INTERMEDIARIES AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISRUPTIONS: RESPONDING TO PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL DISINTERMEDIATION

Despite the critical role of intermediaries in most industries, research has focused on producers, while little is known about how intermediaries respond to technological disruptions. We examine how incumbent intermediaries face technological changes that introduce new distribution and sales assets, i.e., intermediaries’ core knowledge. To examine this increasingly common but under-theorized type of phenomenon, we conducted an inductive study of Sonepar, a major commercial intermediary operating as a distributor of electrical parts, and investigated its adaptation to the arrival of digital technologies during 2012–2022. Our contribution advances a grounded process model that highlights the existence of two phases behind intermediaries’ adaptation – (1) Systems Adaptation and Business Model Change, and (2) High-End Servitization – in the transition from an ‘Offline Strategy’ to a ‘Hybrid Digital-Driven Strategy.’ We also redefine the static dichotomy of “core knowledge” vs. “complementary assets” by proposing that the activities depicted by these labels change depending on the type of actor and the phase of its evolution. Finally, we advance theoretical and practical implications to foster a better understanding on the role of intermediaries.