Disruptive Innovation in Retail Markets

There is a theory established by Clayton Christiansen that demonstrates how disruptive innovations not only enter markets but how they can topple or seriously wound incumbent businesses. Disrupters achieve this by creating new markets or by creating new low cost options targeted at consumer’s with low requirements.

Importantly this affects UK retailers. Consider HMV who have been toppled by disruptive innovations from Netflix, Spotify and iTunes. Established retailers need to understand a) how to identify disruptive innovations before they hit top line sales and b) how to innovate before the competition.
My MBA dissertation will apply Christiansen’s work to UK retailers in the post-digital era. Firstly I will prove the model and identify how disruptive innovations have affected the market. Secondly I will attempt to identify through research what areas of disruptive innovation are opening up for retailers.
Download the Report
My dissertation is now completed, you can download a full copy here:
DissertationReading list:
- Seeing What’s Next: Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change
- Digital Disruption: Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation (UK edition)
- The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
- The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth