Breaking Free: Understanding Leadership Entrenchment and Disruptive Strategies

Abstract

Using qualitative analysis of in-depth interview data from 23 Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) in diverse industries, the study aims to advance theoretical understanding of (a) when and how corporate leaders experience entrenchment, (b) what strategies corporate leaders use to disrupt or break free from their entrenchment and (c) how leaders generate disruptive strategies. Our findings show that CMOs experience both organizational and personal entrenchment, which differ in nature and significance. In general, CMOs are alert to entrenchment traps and deploy varied disruptive strategies to break free, sometimes with success. Finally, our data suggests that CMOs source their disruptive strategies from the same knowledge, experience and skills that entrench them.

Keywords: Entrenchment, disruptive strategies, marketing innovation, corporate leadership, managerial cognition