Shopping for digital innovation— The role of startup acquisitions for digital innovation in incumbents

Ani Dekova, Timo Phillip Böttcher, Helmut Krcmar

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Incumbent firms increasingly acquire startups for digital innovation. Startups excel at sensing market opportunities, and incumbents provide valuable resources and knowledge to seize these opportunities in digital business models. While extant research has explored the benefits resulting from such acquisitions, the reasons and strategic motivations for startup acquisitions remain unclear. This paper seeks to explore the motivations behind such acquisitions and their impact on digital business strategies. Drawing on a qualitative analysis of 124 startup acquisitions by retail incumbents, we identify six reasons incumbents acquire digital startups and two strategic goals pursued through these acquisitions. They illustrate how and why the acquisitions contribute to the incumbents' strategic goals for digital innovation and growth, and propose three testable hypotheses to deepen our understanding of this relationship. This study provides valuable insights for incumbents seeking to collaborate with startups and identifies startups suited for acquisition or collaboration.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication29th Annual Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2023
PublisherAssociation for Information Systems
ISBN (Electronic)9781713893592
StatePublished - 2023
Event29th Annual Americas Conference on Information Systems: Diving into Uncharted Waters, AMCIS 2023 - Panama City, Panama
Duration: 10 Aug 202312 Aug 2023

Publication series

Name29th Annual Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2023

Conference

Conference29th Annual Americas Conference on Information Systems: Diving into Uncharted Waters, AMCIS 2023
Country/TerritoryPanama
CityPanama City
Period10/08/2312/08/23

Keywords

  • acquisition
  • collaboration
  • digital innovation
  • startups

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