In 1995, Harvard Business School professors Clayton M. Christensen and Joseph L. Bower wrote a seminal article for Harvard Business Review, Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave. Those words launched the theory of disruptive innovation, still one of the most powerful models to understand the forces at work in today's digital economy. Two years later, Christensen expounded on his theories in his groundbreaking book, The Innovator's Dilemma.
Their HBS colleagues have been adding to innovation research ever since. Here is a sample of those insights.
A Good Place to Start
Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation
Christensen's classic article from 2003 about the six keys to creating new-growth businesses.
The Three Types of Leaders Who Create Radical Change
Every successful social movement requires three distinct leadership roles: the agitator, the innovator, and the orchestrator.
How Big Companies Can Outrun Disruption
Large companies can be easy targets for disruption, but there are steps that can keep them ahead of the innovation curve. Rule 1: Don't emulate startup cultures.
What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology
Technology doesn't drive disruption—customers do. A recent book argues that successful disruptors spot and serve emerging customer needs faster than larger competitors.
How Independent Bookstores Have Thrived in Spite of Amazon.com
Book retailers were among the first to be disrupted by the internet. Here is how indy booksellers have survived.
How Disruptive Innovation Changes Education
Christensen advocates for innovation to spur much-needed improvements in public education.
Using Fintech to Disrupt Eastern Bank from Within
When Eastern Bank decided to battle a threat from new competitors, it hired a fintech executive to set up Eastern Labs and start innovating.
Are Technology Companies Ripe for Disruption?
Are information technology companies subject to the same kinds of blinkered strategies of more traditional industries?
Jumpstarting Innovation: Using Disruption to Your Advantage
Lynda M. Applegate shows how one of the forces that threatens established companies can also be a source of salvation: disruptive change.
How to Be a Digital Platform Leader
The most valuable companies in the world have one thing in common: all are leaders in the platform economy. Hereare key strategies and tactics for success on digital platforms./p>
Everyone Knows Innovation is Essential to Business Success—Except Your Board of Directors
In a recent survey of 5,000 board members, innovation was not ranked high on their list of priorities. What are they not seeing?
On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website
The big-brand retailer seems to have survived and even thrived in the apocalyptic retail landscape. What's its secret?
Research Papers
Executive Education in the Digital Vortex: The Disruption of the Supply Landscape
The impact of customer anxiety on service relationships is neither well understood, nor consistently factored into service design.
Going Digital: Implications for Firm Value and Performance
This study of the economic performance of nontech firms adopting new digital technologies finds a persistent future increase in valuation. However, investors only slowly incorporate the value implications of digital activities into prices.
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