Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen demonstrates in the most revolutionary business book in years why outstanding companies that did everything right-were in tune with the competition, listened to customers, and invested aggressively in new technologies still lost their market leadership when confronted with disruptive changes in technology and market structure ... and he tells how to avoid a similar fate as business races online into the twenty-first century. The Innovator's Dilemma eloquently demonstrates a shattering paradox: that the best of conventional good business practices can ultimately weaken a great firm. There is a certain type of technological innovation that Christensen labels disruptive technology, which mainstream customers initially reject. Following these customers causes well-managed firms to allow strategic innovations to languish. The solution? Create a subsidiary entirely focused on the emerging market, one that is free to be visionary while courting an unorthodox customer base and staying poised to catch the next great wave of industry growth. Sharp, cogent, and provocative, The Innovator's Dilemma is one of the most talked about business books of our time-and something that none of today's executives will dare to be without.