Disruptive innovation

Someone in India recently asked me what I thought about an innovation strategy featuring a heavy dose of “imitation.” My response was, “Innovation isn’t Olympic diving.” What did I mean? An individual diver’s scores for an event are a factor of two things: how well they execute their dive, and the “degree of difficulty” of […]

The disruptive economics of unmanned vehicles are taking hold. Here’s how to think about the drone economy and your place in it.

History is bound to repeat itself.

And follow the four C's of effective communication.

One of my favorite truisms is that change is always a threat when done to me, but it is an opportunity when done by me. Many people hate change because it is inflicted on them; someone else is making them do it. Or because circumstances are totally out of their control. (As a bumper sticker […]

Back in 2007, my colleague Scott Anthony argued that Nintendo’s Wii would be a disruptive innovation that could catch Sony and Microsoft off-guard. The core of the argument was that Nintendo’s strategy of “competing against non-consumption” would allow it to fly under the radar of Microsoft and Sony, which were engaging in an arms race […]

A recent edition of Fortune describes innovations in computer gaming that are likely to be as disruptive to incumbent players like Electronic Arts and Activision as the move toward cloud computing is to providers of shrink-wrapped software. While the incumbents have been engaged in the innovation equivalent of an arms race – ever more powerful […]

Targeting the middle market can be lucrative—but companies won’t be able to deliver unless they start from scratch.

To accelerate your search for a viable new growth model, start with the two-pizza rule.

Newcomers may have the will, but industry insiders have the way.

Build products you wish existed, not better versions of your favorites.

When the author began working at Match, in the mid-2000s, online dating often required monthly fees and endless patience. It was mostly done by middle-aged...

Probably not the ones you think.

Disclosure: The author is a shareholder in AOL. It’s been funny watching the financial press and the tech community eviscerate AOL’s Patch.com since last week’s disappointing earnings call. The irony is that Patch is AOL’s last, best chance to build a growth engine. Investors shouldn’t be calling for AOL to back off the business. They […]

I picked up an interesting vibe at the Magazine Publishers Association Innovation Conference the other week. For the most part, the industry has had a...

Technology transfer isn’t second-class innovation.

If you blinked, you missed NBC Universal’s hotly hyped new show “Quarterlife.” After airing a single episode on NBC, the media titan decided to move the program to its Bravo cable network. NBC–and the creators of “Quarterlife”–fell into a classic trap of trying to “cram” disruption into an existing model. No one has yet figured […]

Clay Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and the world’s most influential management guru according to the Thinkers50, lays out his landmark theory.

The same technologies that destroyed them brought them back.

A company’s bid to rally an industry ecosystem around a new competitive view is an uncertain gambit. But the right strategic approaches and the availability of modern digital infrastructures improve the odds for success.

Tim Trowac and Dave Rahall, two former investment bankers, skillfully execute the leveraged buyout of a golf ball recycling company after working intensely...

Like other small shops based in Chongqing, China, Zongshen Industrial Group started by assembling motorcycles from "standard" parts. The quality of its...

By 2021, streaming had become "the" way to consume music, revitalizing an industry that was seeing double digit growth rates for the first time since...

In 2008 Joe Justice saw the announcement for the Progressive Insurance X Prize-a $10 million prize aimed at the (im)possibility to build a 100 miles per...

In April 2020, the interim president of the 3D printing and digital manufacturing business of HP Inc. was weighing his options in resolving three managerial...

Bill Hambrecht faces a dilemma: should he accept a high profile client for his online Dutch auction IPO? Though it would be viewed as a real coup, what...

Nintendo languished in last place during the console wars of the early 2000s, with game industry analysts suggesting that the Kyoto-based firm exit the...

Atavist, a start-up founded by journalists, publishes enhanced ebook singles as well as the software to create enhanced ebooks. The company is currently...

The (B) case offers a detailed account of Wendell Weeks's innovation strategy at Corning, and how his approach played a critical role in the COVID-19...

This case explores InsurTech start-up Lemonade's disruptive new business model aimed at creating and delivering a 'shockingly great user experience' around...

The key concepts every manager and aspiring leader must know--from strategy and disruptive innovation to financial intelligence and change management--from...

Creating a culture of learning and growth. Growth is the goal. Helping people develop their potential--enabling them to articulate and become the self...

The Swiss company TAG Heuer, maker of luxury watches, is part of the LVMH group (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton). In 2015, CEO Jean-Claude Biver is deciding...

Miranda Cresswell, marketing director, and Greg Marsh, founder and CEO of onefinestay, were grappling with branding and positioning dilemmas. onefinestay...

A two-party, multiple-issue dollar-scoring negotiation exercise dealing with the formation and terms of an IT-industry joint venture. Subordinates have...

In February 2018 New York-based coworking company WeWork was valued at approximately $20 billion, making it the fourth-most-valuable start-up in the U.S.,...

It was August 2014. The MOVE Guides team had successfully converted two of their initial pilot clients into paying customers whose employees were delighted...

In early 2014, Sanjay Swamy and Valerie Rozycki Wagoner, respectively chairman and CEO of ZipDial, were discussing the possibility of extending the company's...

This case is set in December 2014, and discusses the business model and challenges facing BPI Globe BanKO ("BanKO"). Established in 2009, BanKO is the...

Someone in India recently asked me what I thought about an innovation strategy featuring a heavy dose of “imitation.” My response was, “Innovation isn’t Olympic diving.” What did I mean? An individual diver’s scores for an event are a factor of two things: how well they execute their dive, and the “degree of difficulty” of […]

Tim Trowac and Dave Rahall, two former investment bankers, skillfully execute the leveraged buyout of a golf ball recycling company after working intensely...

The disruptive economics of unmanned vehicles are taking hold. Here’s how to think about the drone economy and your place in it.

History is bound to repeat itself.

Like other small shops based in Chongqing, China, Zongshen Industrial Group started by assembling motorcycles from "standard" parts. The quality of its...

And follow the four C's of effective communication.

By 2021, streaming had become "the" way to consume music, revitalizing an industry that was seeing double digit growth rates for the first time since...

Hubert Joly, former CEO of Best Buy and orchestrator of the retailer's spectacular turnaround, unveils his personal playbook for achieving extraordinary...

One of my favorite truisms is that change is always a threat when done to me, but it is an opportunity when done by me. Many people hate change because it is inflicted on them; someone else is making them do it. Or because circumstances are totally out of their control. (As a bumper sticker […]

Back in 2007, my colleague Scott Anthony argued that Nintendo’s Wii would be a disruptive innovation that could catch Sony and Microsoft off-guard. The core of the argument was that Nintendo’s strategy of “competing against non-consumption” would allow it to fly under the radar of Microsoft and Sony, which were engaging in an arms race […]