Michael Baumann, Stephan Stubner

• In 2015, Automaten Technik Baumann (ATB) was dismayed to learn that Volkswagen Financial Services had acquired a 92 per cent stake in Sunhill Technologies, one of Europe’s largest providers of mobile parking and ticketing solutions. ATB had focused on the production of parking meters for several decades, but was now seeing a threat to its existing business due to the rise of mobile parking providers. Consumers could now use their smartphone to pay for parking—making parking meters obsolete. Should ATB take the rise of new entrants seriously? Would ATB need to adjust its business model? Learning Objective: This case is suitable for business programs at the MBA level, for courses in strategic management, business models, and disruptive innovation. After completion of the case, students will be able to: - demonstrate that threats from disruptive innovations can affect small-and medium-sized firms, as well as large companies; - demonstrate that technological innovations are often combined with new business models; - outline reasons for why it is difficult for incumbents to react to new entrants and innovations; - and identify and discuss the various strategic alternatives to disruptive market shifts.