Disruptive technologies
Breakthroughs that change our lives
Reading time: 11 min
The wheel, the light bulb, and the cellphone are three examples of disruptive technologies. At the time, these innovations caused a profound break with previous patterns, bringing about major changes in people's lives.
For this to happen, disruptive companies adopt business models that allow them to innovate in the market. That's why one of their most valuable assets is their Research and Development (R&D) department, a division that aims to develop new products or improve existing ones in order to cover a need in society.
What does innovation or disruptive technology mean?
Disruptive innovation is defined as technology that is capable of disrupting an already established market by following a set of patterns. An innovation that is originally focused on a niche and with the passing of time achieves a good share of the market, overtaking the previous one.
Harvard Business School professor and business consultant, Clayton Christensen, coined the term “disruptive innovation” in the magazine Harvard Business Review back in 1995.
For Christensen, technology that causes a relevant change and abruptly interrupts the way in which industries, companies, and consumers operate constitutes a disruptive innovation. This process represents a period of adaption such as what we are experiencing with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, marked by digitalization and emerging technological advances.
A good example is personal computers, as the technological advancement in this field shows clear disruptive elements. If we take a look back, we see how computers completely transformed our way of studying, working, and spending leisure time. Schools and families wanted to buy a computer, increasing demand, and as a result, the typewriter began to fall into disuse, thus producing notable changes in the market.