
What Is Disruptive Innovation? - mgav
https://hbr.org/2015/12/what-is-disruptive-innovation
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mgav
First, a quick recap of the idea: “Disruption” describes a process whereby a
smaller company with fewer resources is able to successfully challenge
established incumbent businesses. Specifically, as incumbents focus on
improving their products and services for their most demanding (and usually
most profitable) customers, they exceed the needs of some segments and ignore
the needs of others. Entrants that prove disruptive begin by successfully
targeting those overlooked segments, gaining a foothold by delivering more-
suitable functionality—frequently at a lower price. Incumbents, chasing higher
profitability in more-demanding segments, tend not to respond vigorously.
Entrants then move upmarket, delivering the performance that incumbents’
mainstream customers require, while preserving the advantages that drove their
early success. When mainstream customers start adopting the entrants’
offerings in volume, disruption has occurred.

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mgav
Is Uber a Disruptive Innovation?

...Uber is clearly transforming the taxi business in the United States. But is
it disrupting the taxi business?

According to the theory, the answer is no. Uber’s financial and strategic
achievements do not qualify the company as genuinely disruptive—although the
company is almost always described that way.

Here are two reasons why the label doesn’t fit.

(1) Disruptive innovations originate in low-end or new-market footholds; and

(2) Disruptive innovations don’t catch on with mainstream customers until
quality catches up to their standards.

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mgav
Excerpt: "...In our experience, too many people who speak of “disruption” have
not read a serious book or article on the subject. Too frequently, they use
the term loosely to invoke the concept of innovation in support of whatever it
is they wish to do. Many researchers, writers, and consultants use “disruptive
innovation” to describe any situation in which an industry is shaken up and
previously successful incumbents stumble. But that’s much too broad a
usage..."

