ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the central role of technological innovation to streamline industrial change that is not a new preoccupation in economics and business studies. Theodore Levitt's influential 1960 article in the Harvard Business Review criticized industry leaders who wed themselves to particular technological models for their production systems and who, according to his analysis, myopically fail to recognize what business they are in, and are therefore unprepared when technological innovation makes competing business and service models possible that eventually render a previously dominant model obsolete. Amazon has securely positioned itself in popular culture. The sheer number of users would likely be enough to ensure the company's impact, however the unique business philosophy of Bezos has also altered the business world's understanding about how to successfully run a company: get big fast. Though Amazon leads online retail, there are a number of competitors that outsell the company by a large margin.
