Disruptive Innovation: Strategies for a Successful Enterprise
- Dates: 17–22 JUN 2024
- Format: In-Person Learning takes place on the HBS campus or a designated location.
- Location: HBS Campus
- Fee: $16,000

"Put simply, it's the most practical theoretical course you'll ever take."
Summary
More than 20 years ago, late HBS professor Clayton Christensen introduced a revolutionary concept that transformed the business world and is still widely applied today: disruptive innovation. In this program, Christensen's team will help strategic decision-makers understand how disruption works and determine when to invest in core versus disruptive business models. As you gain insight into the ways that evolving industries, technologies, and competitive forces can affect your business, you will be better prepared to harness innovation, lead breakthrough change, and sustain enterprise success.

This program is eligible for the Certificate of Management Excellence. Learn More
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Summary
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More than 20 years ago, late HBS professor Clayton Christensen introduced a revolutionary concept that transformed the business world and is still widely applied today: disruptive innovation. In this program, Christensen's team will help strategic decision-makers understand how disruption works and determine when to invest in core versus disruptive business models. As you gain insight into the ways that evolving industries, technologies, and competitive forces can affect your business, you will be better prepared to harness innovation, lead breakthrough change, and sustain enterprise success.
This program is eligible for the Certificate of Management Excellence. Learn More
DetailsExpand AllCollapse All
Create and sustain a strong position in an evolving industryCreate and sustain a strong position in an evolving industry
- Analyze how the structure of an industry may change
- Avoid having your business disrupted by others
- Achieve differentiation and better margins
- Assess your company's capabilities
- Sustain core businesses while enabling innovation
- Avert common problems that lead companies into decline
Drive innovationDrive innovation
- Align your organization around innovation initiatives
- Rethink your product, market and strategy
- Apply disruptive theories to complex problems and opportunities
- Build the skills and vision critical to leading change
Make better decisions through strategic analysis and predictive frameworksMake better decisions through strategic analysis and predictive frameworks
- Adopt a strategic mindset and skillset
- Apply theories of causality to understand why things happen the way they do
- Accurately predict the impact of strategic actions
- Better articulate your strategic questions and goals
- Assess the risks and opportunities presented by actions such as:
- Ignoring sunk costs and making decisions at the margin
- Implementing a strategy of low-cost positioning
- Scaling fast to take advantage of network effects
- Outsourcing activities that are not your current core competence
- Sourcing new leaders from inside the firm
Expand your personal and professional networkExpand your personal and professional network
- Extend your network by living and working with accomplished executives from various backgrounds, industries, and countries across the globe
- Build relationships with a diverse group of peers who can provide wide-ranging insights into your business challenges and career decisions
Create and sustain a strong position in an evolving industry
- Analyze how the structure of an industry may change
- Avoid having your business disrupted by others
- Achieve differentiation and better margins
- Assess your company's capabilities
- Sustain core businesses while enabling innovation
- Avert common problems that lead companies into decline
Drive innovation
- Align your organization around innovation initiatives
- Rethink your product, market and strategy
- Apply disruptive theories to complex problems and opportunities
- Build the skills and vision critical to leading change
Make better decisions through strategic analysis and predictive frameworks
- Adopt a strategic mindset and skillset
- Apply theories of causality to understand why things happen the way they do
- Accurately predict the impact of strategic actions
- Better articulate your strategic questions and goals
- Assess the risks and opportunities presented by actions such as:
- Ignoring sunk costs and making decisions at the margin
- Implementing a strategy of low-cost positioning
- Scaling fast to take advantage of network effects
- Outsourcing activities that are not your current core competence
- Sourcing new leaders from inside the firm
Expand your personal and professional network
- Extend your network by living and working with accomplished executives from various backgrounds, industries, and countries across the globe
- Build relationships with a diverse group of peers who can provide wide-ranging insights into your business challenges and career decisions
Who Should Attend
The program is appropriate for senior executives, general managers, or business owners who are responsible for setting strategic direction for their organizations.
Attendance by two or more individuals from your organization will foster teamwork and enhance the program's impact.

