Friends Close, Enemies Closer? The Role of Trust in Disrupting Ecosystems

From an ecosystem perspective, the discourse dedicated to incumbents has been receiving extensive attention; however, only little is known about the challenges faced by entrants, particularly in relation to gaining support of the very same incumbent ecosystem they seek to disrupt. Facing this paradox known as disruptor’s dilemma, the entrants are exposed to various forms of incumbent resistance. While several researchers explored how the resulting tensions could be mitigated, the extant literature fails to consider a factor that have been consistently proving itself crucial in developing and maintaining effective interorganizational relationships – trust. This this two-phase abductive case study positioned in the context of UK insurtech contributes to the literature by unfolding how entrants use trust to mitigate tensions with incumbents in ecosystem-level disruption. In particular, it examines the intricate dynamics of their strategic efforts by the means of a conceptual model and discusses the emerging findings in the context of theory as well as managerial practice.