5 stars (A Must-Read!) - Professor Clayton M. Christensen's excellent book is a classic of strategy literature. The innovator's dilemma is that doing the right things can lead to failure. Sometimes it is wrong to listen to customers, invest in the highest return opportunities and do all of the things that made a successful company succeed. Clearly written, amply documented, provocative and challenging, this book is indispensable for anyone in business. If it has a shortcoming, it is that it focuses more on the dilemma than on resolving it and it does not offer specific remedial prescriptions. However, Christensen has authored or co-authored two other books that attempt to remedy that deficiency. We heartily recommend this book, which remains the leader of the three. It has the potential to change the way managers think about business - any business.
5 stars (Entrepreneurs - read this & gain the upper hand) - In this revolutionary bestseller, Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen says outstanding companies can do everything right and still lose their market leadership, or worse, disappear completely. And he not only proves what he says; he tells others how to avoid a similar fate.
To be a successful entrepreneur you must be able to capitalize on change. "The Innovator's Dilemma" is all about dealing with change, from the incumbent's point of view. How valuable do you think it would be to understand how your larger competitors think? That's exactly what this book talks about.
Most large, established firms are inherently weak in one area - they cling to the status quo with a vengeance. While talk of innovation is commonplace, it is the attacker (entrepreneurs) who holds a definitive advantage. Without legacy systems and overbearing bureaucracy it is the entrepreneur who has the upper hand.
"The Innovator's Dilemma" consists of two major parts:
Part One: Why Great Companies Fail
Part Two: Managing Disruptive Change
This is one of the most insightful books on business that I have ever read. It explains a very important concept - how radically new (disruptive) technologies can overtake existing well-established (sustaining) technologies and in the process beat market leaders at their own game.
Large companies typically ignore small markets and instead look for growth in established markets. All too often executives of large companies are reluctant to take on challenges in small and unknown terrain since they are always trained to "think big" - which is good news for Aspiring Entrepreneurs.
Take heed, read this book and learn how to fully exploit disruptive technologies and become the next "great company."
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Michael Davis - Editor, Byvation
5 stars (Fresh and insightful analysis) - A great book with some very insightful ideas. Prior to reading this book, the term "disruptive technology" was foreign to me. I always thought that the large company's misfortunes were largely an indication of how short-sided or greedy their management have become. The more I read, the faster my previous assumptions disappear. We have had many companies come out of no-where and become a technological sensation over night, with products that are destined to become main stream. I never viewed those innovations as disruptive technologies but rather as fresh approaches to the same problems that have existed for sometime, which may seem sound to some, but to others who were focused on that core of business, they will see how some new innovations may spell the death-sentence for some companies as well as retire the current de facto products that are in that void. Christensen also discusses how companies can survive disruptive technology attacks and benefit from them to maintain their active participation as well as leadership in their respective industry. Foresight and the courage to invest in those disruptive technologies is key to keep the core business balanced as well as staying in touch with the new competitors. |
