With its own set of unique challenges, the beauty industry may seem unlike any other, but Derrick Porter, CEO of Beauty Industry Group, now realizes that challenges and opportunities can often be similar across dissimilar industries. Through his experience in Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise (now titled Disruptive Innovation: Strategies for a Successful Enterprise) at Harvard Business School, he examined case studies and met executive leaders from four other continents. He describes some of the program's benefits.
Prior to enrolling, I had read a lot of Clay Christensen's work on disruptive innovation. One night, after dealing with some particularly vexing issues, such as distributer challenges and international business, I began to wonder if Harvard offered any programs that addressed these challenges. I'm in a business that's very fragmented with hundreds of competitors, so I needed to be able to differentiate my company among those competitors. Based on the program's curriculum, I felt that this program would perfectly address some of my needs.
There's one thing in particular that this program does much better than the others. This program teaches participants how to actually build a successful and sustainable enterprise. It offers theories on continuous improvement and innovative disruption that are essential for achieving results. I learned how to sustain a large and growing business and take it to the next level.
What surprised me the most was the diversity of participants in the program cohort. Today, business is global—I traveled to 30 countries in one year recently. It was invaluable to hear the perceptions of such a wide range of executives from different cultures. I knew the content would be excellent, but the caliber of my fellow participants was every bit as impressive.
The living group was one of the most enjoyable parts of the program. We talked about all kinds of issues—teeth whitening, newspaper circulation, forklift rentals, uniform supply, education, hair extensions, and more. As we discussed these things, we realized that our problems were similar. The product may have been different, but the theory could be applied to multiple situations.
The case-based method was important because it allowed me to see the problem, explore the unique circumstances underneath that problem, and identify the different things I could do to solve it. While traditional learning usually gives you the answer that will solve the problem, the case method requires you to ask yourself a hundred different questions—and that allows you to see through a different set of lenses and deepens your understanding. The end result is your recognition that each case has an application to your business.
