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The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change) Kindle Edition

4.5 out of 5 stars 3,964 ratings

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Named one of 100 Leadership & Success Books to Read in a Lifetime by Amazon Editors

A Wall Street Journal and Businessweek bestseller. Named by Fast Company as one of the most influential leadership books in its Leadership Hall of Fame. An innovation classic. From Steve Jobs to Jeff Bezos, Clay Christensen’s work continues to underpin today’s most innovative leaders and organizations.

The bestselling classic on disruptive innovation, by renowned author Clayton M. Christensen.

His work is cited by the world’s best-known thought leaders, from Steve Jobs to Malcolm Gladwell. In this classic bestseller—one of the most influential business books of all time—innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market leadership.

Christensen explains why most companies miss out on new waves of innovation. No matter the industry, he says, a successful company with established products
will get pushed aside unless managers know how and when to abandon traditional business practices.

Offering both successes and failures from leading companies as a guide,
The Innovator’s Dilemma gives you a set of rules for capitalizing on the phenomenon of disruptive innovation.

Sharp, cogent, and provocative—and consistently noted as one of the most valuable business ideas of all time—
The Innovator’s Dilemma is the book no manager, leader, or entrepreneur should be without.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What do the Honda Supercub, Intel's 8088 processor, and hydraulic excavators have in common? They are all examples of disruptive technologies that helped to redefine the competitive landscape of their respective markets. These products did not come about as the result of successful companies carrying out sound business practices in established markets. In The Innovator's Dilemma, author Clayton M. Christensen shows how these and other products cut into the low end of the marketplace and eventually evolved to displace high-end competitors and their reigning technologies.

At the heart of The Innovator's Dilemma is how a successful company with established products keeps from being pushed aside by newer, cheaper products that will, over time, get better and become a serious threat. Christensen writes that even the best-managed companies, in spite of their attention to customers and continual investment in new technology, are susceptible to failure no matter what the industry, be it hard drives or consumer retailing. Succinct and clearly written, The Innovator's Dilemma is an important book that belongs on every manager's bookshelf. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards

From Booklist

The author, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, asks why some well-managed companies that stay on top of new technology and practice quality customer service can still falter. His own research brought a surprising answer to that question. Christensen suggests that by placing too great an emphasis on satisfying customers' current needs, companies fail to adapt or adopt new technology that will meet customers' unstated or future needs, and he argues that such companies will eventually fall behind. Christensen calls this phenomenon "disruptive technology" and demonstrates its effects in industries as diverse as the manufacture of hard-disk drives and mass retailing. He goes on to offer solutions by providing strategies for anticipating changes in markets. This book is another in the publisher's Management of Innovation and Change series. David Rouse

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B012BLTM6I
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard Business Review Press
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 15, 2015
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Illustrated
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4.3 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 365 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781633691797
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1633691797
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Part of series ‏ : ‎ The Innovator's Dilemma Series
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 3,964 ratings

About the author

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Clayton M. Christensen
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Clayton M. Christensen is the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. In addition to his most recent book, Competing Against Luck, he is the author of nine books, including several New York Times bestsellers — The Innovator's Dilemma, The Innovator's Solution, Disrupting Class, and and most recently How Will You Measure Your Life?. Christensen is the co-founder of Innosight, a growth-strategy consultancy; Rose Park Advisors, an investment firm; and the Christensen Institute, a non-profit think tank. In 2011 and 2013, he was named the world’s most influential business thinker by Thinkers50.

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4.5 out of 5 stars
3,964 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well-written and consider it one of the best business books they've read. They appreciate its insightful knowledge about innovation, with one customer noting it's the best resource for understanding disruptive products and technologies. The content receives mixed feedback, with some customers describing it as a classic while others find it slightly dated in its research.

164 customers mention "Readability"149 positive15 negative

Customers find the book well written and engaging, with several describing it as one of the best business books they've read.

