Digital Disruption: Examples of Disruptive Organizations

This report discusses the impact of digital disruption on global business and provides examples of organizations that have created significant marks in their respective industries. The report covers disruptive organizations such as Fitbit, Airbnb, Facebook, Netflix and more.

Trends in global business
Digital Disruption

Introduction
Digital disruption is predominantly any kind of disruption that has been created due to the onset
of technology and has adversely impacted the value offered by existing products or services in
the industries. These disruptions have changed industries, consumer behaviors, spending
patterns, attitudes and preferences. Digitally disruptive businesses are extremely important for
the economic growth of a country. They aim to change the way in which people lead their
everyday lives. This report specifies certain examples of digitally disruptive organizations that
have changed economies, industries and human lifestyles (McQuivey, 2013). All these
organizations have created a significant mark in this world and in their respective industries.
Most of these organizations started on a minute level and then suddenly grew to such a massive
extent that it created disruption in the market.
Digital disruptions are not limited to cities or countries. The increasing globalization has made it
possible for people, resources, technology or even ideas to travel from one part of the world to
another (Lindgren, 2013). This is what made it possible for these digitally disruptive
organizations to grab their hold in many different regions of the world. At present, we are
leading technologically advanced lives than all the generations that existed before us. Our
smartphones are capable of conducting various tasks of our everyday lives. Digitalization of the
world has made life convenient but it has also enhanced our dependence on technology.
Therefore it is our responsibility to use this technology in the most effective manner.
Fitness band
Monitoring health has never been as easy as it is right now. Earlier, checking body temperature
and blood pressure required a trip to the doctor’s clinic. However, self-monitoring of health has
been widely accepted and propagated around the world. Fitness bands need to be tied around the
waist and then they can calculate the number of steps taken in a day, calories burnt, heart rate
and blood pressure (Gellerstedt, 2016). These bands are convenient to use and have made people
increasingly health conscious.
Fitbit was first launched in 2007. The product Fitbit has been widely accepted across the globe
and people are actively using it. Since 2010, Fitbit has sold over 38 million devices worldwide

(Statista, 2018). The fitness industry’s disruption has occurred with the advent of fitness bands.
This massive acceptance towards the product has been possible owing to certain reasons. Firstly,
the advent of technology has made it possible for people to accept these bands. Technology can
be trusted and hence people believe that the data depicted by the fitness band is correct (Baalbaki
et. al., 2017). Secondly, a changing lifestyle has been observed over the last 10 years. People are
becoming increasingly health conscious and their focus on getting healthier is increasing (Terry,
2015). Young girls and boys are becoming concerned about how many calories they intake, their
number of steps taken per day and their sleep schedule (Fagan, 2017). This changing lifestyle
provided fitness bands with an outlet to penetrate deep into the market.
Fitness industry before the launch of fitness bands was limited to gymnasiums, yoga clinics and
fitness centers. These places had experts who would guide customers regarding their work out.
Today, people prefer going for a run and measuring their steps taken. This disruption has
changed people’s approach to health and reduced their dependency on others. The future appears
bright for fitness bands. The technology is expected to improve further and it will be possible for
the band to track other details of individual health.
Ecommerce
Convenience in shopping has been one of the biggest advantages of digital disruption. Buying
products and services is a single click away and that has been possible because of the advent of
technology. Buying clothes, shoes, groceries, food, bags and everything else is possible through
a single smartphone while sitting in any part of the world. Amazon, the ecommerce giant is
renowned to offer products spanning across many product lines. The advent of Ecommerce and
players like Alibaba, Flipkart and Amazon have changed the way this industry operates.
Initial if an individual had to buy something, the only way to do that was to figure out where it is
available, go to that place and buy it. Today people can window shop millions of items while
watching television or travelling to work. The disruption caused by Ecommerce has been
possible because people around the world have widely accepted technology and these leading
brands are adding convenience to an individual’s life (Miller, 2012). The advent of Ecommerce
has also changed other industries. Besides this, the digitalization has allowed consumers to buy

