Page - 193 - in Digital Entrepreneurship - Impact on Business and Society

technology and market environment and their capability for corporate digital entrepreneurship. Another important characteristic of a digital manager is the manager’s perception of the need for change as in a stable environment amanager perceives the environment as predictable and that there is less need for change, whereas, in a turbulent environment, the manager perceives it as fast-paced, unpredictable and that the need for change is very high (Ambrosini et al. 2009). In his book, The Innovator’s Dilemma, Christensen (1997) argues that the organiza- tionneeds to aligndifferentlywhen facedwith technologydisruption andchanging market conditions.Christensen further suggests that corporate digital entrepreneurs need to have exploration and exploitation strategies in these disruptive situations. However, the firm needs to consider its existing capabilities and systematically develop new strategies and capabilities for exploration and exploitation for devel- oping new products and services. Competitive turbulence refers to the degree of competition in an industry (Porter 1985).When themarket is highly competitive, the companiesmustwatchout for their competitors and their relativepositioning in the market (Han et al. 1998). The digital business is highly competitive, and companies are coming fromdifferent industries to get a share in digital businesses. Based on these discussions, it could be suggested that the external environment influences the relationship between digital technologies and corporate digital entrepreneurship. Internal factors, such as path dependency and digital commitment, affect cor- porate digital entrepreneurship. Path dependency is a property of a systemwhere the outcomes over a period are determined by the initial set of conditions (Gold- stone 1998). Path dependency can speed up, slow down or halt construction of capabilities which could better position the firm for corporate digital entrepreneurship (Sydow et al. 2009). Path dependency is developed when con- tingent events trigger self-reinforcing paths (i.e., the set of positive and negative mechanisms which increase the attractiveness of a path related to other paths) (Vergne and Durand 2011). These scholars also suggest that path dependency creates a lock-inwithin afirm.Afirmmaynot be able to sense theopportunity and may remain on its historic path during this disruption. For example, though Blackberry realized that the mobile application market was changing drastically from a mobile phone for the conversation to a multi-purpose mobile device for conversation, audioandvideo,due topathdependency it didnot change itsoriginal path/business and lost business. So, path dependency for Blackberry created a negative effect on corporate digital entrepreneurship. Strategic focus and intent create digital commitment for a firm, and it accelerates the development of cor- porate digital entrepreneurship. For example, the Board of Directors of GE, including the previous chairman Jeff Immelt,14 were committed to the digital transformation of GE’s businesses by leveraging digital technologies and they established GE Digital as among the top ten software companies in the world. AdnerandHelfat (2003)propose thatwithina single industry,wheremanagers face 14http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/15/ge-ceo-jeff-immelt-tells-cramer-hes-betting-on-the-industrial- internet.html. 198 S. Ghosh et al.