"...Great book!" Read more

"Thanks for a great book, which is helping me in my research...." Read more

"Good book for anyone who wants to venture into entrepreneurship or just see the pitfalls of sustaining and disruptive technologies/corporations..." Read more

"...It is a great read and very informative...." Read more

155 customers mention "Insight"146 positive9 negative

Customers find the book provides great insights about innovation, with numerous useful examples, making it a brilliant resource for those working in the field.

"...and the various responses by organizations are well laid out and thought provoking...." Read more

"...It is a great read and very informative...." Read more

"Very insightful, well written, the ideas laid out are supported by several expels and give insight how innovation penetrates the marketplace." Read more

"The Innovator's Dilemma is a fascinating and thought-provoking book that explores the reasons why established companies often fail when new..." Read more

12 customers mention "Dated content"4 positive8 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's content, with some considering it a classic while others note that it feels slightly outdated in its research.

"This book used to be required reading, but it is woefully outdated and has lost relevance...." Read more

"The best I've read and a great classic...." Read more

"...It a bit dated in the industry studies..." Read more

"Despite being slightly dated in research, the main thesis of the book and supporting arguments are really intriguing...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2025
    Useful infromation for tech business.
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2014
    Using data from various industries, this book discusses dilemma between sustaining and disruptive innovation.

    Most technological companies drift up-market, improving technology for increasingly high-margin customers. This is sustaining innovation. It can be hard, but if you continue to serve the same market, return on investment is predictable. Sustaining innovation creates vacuum at the low end, and entrants fill it with new technologies, not as capable but better in other ways - simpler, more reliable, suitable in different environments, and typically cheaper up-front. This is disruptive innovation. When a working low-end business model is found, products start to improve until they meet demands of mainstream customers. At this point, being cheaper, or simpler, or more reliable, new technologies win.

    The entrants often fail, but the wins can be huge. For sustaining innovation, being the first with new technology is not very important - you can serve the same market with incremental improvements to the previous technological generations for a while. For disruptive innovation, the first companies often take it all. They fly below the radar for a while, polishing the processes, and as soon as product is ready for mainstream, they can win overnight. So with more risk of failure, and more to gain, disruptive innovation might be attractive, statistically.

    Sure smart management will invest in disruptive innovation, then? In fact, engineers at big companies often do have prototypes of disruptive technologies done before anybody else, it just must be marketed. But then, CEO has to decide between sure increase of bottom line next year using sustaining innovation, or betting on a project that might fail, and even if it succeeds, bringing very small revenue initially. Even if top management decides to bet, it is middle managers and sales people who determine resource allocation on a daily basis, and they also prefer sure bonus this year to uncertain huge win 5 years from now, so disruptive projects usually don't get much attention. Everybody waits until disruptive technology matures enough to serve existing markets, while new companies at eating into those existing markets. There were big companies that successfully brought disruptive products to market, but it requires constant attention of CEO for months. In a sense, the capabilities that allow big companies to operate in their current established markets are liabilities when trying to find new markets.

    The solution suggested in the book is creating independent organizations. It can be a complete new company, or it can be a different office, but that organization must be "independent from normal resource allocation process" of mother company, and be judged on how well it can find and grow new market for the disruptive technology. It also suggests that all plans must be plans for discovery of market ("experts' forecasts will be wrong") and therefore be based about inexpensive experiments into new markets and provide for quick change of course if necessary.

