A practical handbook examining how established businesses can use their unique advantages to fight back and win in a digital arena too often dominated by tech start-ups, disruptors and unicorns. The big tech companies (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft) have had an enormous impact on our everyday lives. A new wave of start-ups in the tech sector has dominated the press and swallowed up huge amounts of investment. But what about those established companies in the traditional parts of the world's economies, from energy, industrial and consumer goods to travel and health? They rarely got a mention. Everyone was talking about the disrupters – the start-ups and the entrepreneurs – and not about the incumbents. This book is a call for a reality check.
For at the core of our established companies are capabilities and qualities that remain highly relevant in the digital age. They are often market leaders for very good reasons – they know their customers and markets well, and they have great product, sales and marketing expertise. They are operationally savvy and financially strong, with deep insights into areas of expertise that no one else has, giving them a unique advantage.
John Fallon and Julian Birkinshaw have come to a clear conclusion: incumbents are not going quietly into that dark night. Organizations will need to jettison their analogue baggage and infrastructure and embrace digital transformation. They will survive and they will prosper. And this shows how they are doing it.
©
2025
Julian Birkinshaw, John Fallon and Adam Bouzelmate
