Disruptive technology in mature industries: Its contribution to industry sustainability

Academic literature has often emphasized how firms in regional clusters exploit both place-specific local resources and external, world-class knowledge to strengthen their competitiveness by expanding the influence of regional systems of innovation. Innovation based in more complex and disruptive technologies tends to be based in more open systems which utilize the clusters´ external networks. However, most of the literature has associated clusters with incremental innovation. This paper will analyse the determinants of disruptive innovation development in traditional (low and medium tech) clusters caused by high-tech located entrepreneurs. It will analyse the case of the development of breakthrough innovation, its diffusion in the Spanish ceramic tile cluster and its consequent diffusion in the industry worldwide. It will examine how market demands, customer orientation, technology diffusion from other industries and industry competitiveness as well as internal and external networking of clusters can facilitate the development of a complex technology within a common set of social capital, shared cognitive schemes and understandings. The main contribution of this paper to technology strategy theory will be thorough the utilisation of the disruptive technology paradigm in explaining industry changes and sustainability.