article thumbnail

Let’s Stop Arguing About Whether Disruption Is Good or Bad

Harvard Business Review

The primary target of Lepore’s attack was Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen, whose groundbreaking book, The Innovator’s Dilemma coined the term disruptive technology (later transformed into disruptive innovation ). However, Lepore does Christensen’s work a tremendous disservice.

article thumbnail

Is Tesla Really a Disruptor? (And Why the Answer Matters)

Harvard Business Review

In the model described by Clayton Christensen, a new entrant offers substitute products using technology that is cheaper but initially inferior to products offered by mature incumbents. For one thing, it’s not clear what disruptive technology the company is offering. car manufacturer and all but three worldwide.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Disrupt Yourself

Harvard Business Review

What you can know is that the markets for disruptive innovations are unpredictable, and therefore your initial strategy for entering a market will be wrong," writes Christensen. During this time, as I volunteered in public affairs for my church, I became acquainted with Professor Christensen. STOP IT.". That decision is all yours.".

article thumbnail

When “Scratch Your Own Itch” Is Dangerous Advice for Entrepreneurs

Harvard Business Review

Clayton Christensen first documented this phenomenon in his study of the disk drive industry , and found that new companies targeting existing customers succeeded 6% of the time, while new companies that targeted non-consumers succeeded 37% of the time. Oculus, of course, was wildly successful.

article thumbnail

Creating a Future for (American) Cleantech

Harvard Business Review

It was only a few years ago that Governor Deval Patrick poured some $58 million into the company and their much-lauded breakthrough solar technology (String Ribbon). By focusing on a straightforward insight: truly transformative industrial changes aren't driven by technologies replacing technologies , but by systems replacing systems.

article thumbnail

How Big Companies Should Innovate

Harvard Business Review

In his seminal work, The Innovator's Dilemma , Clayton Christensen made the point that for disruptive innovations to be pursued effectively, they require autonomous business units. A group inside his office, New Urban Mechanics , is charged with coming up with different technological solutions to city problems. He was completely right.

article thumbnail

What Great Social Media Campaigns Get Right

Harvard Business Review

The web did not invent community-driven brands – just think of Harley Davidson — but technology has surely made the strategy more popular. While digital technology can empower social initiatives, they are essentially human endeavors. These days, it’s pretty easy to interact with consumers directly. Yet that’s exactly the problem.

Media 8