A review of

The Innovator’s Dilemma

When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

Clayton M. Christensen • Harvard Business Review Press • 1997

Discuss

The review below was first published in the getAbstract Journal on 6 июл. 2005 г..
We’ve reviewed this title for you as we currently cannot offer a summary. We hope this expert review provides valuable insights in the meantime.

An Enduring Dilemma

by David Meyer

Everything will eventually be disrupted, says business guru Clayton Christensen. Why does his seminal book show no signs of aging?

The enduring context of Clayton Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma is, in essence, its endurance. Appearing on May 1, 1997, as an outgrowth of Christensen’s teaching at Harvard Business School and his seminal 1995 article Disruptive Technologies, it remains canonical business literature and a must-read for students, executives, entrepreneurs and would-be innovators in any field.

Christensen wielded broad influence. For example, Steve Jobs told his biographer that Christensen profoundly shaped his thinking – high praise, since Jobs seldom credited others, especially regarding his philosophies. In his bestseller Zero to One, another tech leader, Peter Thiel, explores one of Christensen’s primary theories: that innovation works differently for disruptive versus sustaining technology. This may sound trivial, but it has huge implications for established companies.

Comment on this review

Sign in to share your opinion
T. B. getAbstract 2 years ago

Really very good insights.
A. S. 4 years ago

well done
R. T. 5 years ago

Yes - definitely one of the very top business books of the last 20 years. And it stands the test of time - being as relevant today as it was when it was first published.

More on this topic

By the same author

Review

Jeff Dyer et al.

The Innovator’s DNA

Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators

Review

Clayton M. Christensen and Michael E. Raynor

The Innovator's Solution

Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth

Video

Clayton M. Christensen

Where Does Growth Come From?

Book

Clayton M. Christensen et al.

Competing Against Luck

The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice

Report

Clayton M. Christensen et al.

Be the Disruptor

Harvard's Master of Innovation Tutors a Nieman Fellow on How Media Can Succeed in the Internet Age

Book

Clayton M. Christensen and Henry J. Eyring

The Innovative University

Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out

Book

Clayton M. Christensen et al.

How Will You Measure Your Life?

Book

Clayton M. Christensen et al.

The Innovator's Prescription

A Disruptive Solution for Health Care

Learners who read this also read

Article

Jill Lepore

The Disruption Machine

What the gospel of innovation gets wrong.

Article

Karen Dillon

Disruption 2020

An Interview with Clayton M. Christensen

Review

Jim Collins

How The Mighty Fall

And Why Some Companies Never Give In

Review

Jim Collins

Good to Great

Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t

Article

Rita Gunther McGrath

The New Disrupters

By entering the market with products and services that are every bit as good as those offered by legacy companies, a new breed of disrupters is making it harder than ever for traditional businesses to compete.