Publications

January–February 1995
Article

Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave

By: J. L. Bower and C. M. Christensen

Keywords: Disruption; Technology

March 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Disruptive IPOs? WR Hambrecht & Co.

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan

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 would accepting the business mean to WR Hambrecht? Should he seek other high profile clients like this, or should he... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Initial Public Offering; Disruptive Innovation; Auctions; Online Technology; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco

Educators

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 12 Sep 2018
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Responding to Digital Disruption

As a follow-up to his 2017 webinar and building upon his proposed recipe for digital disruption, Associate Professor Thales Teixeira proposes a new framework to help established businesses respond to digital disruptors. View Details

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 30 Oct 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Disruptive Strategy

Make innovation a reality with strategies from two-time World's Most Innovative Business Thinker, Clayton Christensen. Program Dates: October 30, 2019 - December 11, 2019 View Details

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 21 Aug 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Disruptive Strategy

Make innovation a reality with strategies from two-time World's Most Innovative Business Thinker, Clayton Christensen. Program Dates: August 21, 2019 - October 02, 2019 View Details

May 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Teradyne: Managing Disruptive Change

By: Joseph L. Bower

Three cases deal with the introduction of a new product to Teradyne's line of semiconductor test equipment. Teradyne: Managing Strategic Change provides historic and administrative background for the other two cases. Teradyne: The Aurora Project deals with the problems... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Disruption; Management; Market Entry and Exit; Product; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Technology

Educators

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 12 Jun 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Disruptive Strategy

Make innovation a reality with strategies from two-time World's Most Innovative Business Thinker, Clayton Christensen. June 12, 2019 - July 10, 2019 View Details

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 03 Apr 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Disruptive Strategy

Make innovation a reality with strategies from two-time World's Most Innovative Business Thinker, Clayton Christensen. Program Dates: April 3, 2019 - May 15, 2019 View Details

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 16 Mar 2017
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools

In this webinar, Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker will discuss the themes from their Amazon-bestselling book, Blended. Using the theories of disruptive innovation, Horn and Staker reveal a practical guide for designing an education system that can help all students... View Details

June 2022
Teaching Note

Bespoken Spirits: Disrupting Distilling

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-419. On October 7, 2020, Bespoken Spirits publicly announced it had received $2.6 million of seed funding for its “sustainable maturation process,” a process that could produce award-winning whiskeys in just days rather than years... View Details

Keywords: B2B Vs. B2C; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Cost Management; Business Model; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry

27 Feb 2014
Conference Presentation

Markets: Hidden Disruption Potential?

By: Dante Roscini

On October 7, 2020, Bespoken Spirits publicly announced it had received $2.6 million of seed funding for its “sustainable maturation process,” a process that could produce award-winning whiskeys in just days rather than years using a novel technology and data... View Details

01 Jun 2018
News

Disrupting India’s Dental Market

Amar Singh (MBA 1998) traces his curiosity about the Indian dental marketplace to the type of experience that might scare most people away for good. Lured in by the $20 price—roughly equal to Singh’s insurance copay when he lived in San Francisco—he visited a clinic in... View Details

Keywords: Sasha Issenberg

June 2006
Case

AtHoc: Dealing With Disruption

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Brian DeLacey

Follows the growth of an entrepreneur from his early startup activities. As the company evolves from 1998 to 2005, looks at key decisions and turning points as AtHoc's strategy adapts in response to changing market environments, business opportunities, and customer... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Disruptive Innovation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Venture Capital

2008
Book

Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Michael B. Horn and Curtis W. Johnson

According to recent studies in neuroscience, the way we learn doesn't always match up with the way we are taught. If we hope to stay competitive—academically, economically, and technologically—we need to rethink our understanding of intelligence, reevaluate our... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Teaching; Disruptive Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Technology Adoption

19 Feb 2019
News

How startups are disrupting the retail industry

September 2021
Article

Shaking Things Up: Disruptive Events and Inequality

By: Letian Zhang

This paper develops a theory of how disruptive events could reduce racial and gender inequality in organizations. Despite pressure from regulators and advocates, racial and gender inequality in the workplace remains high. I theorize that because such inequality is... View Details

Keywords: Inequality; Equality and Inequality; Diversity; Race; Gender; Restructuring; Mergers and Acquisitions; Disruption