Big Bang Disruption: Strategy in the Age of Devastating Innovation
BIG BANG DISRUPTION: STRATEGY IN THE AGE OF DEVASTATING INNOVATION Big bang disruption: Strategy in the age of devastating innovation Authors: Larry Downes and Paul Nunes Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) LLC Published date: Jan 7, 2014 Print length: 271 pages (kindle edition)INTRODUCTION"Disruptive Innovation" is the word attributed to Christensen from Innovator's Dilemma (Christensen, 1997) Judging from ongoing discussions in academic literature, as well as the popular press, this term seems to have undiminished appeal. For example, in an article in the recent Harvard Business Review, Christensen explained the meaning and implications of "disruptive innovation" (Christensen et al. 2015) And there was another piece in The Economist discussing its meaning, as well (Economist, 2015).What's more, add the term "big bang" the authors allude to the disruptions in the context of the fast moving digital age. Each of the two authors have successful publishing and industry careers making them uniquely qualified to talk about the digital age. Larry Downes's book, Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance, has been described as one of the most important books in business and technology, according to the author page on Amazon (http:/www.amazon.com/Larry Downes/e/BOOOAPTDCQ/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_l) Similarly, the second author, Paul Nunes, is introduced as the Executive Director of Research at the Accenture Institute for High Performance. He has had his own book, Jumping the S Curve: How to Beat the Growth Cycle, Get On Top and Stay There, before this one (http:/www.amazon.com/Paul F.Nunes/e/B004FEMX98/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_l?qid=1459785708&sr=l l) Many of the examples in this book, the authors say, come from their experiences in Accenture. All these descriptions, at the very outset, will put this book on the reading lists of many people.SUMMARY OF CHAPTERThe most important part of this book is its introduction. Aside from introducing themselves and their works to establish their credentials, Downes and Nunes lay out their thesis very clearly in this section.According to them, three stages of innovation have passed. The first one is Porter's generic strategy. Products are either "differentiated," "cost leaders" or niche players. This is based on "market research" and is called the "top down approach." Christensen (1997) challenges this with the "bottom up" approach. Lower prices and lower quality products can ultimately replace the incumbent leaders both in terms of functionality and price. This is the second stage. The third one is the Blue Ocean strategy by Kim W. Chan, and Renee Mauborgne. Here, innovators tap into "new and unmet needs of the market" by "coming from the sides."Big bang disruption, Downes and Nunes claim, is the "fourth stage of innovation." It attacks the market simultaneously from all sides (top, bottom and sides) and competes simultaneously on "price, technology and customization." This is the definition of "devastating innovation," as alluded to in the title of this book.Here, Downes and Nunes set out to address the needs of businesses that are required not just to understand the phenomena, but also to successfully compete in the arena and bring a new theory of innovation fit for the digital age. In this book, it seems, Downes and Nunes hope to create a classic on par with the three they described as the first three stages of innovation. How much they have succeeded on any of those counts is a another question, though.The book has two parts. Part one has three chapters and is labeled "diagnosis." This part basically elaborates on the thesis of this book introduced in the introduction. Part two has four chapters. This part is called "treatment." It is the strategy part.Part 1 has three chapters. It tries to elaborate and validate what it states in the introduction. Chapter one points out that for established businesses, challenges can come from anywhere, sometime fatally, outside of the industry.