TRANSIENT ADVANTAGES IN INDONESIA DIGITAL STARTUPS

Abstract

Sustainable competitive advantages in volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity (VUCA)
business environments can no longer be maintained. Competitive advantage is temporary, i.e., it lasts shorter
than expected. To the best of our knowledge, few studies have examined temporary/transient advantages,
especially those that focus on their implementation in digital (tech) startups. This study will investigate the
shortage of those previous studies by answering the question: “How can digital startups achieve transient
advantages so they can survive and grow significantly in uncertain situations and limited resources?” This
study further examines the implementation of disruptive business model innovation persistently as a
predictor for transient advantages, including the role of community engagement moderation in Indonesia
digital (tech) startups. This study uses a quantitative method with a partial least-squaresstructural equation
modeling approach to analyze the data obtained from respondents who are Founders/C-Level startups in
Indonesia. The results of this study showthat disruptive business model innovation has a significant positive
relationship in achieving transient advantages. The results of this study also presentthat increasing
community engagement will provide positive moderation effects in that, subsequently, disruptive business
model innovation becomes increasingly important for achieving transient advantages