Disruptive technology

This can be used with Business Advantage Intermediate, Unit 2 (Technology and
Business) and Business Advantage Advanced, Unit 4 (Innovative Products) and Unit 10 (Design and
Innovation).
What is it?
The term disruptive technology was coined by Clayton M. Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business
School, in his book The Innovators Dilemma in 1997. He distinguished between two types of technological
innovation, one which he classified as sustaining and the other as disruptive. Professor Christensen says that
sustaining technology makes improvements to existing innovations whereas disruptive technology suddenly
replaces established ones. As disruptive technologies have not yet been widely tested, they are often seen as
not being as reliable as sustaining ones and lacking in the same level of performance. In addition, they are new
and do not yet have a wide-spread audience although they do have the potential to eventually disrupt the
status quo and become the norm.
Why is it in the news?
As technological advances take place faster in our global economy, both the general public and businesses
may find it difficult to keep up with them. New products are continually being launched and many computers
and computer-related products are often considered out-of-date as soon as they are sold. The news outlets do
their best to report on these state-of-the art devices and processes, which is why the term is becoming well
known today. In addition, the number of technological start-ups has increased, providing further related news
for business sections of newspapers. Even the spread of information today has become easier and quicker
due to the internet and mobile technology, making it easier to promote the latest in devices and gadgets.
How can I use it in class?
Ask students if they understand the difference between sustaining and disruptive technologies. Ask them for
examples of technological advances which they feel have changed the world and the way we do things. Lead a
discussion on how long it took for some of these advances to be accepted by the general public.
Vocabulary
Match these words and phrases to their definitions.
1 main drivers of economic growth
2 (to) harness fossil fuels
3 a peek ahead
4 how diseases will unfold for people
5 (to) be manufactured at scale
6 three-dimensional printing
7 massive processing arrays
8 (to) envision something
9 corollary
10 designer babies

A (to) have a quick look into the future
B (to) be produced according to individual specifications
C (to) imagine how something in the future will look
D people who help increase the value of goods and services in an area
E a type of additive manufacturing technology where an object is created by laying layers on top of each other
F a child whose genes have been chosen by parents or doctors so that he or she has particular characteristics
G something that results from something else
H to use gas, coal or oil to produce heat or energy
I a powerful and large range of ways to work with information
J to see how an illness will progress
Reading
Read the article from mybroadband in which Eric Schmidt of Google talks about three disruptive technologies.
Discussion
Which of these have you heard about or have experience with?
Do you agree with Eric Schmidt that these three technologies will have an important impact on your life?
Why or why not?
Which do you think will be the most important of the three?
Is there any other disruptive technology you know about which could change the way we do things in the
near future?
Key
1D, 2H, 3A, 4J, 5B, 6E, 7I, 8C, 9G, 10F
Where can I read about it?

Three disruptive technologies that will change your life, mybroadband

The Five Most Disruptive Technologies at CES 2013, Forbes

Startup accelerator boosting disruptive technologies, it.business.ca

Disruptive technologies, Kineo