    The biggest concern about this book is that despite having charts everywhere, it is still more about intuitions rather than any mathematical models. It does mention that company profits can increase as competitions grab low-end market, and it does mention companies that continue to hold nice high-end market after middle-end is occupied by new technology, so decisions are not obvious. There is also a case study of one possible innovation, electric cars, but it only say that their performance is not suitable for mainstream on all metrics (it was before Tesla made it to 60 in 4 seconds) and is increasing faster than market demands. By that criteria, every company should invest in pretty much any new technology. I would have hoped for a more detailed analysis here, but it could be too much to ask from a book that was first to even bring up the innovators dilemma.
    12 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2017
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    The Innovator’s Dilemma is an interesting work written by Clayton M. Christensen in 1997. The book seeks to explain why certain businesses are successful in their ventures and why other firms fail in response to new technologies. Christensen tries to explain throughout the book why some firms, when new technologies enter the market, fail either because they adapt the new technology or not. The author initially believes that new technologies are constantly emerging and all businesses must continually adapt to stay relevant. However, this proves to be false as in his studies not all firms that ignored the new technology failed while not all firms that adapted the new technology succeeded. This is the fundamental dilemma in the book, and Christensen’s main purpose is to figure out a recipe for managers to follow to stay successful when disruptive technologies enter the market. Most of the book revolves around the study of the disk drive market since they were first developed in the 1950’s. The disk drive industry was important because technology was rapidly advancing and smaller drives were being released within a few years of each other. Many of the established firms often chose not to invest in the next smaller disk drive because they did not have enough memory to meet their standards. However, emerging firms would find new markets for the use of smaller drives and also find ways to make them more powerful, eventually drive the existing firms out of business. Christensen eventually concludes that successful businesses often collapse, despite having good managers, because they fail to find the new markets for disruptive technologies while instead supplying current customers with what they currently need.
    The goal of the book is to educate people in the business world about how new technologies affect firms and to provide a new way of thinking about disruptive technologies. The end of the piece brings the conclusion that leading firms almost always have set technologies that work well for their current customers, choosing not to invest in new technologies because what they are currently doing is working, current customers do not want change. That is, until new technologies grow to be superior than their predecessors. Christensen does a fantastic job in making his point clear as he provides a plethora of studies across different markets to support his claims. The first half of the book is essentially a detailed history of the disk drive industry that has multiple examples of different firms both choosing to invest in smaller drives and continuing to use their already established, larger drives. He uses this information to create hypothesis’ about why these firms made their decisions and whether it lead them to success or not. Essentially, the author’s process in writing the book is to look at different industries that had disruptive technologies and discover what trends lead to success and what trends lead to failure. He spends a lot of time focusing on a single industry, the disk drive. However, he does bring up several other markets including the mechanical excavator, steel, computer, and discount retailer industries. This variety of different scopes enhances his argument, especially since he sees similar trends across all of these different markets. Many of his examples include established firms choosing not to adopt new technologies because it does not fit their current business motives, but then later being replaced by firms that dared to find new markets for the new technology. His claims are definitely unbiased as all of his conclusions are drawn from the hard evidence that he compiles and delivers to the reader throughout the book about the different firms in those industries. It is almost impossible to disagree with his conclusion since all of his evidence accurately backs up his claims.
    Personally, I enjoyed reading the book but mostly because it appeals to my interests. As a young business major, the book is intended for me to read and may directly pertain to my own future. However, this book would be challenging to read for the average person that is not interested in business. The book is confusing at some times and is clearly designed for educated readers with a basic understanding of the business world. I would say that the book is a must-read for managers of a company that may be facing disruptive technologies in their industry as it does provide direct advice for people of that demographic. It is a book that I would certainly recommend to my peers within my major.
    Christensen does a decent job in making the book engaging. Some of the chapters where he is providing data are dry and confusing, but he does always provide a summary at the end of chapters to keep the reader focused. A lot of the book is also repetitive in regards to the disk drive industry and the author reiterating his claims about disruptive technologies. Nonetheless, the book is overall definitely a success for its purpose. There is plenty of evidence throughout the book that prove his claims in real-world situations. His main ideas about why firms choose to serve current customers with current technology rather than try to force new technologies on customers also makes logical sense, given the customer-centric market that is present in today’s society. His complex conclusion that disruptive technologies succeed only when they find a market that does not currently exist is confusing, but is definitely supported with his evidence.
    In conclusion, the book is a great read for those looking to advance their knowledge in the business world and think about topics that are not usually discussed. The author’s conclusions are creative and complex, but are backed up with hard evidence throughout the piece. The insights and advice brought up by Christensen are useful knowledge to any person studying business and the impact of emerging technologies. This is a book that I will definitely keep in mind in the future and I will recommend to others.
    72 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2023
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    OK, the book itself is great. But I was very shocked and disappointed that there is no whispersync between the Kindle book and Audible audiobook. So I read a few chapters, and then switched to the audiobook. Starts at the beginning, what?

