Clayton Christensen

Clayton Christensen
Name	Clayton Christensen
Caption	Christensen in 2011
Birth date	6 April 1952
Birth place	Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Death date	23 January 2020
Death place	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Education	Brigham Young University (BA), University of Oxford (MPhil), Harvard Business School (MBA, DBA)
Occupation	Academic, business consultant, author
Known for	Theory of disruptive innovation
Employer	Harvard Business School
Spouse	Christine

Clayton Christensen was an influential American scholar, professor, and author best known for his theory of disruptive innovation, which transformed the understanding of business strategy and technological change. A longtime professor at the Harvard Business School, his seminal work, *The Innovator's Dilemma*, earned him global recognition and profoundly impacted leaders in Silicon Valley, major corporations, and public policy. Christensen's ideas extended beyond business to fields like healthcare and education, and he was widely regarded as one of the world's foremost management thinkers.

Early life and education

Born in Salt Lake City, he was raised in a family of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and attended Brigham Young University, where he served as student body president and graduated *magna cum laude* in economics. After his undergraduate studies, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University, earning a master's degree in applied econometrics. Christensen then attended the Harvard Business School, graduating as a George F. Baker Scholar with high distinction in his MBA program before returning later to complete his Doctorate in Business Administration.

Academic career

He joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School in 1992, where he held the Kim B. Clark Professorship of Business Administration. At Harvard, he taught popular courses on building and sustaining a successful enterprise and became a revered mentor to generations of students. Christensen was also a fellow at the Harvard-affiliated Innosight, a consulting firm he co-founded, and served on the boards of several organizations, including Tata Consultancy Services and the Deseret Management Corporation.

The Innovator's Dilemma and disruptive innovation

His 1997 book, *The Innovator's Dilemma*, introduced the groundbreaking concept of disruptive innovation, arguing that well-managed companies often fail because they focus on improving products for their mainstream customers while ignoring simpler, cheaper innovations that eventually reshape entire markets. The book, which won the Global Business Book Award, used case studies from industries like hard disk drive manufacturing and steel mill production. This theory became a foundational framework in business school curricula and a strategic guide for executives at companies like Apple, Intel, and Netflix.

Other works and theories

Christensen expanded his theories in subsequent works, applying them to broader societal challenges. In *The Innovator's Prescription*, he analyzed the U.S. healthcare system through the lens of disruptive innovation. His book *Disrupting Class* examined the potential for innovation in the American education system. He also developed the theory of "jobs to be done," focusing on the circumstances that cause consumers to adopt new products. Later works, such as *How Will You Measure Your Life?*, applied his business principles to questions of personal fulfillment.

Awards and recognition

He received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the McKinsey Award for the best article published in the *Harvard Business Review*. In 2011, he was ranked first on the Thinkers50 list of the world's top management thinkers. Christensen was also awarded honorary doctorates from several universities, including the University of Western Ontario and Brigham Young University. In 2020, he was posthumously inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame.

Personal life and legacy

A devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served as a bishop and in other leadership roles within his congregation. Christensen survived a heart attack, cancer, and a stroke, experiences that informed his later writings on purpose and resilience. He passed away in Boston due to complications from leukemia. His theories on disruption continue to be essential reading at institutions like Stanford Graduate School of Business and the MIT Sloan School of Management, influencing a vast range of fields from venture capital to nonprofit organization management.

Category:American business theorists Category:Harvard Business School faculty Category:1952 births Category:2020 deaths