Corporations have the same challenge, some times called the "innovator's dilemma" or "cash cow disease". For example, Microsoft struggled when the web (and thus IE) threatened Windows' dominance.
Re:Space Stasis (Neal Stephenson)
by yummyfajitas on Thursday February 03, 2011 @08:17AM
(#2174584)
Indeed. Corporations only saving grace in this regard is that they can fail before they get too bad.
(In the old days, they also had to worry about Gordon Gekko style takeovers/restructuring. Not so much these days.)
It's often said that to lock in a program, you need to create a class of people who might lose their jobs if it is shut down. These people are highly motivated and willing to go to great lengths to protect that program. In contrast, people afraid of tax increases or people who do or don't observe the benefits have little motivation to do anything.
The people afraid of losing their jobs protect that program from ever being cut, but they also prevent any radical improvements that might make them obsolete.