    So I switch between Kindle & Audiobook or vice versa in the middle of a chapter, and it is a lot of work to try to figure out where I am.

    I would give it 5 stars otherwise, but this is just inexcusable.

    I bought BOTH versions, people! You surely could put in the effort to set up whispersync!

    So by the publisher not putting in the work to set up whispersync, I have to manually do the guesswork each time I switch between Kindle and Audible. And no, it is not as easy as switching on a chapter - they are quite long.

    Attention to details - it is important.
    4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • ReviewRobert
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on May 26, 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Great book worth the read
  • Secun
    5.0 out of 5 stars A good add-on for those professional working in fast-paced environments
    Reviewed in Spain on March 31, 2015
    I felt surprised for the quality of the book in terms of:
    - Many real-life examples from where conclusions are so easily derived (Honda motorcycles introduction in US is a very good one, also disk drive industry and others)
    - Additional references for those who want to dig more into some specific areas

    I like very much the overall message and how Clayton guides the reader into his simple logic: good management can lead to disaster (as proved by several real-life examples) so what we can do to harness the principles of disruptive innovation.

    In other reviews you have additional information into the book and the content , but all in all, I'd say this is a must for any marketer, strategist of professional working in fast-paced and dynamics business with great potential for disruption.
  • Anonymous
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the revolutionary business books of all time!
    Reviewed in Canada on December 29, 2019
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Clayton Christensen compiles a revolutionary business idea into practical steps that can help businesses stay relevant in times of change. He uses concrete evidence to support his views and provide an unbiased analysis to help readers understand the concepts. Worth the read for anyone trying to change the world!
  • Romur
    5.0 out of 5 stars Toujours aussi pertinent
    Reviewed in France on April 26, 2014
    Depuis bientôt 20 ans, ce livre est devenu un classique et ses idées se sont assez bien diffusées... mais pas partout ! On voit encore des entreprises qui sombrent face à l’émergence d’une concurrence nouvelle, d’une technologie de rupture.
    Christensen expose, à travers une série d’exemples historiques issus de différents secteurs, les caractéristiques qui permettent de reconnaitre une véritable rupture et analyse l’impact qu’elles ont eu sur des leaders historiques. En seconde partie, il expose les stratégies que peut mettre une entreprise établie pour gérer ces ruptures et éviter de se faire emporter par l’émergence de concurrents inattendus.
    Lisez-le ! Cette vision est plus que jamais d’actualité dans notre monde piloté par l’innovation, peut-être même dans VOTRE entreprise.
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  • Thales Carvalho
    5.0 out of 5 stars Maravilhoso!
    Reviewed in Brazil on August 27, 2014
    Embora o próprio autor reconheça que alguns conceitos trabalhados nesse livro foram mal trabalhados, e que ele trabalhou nessas falhas em suas obras posteriores, para mim o autor explicou perfeitamente como funciona a "destruição criadora" schumpeteriana. Ele parte do problema sobre o porquê das grandes empresas quebrarem, descarta a hipótese de incompetência dos gestores destas empresas e reconhece a existência de dois tipos de inovação: a sustentada, quando um produto busca apenas fazer mais e melhor, e a disruptiva, que o produto busca fazer "não exatamente" o que os líderes de mercado fazem. Ele analisa quando essas inovações disruptivas funcionam e quando não funcionam. Vou dar um exemplo: na última geração de consoles, a Sony buscou fazer um videogame (PS3) melhor que o anterior (PS2) e a Microsoft fez o mesmo (Xbox / Xbox360). Já a Nintendo fez o Wii, que não era voltado para o público-alvo tradicional. Resultado: o Wii explodiu em vendas. Enfim, se você ler este livro (erroneamente traduzido como O Dilema da "Inovação" para o português) e "A Estratégia do Oceano Azul" em sequência você entenderá bastante como as coisas funcionam...

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