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reviewed The innovator's dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen (The management of innovation and change series)

Clayton M. Christensen: The innovator's dilemma (1997, Harvard Business School Press)

This book takes the radical position that great companies can fail precisely because they do …

A Classic in Theory with Empirical Gaps

The term "disruptive innovation" is thrown around far too much, and when one returns to Christensen's classic source it becomes clear that the innovations he refers to are those that disrupt business models - they may not actually be that huge of a technological leap. The examples here are instructive, but the lack of exploration of counterfactuals, case studies of failures, and quantitative evidence make the theory itself slightly amorphous, with the ultimate effect on the fate of businesses being unclear. This is still an essential theory to understand, however, and this book is a timeless foray into business strategy. Highly recommend