food and medicines online. People can book their movie tickets and salon services with a single
click and this is what has made all the difference.
Every leading brand has an online platform to target its technologically savvy customers. There
is no denying that technology has made it easier for customers to buy and sell products through
online platforms. The acceptance towards this model and the efficiency of it have disrupted the
brick and mortar businesses spread across the globe. Online goods are available in people’s
phones, they get delivered at the doorstep of the consumer and are often priced lesser than
products sold offline because of economies of scale. Ecommerce has changed consumer
preferences, consumer attitudes and their buying behaviour by offering them something highly
effective, convenient and reliable. More and more businesses are entering into and adopting this
model for improved sales and the number will continue to grow. What is yet to see is that
Ecommerce giants are already in the middle of a price war and it will be interesting to
understand how new players compete with them and how the existing players would continue to
survive with the ongoing price war.
Airbnb
It is impossible to discuss digital disruption and not mention Airbnb. The brand has single
handedly changed the shape of the hospitality industry. Even though, new players have now
begun to enter the market, for a long time, Airbnb was a one of a kind platform for a long time in
the industry. The hospitality industry itself is massive and caters to a wide number of customers
across the globe. Airbnb is the only player in the industry which has a massive customer base
and owns no real estate (Tornjanski et. al., 2015).
This has only been possible because of digitalization of the world and creation of a
technologically savvy society. Airbnb has simply created a platform between people who are
willing to offer their properties on rent for shorter durations and travelers and tourists who are
looking for short term accommodation. This serves two important purposes. Firstly, people can
earn extra money by renting out their properties for a few days. Secondly, travelers can find less
expensive sources of accommodation as provided by their hosts and also experience the local
cultures and traditions in their most natural form (Weill, 2015).

Hosts who are willing to offer their properties on rent can register the property on Airbnb. The
platform will then make it available for tourists who are looking for accommodation. This
platform offered by Airbnb has built a community of over 150 million users from different parts
of the globe. At present the brand has 0.6 million registered properties and this number is
expected to grow further in the years to come.
Besides technology and innovation of the idea, Airbnb’s pricing strategy has also helped the
brand in remaining competitive. Airbnb charges between 6%-12% of the booking amount from
the customers who are looking for accommodation. On the other hand, Airbnb charges 3% from
the hosts who have made their properties available for tourists from around the globe (Dawson
et. al., 2016). This makes the brand earn somewhere between 9% and 15% from all their
bookings. Airbnb has changed consumer behaviors and patterns within the hospitality industry
and saved people from the trouble of booking expensive hotels with a rare local cultural
experience.
Airbnb’s growth has been possible due to increasing technology, growing use of the internet and
smartphones across the globe. The brand has earned immense trust in different parts of the
world. The new industry is sure to face competition in the future but it would take a long time for
a new player in the industry to gather the same level of customer base and brand value as Airbnb.
Communication companies like Whatsapp, Facebook, Viber and Skype
There are leading telecom operators around the globe that have heavily invested in the
infrastructure that makes broadband heavily available over smartphones and computers. They
have been able to achieve this level of ubiquity in terms of the broadband service over a span of
many years. However, over the last few years, technological advancement of the world has made
it possible for people to call their loved ones over various mobile applications free of cost. These
include applications like Facebook, Whatsapp, Viber and Skype. In some evil manner, these
mobile applications and their phone calling feature are still using the same infrastructure that was
laid out by previously growing telecom companies. But now new entrants in the industry are
eating away the market share of these old firms by using the same infrastructure that these old
firms built for themselves.

