“The Innovator’s Dilemma” is a concept introduced by Clayton Christensen in 1997 to explain why large corporations often fail to stay on top of new, innovative technologies that disrupt their market. According to this theory, successful companies may become too focused on their current customers’ needs and existing profit margins to adopt new technologies or business models that could ultimately disrupt their own business.
Here’s a detailed explanation of the key points of the Innovator’s Dilemma:
-
Resource Dependence: Companies depend on their customers and investors for resources, which can lead them to prioritize the current needs over future opportunities.
-
Small Market Size: Emerging markets often do not provide the growth needed by large companies, so they tend to ignore them until it’s too late.
-
Market Analysis: Since future markets do not exist yet, they cannot be analyzed. Companies focus on markets that are known and can be planned for.
-
Value of Innovation: The capabilities of an organization can actually become its disabilities when it comes to disruptive innovation because they are not valued until it’s too late.
-
Technology Supply: There is not always a correlation between the supply of technology and market demand. Sometimes innovations exceed what customers can use or are willing to accept at the time.
To avoid falling into the Innovator’s Dilemma, companies should create smaller, more agile teams with the resources to explore and develop new markets and technologies. This allows them to be more responsive to disruptive innovations. For example, Japanese mobile phone companies were so focused on their existing ‘Galapagos’ phones that they missed the smartphone revolution led by the iPhone, resulting in a loss of market share.
In summary, the Innovator’s Dilemma highlights the challenge for leading companies to continue innovating while managing their current success. It’s a cautionary tale that stresses the importance of being open to new ideas and willing to disrupt one’s own business before someone else does.
--------
Created with Microsoft Copilot / Designer
日本語版はこちら
https://blog.kuma-farm-japan.jp/