Program for Leadership Development participants earn 5 PLDA Points on completion of this program.
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Who Should Attend
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The program is appropriate for senior executives, general managers, or business owners who are responsible for setting strategic direction for their organizations.
Attendance by two or more individuals from your organization will foster teamwork and enhance the program's impact.
Program for Leadership Development participants earn 5 PLDA Points on completion of this program.
Dive Deeper into the ExperienceThrive in a learning environment that welcomes diverse ideas and perspectives.
Learning and Living at HBS
When you participate in an Executive Education program on the HBS campus, you enter an immersive experience where every aspect of the learning model has been carefully designed to facilitate your growth. Your learning will take place on your own, in your living group, and in the larger classroom, driven by the renowned HBS case method.
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Learning and Living at HBS
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When you participate in an Executive Education program on the HBS campus, you enter an immersive experience where every aspect of the learning model has been carefully designed to facilitate your growth. Your learning will take place on your own, in your living group, and in the larger classroom, driven by the renowned HBS case method.
Admissions Criteria and Process
Answering Your Questions
Application Submission
Application Review
Fee, Payment, and Cancellations
Answering Your Questions
Application Submission
Application Review
Fee, Payment, and Cancellations
What You Will Learn
Created by Clayton Christensen and led by his teaching team, this stimulating program offers the opportunity to engage in a dynamic learning experience through presentations, carefully chosen case studies, and small-group discussions. In this program you will examine the strategies of both disruptors and the disrupted. You'll discover why some strategies succeeded while others failed, and learn how to apply these insights to your own strategic decisions.
Participants should expect to spend at least 9-12 hours on self-paced case preparation prior to attending the program. Case materials will be made available approximately two weeks prior to program start.
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What You Will Learn
-
Created by Clayton Christensen and led by his teaching team, this stimulating program offers the opportunity to engage in a dynamic learning experience through presentations, carefully chosen case studies, and small-group discussions. In this program you will examine the strategies of both disruptors and the disrupted. You'll discover why some strategies succeeded while others failed, and learn how to apply these insights to your own strategic decisions.
Participants should expect to spend at least 9-12 hours on self-paced case preparation prior to attending the program. Case materials will be made available approximately two weeks prior to program start.
Key TopicsExpand AllCollapse All
Disruption and your strategyDisruption and your strategy
- What does disruption really mean—and how does it work?
- How can you tell when a potential disruptor is going to be successful?
- What is the signal that an industry is about to commoditize? How do you position to take advantage of that shift?
- How do you set strategy in a world that is changing so rapidly? What do you do when what you know is vastly outweighed by what you don't know?
Controlling your destiny: market, resources, and capabilitiesControlling your destiny: market, resources, and capabilities
- Whose investment capital will help you succeed, and whose money might poison your chances?
- Who is your ideal target customer, and how can selecting the wrong customers kill your brand?
- What is the hidden danger of core competence theory? How should you decide which activities to keep in-house and which to outsource?
- Should you make acquisitions as a means of building capability? If so, should you integrate them or keep them separate?
Disruption and your strategy
- What does disruption really mean—and how does it work?
- How can you tell when a potential disruptor is going to be successful?
- What is the signal that an industry is about to commoditize? How do you position to take advantage of that shift?
- How do you set strategy in a world that is changing so rapidly? What do you do when what you know is vastly outweighed by what you don't know?
Controlling your destiny: market, resources, and capabilities
- Whose investment capital will help you succeed, and whose money might poison your chances?
- Who is your ideal target customer, and how can selecting the wrong customers kill your brand?
- What is the hidden danger of core competence theory? How should you decide which activities to keep in-house and which to outsource?
- Should you make acquisitions as a means of building capability? If so, should you integrate them or keep them separate?
The HBS Advantage
Our Executive Education programs are developed and taught by HBS faculty who are widely recognized as skilled educators, groundbreaking researchers, and award-winning authors. Through their board memberships, consulting, and field-based research, they address the complex challenges facing business leaders across the globe.
Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
Thai-Hi T. Lee (MBA 1985) Associate Professor of Business Administration
Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
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The HBS Advantage
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Our Executive Education programs are developed and taught by HBS faculty who are widely recognized as skilled educators, groundbreaking researchers, and award-winning authors. Through their board memberships, consulting, and field-based research, they address the complex challenges facing business leaders across the globe.
Faculty CochairsSenior Lecturer of Business Administration
HBS Unit:General ManagementThai-Hi T. Lee (MBA 1985) Associate Professor of Business Administration
HBS Unit:Technology and Operations ManagementSenior Lecturer of Business Administration
HBS Unit:General ManagementFacultySenior Lecturer of Business Administration
HBS Unit:Technology and Operations Management
Your Peers Expand Your Learning
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Your Peers Expand Your Learning
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Global PerspectiveExperience the world in your classroom.Global PerspectiveExperience the world in your classroom.9%Africa11%Asia Pacific20%Europe15%Latin America10%Middle East35%North America9%Africa11%Asia Pacific20%Europe15%Latin America10%Middle East35%North AmericaTop Industries RepresentedInsights from a range of industries ignite your thinking.Insights from a range of industries ignite your thinking.22%Financial9%Manufacturing8%Chem / Pharma / Bio8%Consumer Products8%Nonprofit Services6%High Technology5%Utilities / Telecom4%CommunicationsTop Industries RepresentedInsights from a range of industries ignite your thinking.22%Financial9%Manufacturing8%Chem / Pharma / Bio8%Consumer Products8%Nonprofit Services6%High Technology5%Utilities / Telecom4%CommunicationsExperienceExperienceYears workedYears workedExperienceYears workedLess than 10 yearsLess than 10 years10-14 years10-14 years15-19 years15-19 years20-24 years20-24 years25-29 years25-29 years30-34 years30-34 years35-39 years35-39 years40 years or more40 years or moreLess than 10 yearsLess than 10 years10-14 years10-14 years15-19 years15-19 years20-24 years20-24 years25-29 years25-29 years30-34 years30-34 years35-39 years35-39 years40 years or more40 years or more