This is why these new services or applications are better known as over the top (OTT) platform
providers (Kramer & Kalka, 2017). All these new applications including but not limited to
Whatsapp, Skype, Facebook and Viber allow users to make voice and video calls. The similar
feature is now being adopted by Snapchat. It is important to note that these applications or
services are not telecommunication companies but massive disruptions in the industry of
telecommunication. As of September, 2015, Whatsapp had over 600 million users.
Even though the strength of the network may not allow users to make calls through these
applications few times but even then, the disruption and the acceptance of these applications will
continue to grow. This is because, since their launch, these services are being used to send
messages. SMS revenues that were generated by older telecommunication providers were a pot
of gold for them (Brem & Viardot, 2017). Many million messages were sent every day and these
operators minted money over it. However, with the growth of these mobile applications and their
increased usage for calling and texting purposes, the overall usage of traditional telecom
operators is declining. This disruption has completely changed the way this industry operates. It
would be interesting to note what do these applications or newer players of the industry have to
offer next.
Facebook
Media houses have been majorly known for the content that they create. There are leading media
companies in different parts of the globe which have been putting efforts in creating lucrative
content in order to target customers to their platforms. The validity of a media house was judged
by the quality of content offered by the firm. If customers like this new content, they will stick to
the platform, if not, they will move on to the next one. This signifies that all times media houses
had to make sure they offer the most relevant, topical and creative content for its viewers. This is
how media houses have always worked.
However, just ten years ago, Mark Zuckerberg introduced us to the world of Facebook and since
then, we haven’t been able to get enough of it. Facebook allows people access to the latest news
that is happening across the globe, in their own countries, cities and to their next door neighbors
and friends. But what is most interesting is that despite holding such a massive amount of
content, none of the content is ever created by Facebook (Silicon Republic, 2015). It is simply a

platform for a large number of people to write, post and share the content that they create with
over 1.5 billion users from different parts of the world. There are a large number of people who
are watching videos on Facebook every day and sharing messages over Whatsapp. The same
messages get circulated to every person connected with the platform (Schmidt & Cohen, 2010).
Most people do not feel the need to read the newspaper as most of the information and the latest
updates are anyway available on the social networking platform.
Until a few years back, Facebook attracted young and the millennial generation between the ages
of 18 and 35. However, over a period of time, Facebook has expanded its target audience and
now it is not uncommon to find a people over the age of 80 or 90 who have a Facebook account.
This widespread reach of the brand has created a disruption in the media industry and that is sure
to remain. Facebook is one of a kind platform that has engaged customers from different parts of
the world (Robertson, 2012). It is a single platform that connects such a massive amount of
people from around the globe.
Netflix
“Netflix and chill’ is not a phase but it has now become a lifestyle. Gone are the days when
people would queue up, buy tickets and watch their favorite movie or visit a plethora of websites
to find the safest way to download a particular movie of their likeability. Netflix is a platform
that collects and curates content in the form of movies, TV shows and documentaries and makes
it available for the world to see. The brand has gained immense traction since the first release of
“House of cards” in the year 2013. Since then, the Netflix original series have been the talk of
the town. Netflix is a digital disruption because it has completely transformed the entertainment
industry by bringing entertainment at people’s homes and in their phones. People can download
movies or TV shows and watch them at their own convenience. Four people can use a single ID.
Netflix TV shows are creatively curated and appeal to a large audience. Netflix is a digital
disruption that has transformed the entertainment industry. (Adhikari et. al., 2012).
Netflix is known for the content it gathers and creates. The platform gained popularity with class
apart shows like Black Mirror, 13 Reasons why and House of Cards (Jenner, 2016). Once the
shows were renowned, more and more people wanted to be the part of the Netflix community.

Hence, leading to increased subscriptions. This led to the boom of Netflix and if the brand
continues to maintain the quality of its content, the brand will only continue to grow.
Conclusion
Digital disruption of various industries has transformed customer behaviors and spending
patterns. Everyday lifestyles have changed and the acceptance of technology has increased
(Schmidt & Cohen, 2010). This has introduced people to a life of Netflix and chill where they
shop from online platforms and read with the help of Kindles. People read content on their
Facebook and call each other via Whatsapp. Air and train tickets can be booked through online
portals and Airbnb has become synonymous to accommodation. People are ubering to different
destinations and staying connected with the world at large.
The world that digital disruption has created is significant and has led to a massive growth of
various economies. Lifestyles have changed and internet of things has occurred. It is this
digitalization, globalization and disruptions that have change consumer patterns and business
behaviors. Such disruptions will continue to occur for as long we continue innovating and it is
imperative that these disruptions are welcomed to sustain our long term growth and
development.

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