Last Iceman

contra Disruptive Innovation?

even in an industry doomed to extinction, somebody's going to be the last business there. And they may be profitable the whole time. For a while, "I don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than you" is a reasonable strategy.

On the other hand,

• overcapacity in a shrinking market can lead to lots of stubborn pathological behaviors from all the players, which can make it hard to stay profitable;
• you may need to maintain illusions to delay your customers' migration
• you may need to maintain illusions to keep your intelligent staff

I learned this term from Kathryn Harrigan in Business School, who has since written an appropriate book.