Get acquainted with "Disruptive Innovation"?

Get acquainted with "Disruptive Innovation"

Disruptive Innovation

The term disruptive innovation was coined by Clayton M. Christensen and introduced in his 1995 article "Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave," which he co-wrote with Joseph Bower. The article was further expanded in The Innovator's Dilemma (1997).

The term disruptive innovation was coined by Clayton M. Christensen and introduced in his 1995 article "Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave," which he co-wrote with Joseph Bower. The article was further expanded in The Innovator's Dilemma (1997).

Disruptive technologies are innovations that improve a product or service in ways that the market does not expect, typically first appearing in emerging markets, which initially experience relatively small demand and a lack of awareness among consumers. As these products evolve, they eventually enter existing markets, where they become an affordable alternative to established players—often forcing those companies to either adapt their offerings or risk being driven out of business altogether

In 1997, Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen created the theory of disruptive innovation. According to Christensen, disruptive innovation is a technological advancement that makes a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market-leading firms, products, and alliances. The term is used in business and technology literature to describe innovations that improve a product or service in ways that the market doesn't expect, typically first by designing for a different set of consumers in a new market and later by lowering prices in the existing market.

Disruptive innovation is a new technology that creates a new market and value network, often changing how existing products are made. They allow companies to remain competitive by taking advantage of lower labor costs and more flexible manufacturing processes while maintaining profitability in the face of increasing labor costs and automation.

Examples of disruptive innovations include:

  • The computer mouse: This radically changed personal computing by making it easier for people who were not trained programmers or engineers to use computers efficiently (thanks to its intuitive interface). Before that point, most people didn't have access or training to operate their own computer; now anyone can use one!
  • Smartphones: These handheld devices make it possible for you to communicate with anyone from anywhere at any time - which means less reliance on landlines or wired connections like cable television providers offer today


As disruptors gain momentum, the companies already in the marketplace will either develop strategies to adjust to this change or be displaced by the newly emerging industry. For example, when personal computers became popular they replaced typewriters in offices. While many office workers were upset by this change, they quickly realized that computers made it easier to get their work done. So, despite initial resistance from most of its users, typewriters eventually became obsolete as their target demographic was replaced by the next generation of office workers who had used computers all their lives.

Disruptive innovation is a term used by many business and technology writers as a way to describe how new technologies improve products or services in ways that their target markets don’t expect. These changes can be anything from the size of a computer chip or the weight of an auto tire to your ability to stream movies on your cellphone while waiting at the airport gate.

The word “disrupt” comes from its Latin roots, which mean “to throw out of order.” Basically, it describes what happens when you take something familiar—like a laptop computer—and make it better by changing either its function or usability so that it becomes more useful for consumers than existing alternatives (like paper notebooks).

Disruptive innovations are not necessarily always better than existing offerings; they simply offer something different than what was available before them; this could mean faster processing speeds or smaller device sizes such as smartphones that offer more functionality than earlier versions such as flip phones did only 10 years ago!

Gaurav Garg

Business Partner at Motilal Oswal

2 年

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