Signs of innovation opportunities within the audit industry - The potential for disruptive- and sustaining innovation

Abstract

There are few fields in the research that have gained the same attention as disruptive innovation. The phenomenon of disruptive innovation can be applied in any industry and affects how incumbents and new entrants perform in the market. Thus, the research of disruptive innovation has been notably important over the past decades as innovation rapidly accelerates. Although disruptive innovation is widely researched, there is a gap in the research when it comes to the audit industry that this thesis aims to close. To do so, the thesis aims to seek an answer to “What change might the audit industry face?” and the signs of both sustaining- and disruptive innovation opportunities and potential signs of actors capitalizing on those opportunities. The research was conducted with a qualitative and exploratory approach in order to capture signs of potential change in the industry based on the activity and innovative direction of the incumbents. The key findings of the research were that the audit industry shows signs of sustaining innovation opportunities and signs of actors capitalizing on those opportunities. With regards to disruptive innovation, regulations within the audit industry limits the possibility for actors to capitalize on opportunities.