ABSTRACT
Human history has gone through various era of evolutions. The first era was social and political evolution, the second era was industrial, business and management evolution. The third was the era of information and communication technology revolution. What has started, post 2010, is the era of disruption where the future can no longer be based on the conventional theories and historical precedence. The countries as well as business organizations are in the middle of a paradigm shift where the best prognosis failed. The best political analyzers could not predict Brexit or Trump’s victory. The best economists could not predict the economic crises of 2008-9 or recent crises in Haiti, Zimbabwe and Venezuela which were on verge of bankruptcy. The best management experts, even in Harvard, could not predict the downfall of Kodak or Nokia. The conventional theories of strategy and entrepreneurship fail. It is worth analyzing how the business would shape up – who will succeed and who will fail. It is worth contemplating if the conventional theories like Porter’s generic business strategies need to be relooked and modified. Of main interest of analysis is what the small and medium entrepreneurs (SME) should do because big organization can withstand the failure but SME do not have financial muscle. This paper presents an analysis of strategies and skills required to survive in the disruption era.
