Disruptive Technology Essay

The world we live in today is much more technologically diverse than any other period of time throughout history. From this diversity sprouts a new type of economy, one that balances on the evolution of basic ideals that fluctuate depending on our advances in different fields. In the book, American Economy Since 1920: How It Worked, the author explains four recurring themes in business. One of those themes is the relentless of change. Throughout the course of history, whether it be due to extraordinary advances in technology or devastating economic downfalls, the world of business is always changing.

Companies produce new technologies that help americas new and upcoming workforce. New tools are made to help the medical field be more precise and effective in their treatments. New systems of communication and travel have become quickly more available. People have even said that in about four years humankind might be able to live on mars. In our age a new phone comes out every few months, allowing better forms of communication. As we look to the future we see that the tech will really be “shocking.”

Technology has revolutionized the world as it is today. People in different countries thousands of miles away can now communicate at the press of a button. Cities are designed and built using computer programs. Children now have access to a wide range of knowledge when they simply type a question into a search engine on the internet. Products are being

Disruptive technology is a new way of doing something that initially does not meet the needs of existing customers. This type of technology tends to open new markets and destroy old ones. While, a sustaining technology produces an improved product that customers are eager to buy. This technology provides better, faster and cheaper products on established markets.

Technology is advancing everyday and constantly changing our lives. Technology allows us accomplish tasks faster and easier than we would have before. One way we see this is through machines using technology to accomplish everyday jobs. While it is a good thing, it has also created several problems economically.

In this essay I will describe and explain the causes and consequences of disruptive innovation. Firstly I will write about what dualism is, why it is important and how to achieve it. I will continue with describing difficulties, which may occur on a company’s path towards it, namely overshooting and inability to recognize the start of a new industry cycle. Further on, I will go deeper in the reasons, why incumbents fail to recognize the new entrants on the market, specifically “attack from below” and other discontinuous patterns of change. In the end I will describe some of the responses taken by established companies to disruptive technologies.

“The Innovator’s Dilemma” describes Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation. But, his theory isn’t essentially briefed as one would assume. Her opinion is that case studies (like disk-drive industry) were chosen by the author to demonstrate his perception, as well as subjectively distinct success metrics.

When the word disruptive is mention, I know that some of our minds automatically focus on something that causes trouble or deemed disorderly. However, as it relates to technology in the area of higher education, it is important that we focus on the positive aspects of the word disruptive. Disruptive Innovation can be described as an upgrade to services that we already provide. This upgrade can be seen as more efficient, inexpensive, and easier to access.

This course for juniors and seniors explores firm strategies related to innovation and technological change. We focus on how the success of technological innovations—new products, processes, and services—depends on the firm’s business model. Other key topics include intellectual property rights and the management of technological uncertainty through organizational arrangements such as corporate venturing, spinoffs, and alliances.

Disruptive technology brings about many opportunities for both innovation and productivity outputs, however it can also be a risk. It includes developments that create substantial change across the economy for most people and businesses, the impact of which causes significant costs to adjust to due to capital being made obsolete and workers becoming underutilised. Clayton Christensen is considered to be the world’s top expert on the concepts of disruption innovation and technology and according to him the ‘introduction of digital disruption offers a better alternative to the present approach for solving customer problems’. Digital disruption is redefining the norm, changing both markets and competitors around the world. Whilst it can be a positive change for

Over time, companies desire to improve their products in the market which may involve changing the quality of their products and consequently increasing the costs. While customers would want the improved products, they often are unprepared meaning that they may shy away from purchasing such products. In this case, emerging companies tend to take advantage of such a market and introduce concepts that would be appealing to the customers and hence overpower the existing companies (Magretta,2012). Markides (2006) explains that disruptive business models are the decisions that a company makes that enables them to outshine or be above competitors in an individual market. The disruptive model focuses on disrupting the existing market and making the customers prefer the new company as opposes to the others (Magretta,2012). In this case, change of infrastructure can affect the way business is done. For example, transport companies can choose to implement a train station in a very congested road network to gain a competitive edge and also ensure that customers travel with ease.

According to Hang, Chen and Yu, 2011 the disruptive innovation theory was used extensively to practicing managers. “It pointed out clearly that the threat to successful incumbents which may focus on the needed sustaining innovation and hence could fail to capture the new prospects presented by disruptive innovation”. The disruptive innovation may be

Technology is like a river and can change its direction completely. It can move in a different direction from what once was considered to be true and into one expected logically in the future. The cost and accessibility barrier is lowered with every new technology arriving and therefore the competition is increasing (Peter Alexander, 1994).

What Christensen means is that using the words “disruptive innovation” in a non-jargon way is very difficult, as even Uber, the company most pointed to by many as the epitome of a disruptive company cannot even be defined as disruptive. Perhaps he is implying that the misuse of certain words can be equated to jargon, such as when people in everyday conversation refer to Uber as a “disruptive” company. Because of this, Christensen believes that the mantra that commands: “Disrupt or be disrupted” can be very misleading. He advises corporate leaders of incumbent companies to not overreact to this mantra by trying to solve the problem before it is one. Christensen implies that overuse of this phrase requires incumbent businesses to be extra vigilant

According to the Innovation Policy Platform, a radical or disruptive innovation is an “innovation that has a significant impact on a market and on the economic activity of firms in that market.” (Radical and incremental innovation, 2013, p. 1). From this definition, IBM is a prime example of a radical innovation. The Watson super computer has performed activities no other invention has before. IBM has gone through at least five radical changes in its environment such as