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  • 13 Oct 2022
  • Other Presentation

4 Business Ideas That Changed the World: Disruptive Innovation

By: Amy Bernstein, Rita McGrath, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Derek van Bever
  • Format:Audio
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

A roundtable conversation takes stock of Clayton Christensen’s influential theory. This first in a series of roundtable conversations assessing the origins and impact of four breakthrough ideas.

In the 1980s, Clayton Christensen cofounded a startup that took over a market niche from DuPont and Alcoa. That experience left Christensen puzzled. How could a small company with few resources beat rich incumbents?

It led to his theory of disruptive innovation, introduced in the pages of Harvard Business Review in 1995 and popularized two years later in The Innovators Dilemma. The idea has inspired a generation of entrepreneurs. It has reshaped R&D strategies at countless established firms. And it has changed how investors place billions of dollars and how governments spend billions more, aiming to kickstart new industries and spark economic growth.

But disruption has taken on a popular meaning well beyond what Christensen’s research describes. Some critics argue that the theory lacks evidence. Others say it glosses over the social costs of lost jobs of bankrupted companies. And debate continues over the best way to apply the idea in practice.

Keywords

Disruptive Innovation

Citation

"4 Business Ideas That Changed the World: Disruptive Innovation." HBR IdeaCast (podcast), Harvard Business Review Group, October 13, 2022.
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About The Authors

Felix Oberholzer-Gee

Strategy
→More Publications

Derek C. M. van Bever

General Management
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More from the Authors

    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Managing Innovation at Atrium Health: 'Never Let a Good Crisis Go To Waste'

    By: Derek van Bever, Rory McDonald and Anibha Singh
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    SimpliSafe—Safe From Disruption?

    By: David Collis, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Terrence Shu
    • January 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Walmart USA—Searching for Growth

    By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Maria P. Roche
More from the Authors
  • Managing Innovation at Atrium Health: 'Never Let a Good Crisis Go To Waste' By: Derek van Bever, Rory McDonald and Anibha Singh
  • SimpliSafe—Safe From Disruption? By: David Collis, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Terrence Shu
  • Walmart USA—Searching for Growth By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Maria P. Roche
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