Publications

October 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Google Advertising

By: Youngme E. Moon and David Chen

In mid-2006, Google is the number one search engine in America with 99% of its revenues deriving from its simple, text-only advertising services. It is on track to bring in roughly $9.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2006, which would place it fourth among American... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Disruptive Innovation; Media; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Advertising Industry; United States

09 Jan 2019
News

Why New England Needs New Ideas

In a recent piece in the Boston Globe Magazine, Professor Clay Christensen, Karen Dillon, a senior researcher at Christensen’s Institute for Disruptive Innovation, and Efosa Ojomo (MBA 2015), a research fellow at the Institute, use New... View Details

Keywords: New England

September 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

edX: Strategies for Higher Education

By: David Collis, Matthew Shaffer and Ashley Hartman

In May 2012, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) founded edX, a new non-profit joint venture that would provide a platform for massive open online courses (MOOCs). edX did not produce original courses or instructional content—it made... View Details

Keywords: MOOCS; edX; Online Platforms; Online Education; Harvard University; MIT; Execution; Monetization; Brand Management; Higher Education; Information Technology; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Digital Platforms; Education Industry

May 2018
Teaching Note

AT&T: Managing Technological Change and the Future of Telephone Operators in the 20th Century

By: Daniel P. Gross and William R. Kerr

Teaching Note for HBS No. 718-486. View Details

Keywords: AT＆T; Bell Telephone; Phone Lines; Phone Operators; Mechanical Switching; Layoffs; Technological Change; Transition; History; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Disruption; Change Management; Communications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States

07 Dec 2016
HBS Case

Why Millennials Flock to Fintech for Personal Investing

Millennials are disruptive bunch. The first generation to grow up with the internet, consumers born after 1980 are used to relying on technology and engineering to do almost everything—including shopping (Amazon), listening to music... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

25 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

10 Reasons Customers Might Resist Windows 8

Disappointment of 2007.) "Microsoft has had problems in the past," Kanter says. "The company tries so hard to do something disruptive, but then all it accomplishes is getting disruptive to users." 10. Sometimes the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Computer; Consumer Products

January 2025
Supplement

Wendell Weeks at Corning Inc.

By: Ryan Raffaelli

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Information Technology; Leadership; Health Pandemics; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

01 Jun 2012
News

From Fellowship Recipient to ‘The Most Influential Business Thinker On Earth’

Investing in HBS Giving Through HBS Giving Together Jump-Start FAQ Renowned as the leading authority on disruptive innovation, Professor Clay Christensen attributes his remarkable success as an entrepreneur and as a scholar to his humble... View Details

Keywords: awards

June 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Opening Pandora's Box

By: Willy C. Shih, Stephen P. Kaufman, Melissa Marie Blakeley and Marissa Wairy Dent

Pandora.com provided a highly customizable online radio service tailored to listeners' musical preferences and had registered explosive growth since its September 2005 launch. But proposed changes in royalty rates threatened to kill off many Internet radio sites,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Intellectual Property; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

March 2011
Supplement

Cree, Inc.: An Update

By: David J. Collis and Mary Furey

An update to "Cree Inc.: Which Bright Future?" View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Consumer Behavior; Strategy; Technology Adoption; Electronics Industry

March 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Making SMaL Big: SMaL Camera Technologies

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Scott Duncan Anthony

SMaL Camera Technologies CEO Maurizio Arienzo was trying to decide what market opportunities SMaL should target. The company had developed a revolutionary imaging technology that powered small digital still and video cameras. Its first-generation product--a kit to... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Decision Making; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Electronics Industry; Computer Industry; Massachusetts

Web

HBS Alumni Research Tips: Industry Research | Baker Library

keyword, or navigate to a select industry from the industry classification tree. GlobalData Disruptor Covers technology-focused innovations and trends disrupting industries. Areas of focus include artificial... View Details

28 May 2013
Research & Ideas

Can LEGO Snap Together a Future in Asia?

more localized products coupled with licensing agreements linked to specific movie franchises might be an option, but an expensive one. The company also had to consider that "diminishing play time and the threat of a disruptive... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

11 AM – 12 PM EST, 25 Jan 2018
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Becoming Effective Change Makers: The Power of Networks

Instituting change in an organization or in a sector of society has always been the bane of leaders. However, some leaders do succeed--often spectacularly--at transforming their organizations and even whole sectors of society. What makes some change makers triumph in a... View Details

January 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Teaching Note

Somatus: Value-Based Kidney Care (A) & (B)

By: Ariel D. Stern, Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta

This teaching note accompanies case no. 622-009 and 622-045 (Somatus: Value-Based Kidney Care, A and B). View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Management; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Health Industry; United States; Virginia

24 Apr 2014
News

Seeing glass in a new light

Rao Mulpuri (AMP 171, 2006) wants to transform the building industry by disrupting a common product: glass. View Dynamic Glass brings smart windows to buildings, and is gaining rapid adoption in North America—the California-based company... View Details

01 Dec 2020
News

Out of the Valley

Episode 1: The Camel and the Unicorn Why Silicon Valley is at risk of losing it startup dominance—and what that could mean for the future of innovation. Aldi Haryopratomo (MBA 2011) Aldi Haryopratomo (MBA 2011) Episode 2: A Creator in the Era of View Details

October 2016 (Revised March 2017)
Case

uberPOOL

By: Marco Iansiti, Michael W. Toffel and Amram Migdal

This case describes Uber's uberPOOL service, which let multiple Uber users who were headed in the same direction share a ride and pay substantially lower fares. View Details

Keywords: Uber; uberPOOL; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Digital Platforms; Transportation; Transportation Networks; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Transportation Industry