Core Field: Thought-Leader on Innovation and Author, Seeing What’s Next

Clayton Christensen is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, with a joint appointment in the Technology & Operations Management and General Management faculty groups. He became a faculty member at the Harvard Business School in 1992 and taught courses in Technology and Operations Management, General Management, and Operations Strategy. He then developed a course called Managing Innovation. Clayton worked as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Republic of Korea from 1971 to 1973 and speaks fluent Korean. He continues to serve in his church in a variety of ways and is extensively involved in other activities in the community. Professor Christensen is the author of the bestselling books The Innovators Dilemma (1997), which received the Global Business Book Award for the best business book published in 1997, and The InnovatorÕs Solution (2003). His latest book, Seeing WhatÕs Next, was published in November 2004. In addition, he edited two casebooks on Innovation: Innovation and the General Manager (1999) and Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation, 4th edition (2004).

The Award Winner

Best Dissertation Award from The Institute of Management Sciences for doctoral thesis on technology development in the disk drive industry Newcomen Society's award for the best paper in business history in 1993 1995 and 2001 McKinsey Awards for articles published in the Harvard Business Review 1991 William Abernathy Award, from the Production and Operations Management Society - presented to the author of the best paper in the management of technology Education

Professor Christensen holds a B.A. with highest honors in Economics from Brigham Young University (1975), and an M.Phil. in Applied Econometrics and the Economics of Less- Developed Countries from Oxford University (1977), where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School in 1979, graduating as a George F. Baker Scholar. He was awarded his DBA from the Harvard Business School in 1992.

In Business

Prior to joining the HBS faculty, Professor Christensen served as Chairman and President of Ceramics Process Systems Corporation (CPS), a firm he co-founded with several MIT professors in 1984. CPS is a leading developer of products and manufacturing processes using high-technology metals and ceramics such as silicon nitride and silicon carbide. From 1979 to 1984 he worked as a consultant and project manager with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he was instrumental in founding the firm’s manufacturing strategy consulting practice. In 1982 Professor Christensen was named a White House Fellow, and served through 1983 (on a leave of absence from BCG) as assistant to U.S. Transportation Secretaries Drew Lewis and Elizabeth Dole.

The Latest

Professor Christensen currently teaches an elective course he designed called Building a Sustainably Successful Enterprise, which teaches managers how to build and manage an enduring, successful company or transform an existing organisation. He also shows leaders a new way of thinking about market forces and competitive strategy, spurring them to innovate ahead of the curve. His current research and teaching interests centre on the management issues related to the development and commercialisation of technological and business model innovation. Specific areas of focus include developing organisational capabilities and finding new markets for new technologies.