Disruptive Innovation Examples: Three Everyday Services That Disrupted Their Industries (Digital Business Strategy)

Digital Business Strategy: Internal and external analysis and disruptive innovation

Select one technology company (Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, AT&T, Facebook, Alibaba or Cisco Systems) and identify its internal and external analysis, addressing the factors described by McKeown and Durkin in The Seven Principles of Digital Business Strategy (pp. 19–26).

Assignment (no more than 350 words): disruptive innovations make products and services accessible and affordable. What are three products or services you use (other than computers or cell phones) that are disruptive innovations, and why?

Original example for study purposes (about 250 words, within the 350-word limit). Replace the examples with services you actually use, and add your company analysis using McKeown and Durkin if your instructor requires it.

Disruptive innovations begin by serving customers who are overlooked or overserved by established firms, offering simpler and more affordable products that later improve enough to attract mainstream customers (Christensen et al., 2015). Three services I use fit this pattern.

1. Streaming video (Netflix). Netflix began with DVD-by-mail, a service that appealed to customers who disliked late fees and trips to rental stores but that Blockbuster considered a small niche. As internet speeds improved, Netflix shifted to streaming, offering unlimited content for a low monthly fee on many devices. It eventually displaced video rental stores and changed how television is produced and watched.

2. Retail health clinics. Walk-in clinics in pharmacies, such as CVS MinuteClinic, provide basic care like vaccinations, strep tests and minor illness treatment at lower cost and with no appointment. They started with simple, routine needs that physician offices served expensively and inconveniently, making care more accessible for busy or uninsured people. As they add services and telehealth, they compete more directly with traditional primary care.

3. Online learning platforms. Platforms such as Khan Academy and Coursera offer free or low-cost courses that anyone with internet access can take at their own pace. At first, traditional universities viewed them as lower quality, but they reached learners who could not afford or access college. Today, many offer certificates and degrees, challenging the traditional higher education model.

All three made a valuable service cheaper and more accessible, improved over time and pressured established providers to change.

References

Christensen, C. M., Raynor, M. E., & McDonald, R. (2015). What is disruptive innovation? Harvard Business Review, 93(12), 44–53.

McKeown, N., & Durkin, M. (2017). The seven principles of digital business strategy. Business Expert Press.

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