick Georges & Aylin Seckin, 2022. "Music information visualization and classical composers discovery: an application of network graphs, multidimensional scaling, and support vector machines," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2277-2311, May.
    30. Feng, Jie & Papatla, Purushottam, 2012. "Is Online Word of Mouth Higher for New Models or Redesigns? An Investigation of the Automobile Industry," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 92-101.
    31. Erwin Danneels & Gianmario Verona & Bernardino Provera, 2018. "Overcoming the inertia of organizational competence: Olivetti’s transition from mechanical to electronic technology," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(3), pages 595-618.
    32. Petr Heneberg, 2013. "Supposedly uncited articles of Nobel laureates and Fields medalists can be prevalently attributed to the errors of omission and commission," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 64(3), pages 448-454, March.
    33. Jee, Jeonghun & Park, Sanghyun & Lee, Sungjoo, 2022. "Potential of patent image data as technology intelligence source," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2).
    34. Harzing, Anne-Wil & Giroud, Axèle, 2014. "The competitive advantage of nations: An application to academia," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 29-42.
    35. Fontana, Magda & Iori, Martina & Montobbio, Fabio & Sinatra, Roberta, 2020. "New and atypical combinations: An assessment of novelty and interdisciplinarity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    36. Alexander M. Petersen, 2022. "Evolution of biomedical innovation quantified via billions of distinct article-level MeSH keyword combinations," Papers 2205.11632, arXiv.org.
    37. Mu-Hsuan Huang & Li-Yun Chiang & Dar-Zen Chen, 2003. "Constructing a patent citation map using bibliographic coupling: A study of Taiwan's high-tech companies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 58(3), pages 489-506, November.
    38. Houqiang Yu & Biegzat Murat & Longfei Li & Tingting Xiao, 2021. "How accurate are Twitter and Facebook altmetrics data? A comparative content analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(5), pages 4437-4463, May.
    39. Utterback, James M & Abernathy, William J, 1975. "A dynamic model of process and product innovation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 3(6), pages 639-656, December.
    40. Wang, Xiaoli & Liang, Wenting & Ye, Xuanting & Chen, Lingdi & Liu, Yun, 2024. "Disruptive development path measurement for emerging technologies based on the patent citation network," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1).
    41. Yiling Lin & Carl Benedikt Frey & Lingfei Wu, 2023. "Remote collaboration fuses fewer breakthrough ideas," Nature, Nature, vol. 623(7989), pages 987-991, November.
    42. Sull, Donald N., 1999. "The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire & Rubber and the Radial Revolution," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(3), pages 430-464, October.
    43. Ching T. Liao, 2022. "Skill improvement by product imitation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1563-1577, March.
    44. Russell J. Funk & Jason Owen-Smith, 2017. "A Dynamic Network Measure of Technological Change," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(3), pages 791-817, March.
    45. Ruan, Xuanmin & Lyu, Dongqing & Gong, Kaile & Cheng, Ying & Li, Jiang, 2021. "Rethinking the disruption index as a measure of scientific and technological advances," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    46. Khosrowjerdi, Mahmood & Bornmann, Lutz, 2021. "Is culture related to strong science? An empirical investigation," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4).
    47. Hoyoon Lee & Dawoon Jeong & Jeong-Dong Lee, 2023. "Drivers of institutional evolution: phylogenetic inertia and ecological pressure," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 279-308, April.
    48. Csomós, György & Tóth, Géza, 2016. "Exploring the position of cities in global corporate research and development: A bibliometric analysis by two different geographical approaches," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 516-532.
    49. Wang, Xiaoguang & He, Jing & Huang, Han & Wang, Hongyu, 2022. "MatrixSim: A new method for detecting the evolution paths of research topics," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4).
    50. Clayton M. Christensen & Rory McDonald & Elizabeth J. Altman & Jonathan E. Palmer, 2018. "Disruptive Innovation: An Intellectual History and Directions for Future Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(7), pages 1043-1078, November.
    51. Giuseppe Carignani & Gino Cattani & Giusi Zaina, 2019. "Evolutionary chimeras: a Woesian perspective of radical innovation," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(3), pages 511-528.
    52. Feng Shi & James Evans, 2023. "Surprising combinations of research contents and contexts are related to impact and emerge with scientific outsiders from distant disciplines," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    53. Vilker Zucolotto Pessin & Luciana Harue Yamane & Renato Ribeiro Siman, 2022. "Smart bibliometrics: an integrated method of science mapping and bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3695-3718, June.
    54. Yu, Houqiang & Xu, Shenmeng & Xiao, Tingting, 2018. "Is there Lingua Franca in informal scientific communication? Evidence from language distribution of scientific tweets," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 605-617.
    55. Daron Acemoglu & Ufuk Akcigit & Murat Alp Celik, 2022. "Radical and Incremental Innovation: The Roles of Firms, Managers, and Innovators," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 199-249, July.
    56. En-Gir Kim & Se-Hak Chun, 2019. "Analyzing Online Car Reviews Using Text Mining," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-22, March.
    57. Pino, Cesar & Felzensztein, Christian & Zwerg-Villegas, Anne Marie & Arias-Bolzmann, Leopoldo, 2016. "Non-technological innovations: Market performance of exporting firms in South America," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4385-4393.
    58. Alexander M. Petersen, 2022. "EVOLUTION OF BIOMEDICAL INNOVATION QUANTIFIED VIA BILLIONS OF DISTINCT ARTICLE-LEVEL MeSH KEYWORD COMBINATIONS," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 25(01), pages 1-19, February.
    59. Lee Fleming, 2001. "Recombinant Uncertainty in Technological Search," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(1), pages 117-132, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yang, Alex J., 2025. "Text vs. citations: A comparative analysis of breakthrough and disruption metrics in patent innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(8).
    2. Dawoon Jeong & Jeong-Dong Lee, 2025. "Mapping product development trajectories: product citation network," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 130(8), pages 4667-4696, August.
    3. Petersen, Alexander Michael & Arroyave, Felber J. & Pammolli, Fabio, 2025. "The disruption index suffers from citation inflation: Re-analysis of temporal CD trend and relationship with team size reveal discrepancies," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    4. Wu, Keye & Leng, Rhodri Ivor & Hou, Wanfang, 2026. "Weak ties matter for scientific innovation: The dual perspectives of knowledge recombination network and collaboration network," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1).
    5. Lutz Bornmann & Russell J. Funk, 2025. "Popper’s probability calculus and the decline of scientific disruptiveness," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 130(8), pages 4801-4807, August.
    6. Alex J. Yang & Hongcun Gong & Yuhao Wang & Chao Zhang & Sanhong Deng, 2024. "Rescaling the disruption index reveals the universality of disruption distributions in science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(1), pages 561-580, January.
    7. Christian Rutzer & Dragan Filimonovic & Jeffrey T. Macher & Rolf Weder, 2026. "Towards Measuring Disruptive Innovation Across Countries," Papers 2603.17881, arXiv.org.
    8. Seungmin Lee & Jeong-Dong Lee & Youwei He, 2025. "Exaptation: unveiling the potential for technological innovation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 130(7), pages 3483-3503, July.
    9. Ziyan Zhang & Junyan Zhang & Pushi Wang, 2024. "Measurement of disruptive innovation and its validity based on improved disruption index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(11), pages 6477-6531, November.
    10. Yi Zhao & Chengzhi Zhang, 2025. "A review on the novelty measurements of academic papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 130(2), pages 727-753, February.
    11. Yang, Alex J., 2024. "On the temporal diversity of knowledge in science," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4).
    12. Hongkan Chen & Lutz Bornmann & Yi Bu, 2025. "Hot streaks and disruptiveness in the career of scientists: is there an association between both phenomena?," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    13. Sam Arts & Nicola Melluso & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2023. "Beyond Citations: Measuring Novel Scientific Ideas and their Impact in Publication Text," Papers 2309.16437, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2024.
    14. Kok, Holmer & Monroe, Joseph & Kappen, Philip, 2025. "Trajectory integration and the impact of inventions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    15. Christian Leibel & Lutz Bornmann, 2024. "Specification uncertainty: what the disruption index tells us about the (hidden) multiverse of bibliometric indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(12), pages 7971-7979, December.
    16. Alex Jie Yang & Jianming Guo & Yujie Shi & Sanhong Deng & Star X. Zhao, 2025. "Repeat collaboration and scientific innovation: evidence from dynamic ego networks of Nobel laureates," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    17. Macher, Jeffrey T. & Rutzer, Christian & Weder, Rolf, 2024. "Is there a secular decline in disruptive patents? Correcting for measurement bias," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    18. Yang, Alex J. & Zhang, Yiqin & Wang, Zuorong & Wang, Hao & Deng, Sanhong, 2025. "Quantifying delayed recognition of scientists," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3).
    19. Yang, Alex J., 2024. "Unveiling the impact and dual innovation of funded research," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1).
    20. Xu, Zhenzhen & Huang, Shengzhi & Zhang, Fan & Lu, Wei & Huang, Yong & Lu, Na, 2025. "Quantifying the disruptiveness of a paper by analyzing how it overshadows its successors," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:19:y:2025:i:3:s1751157725000677. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/joi .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.