Publications
Publications
- Winter 2022
- MIT Sloan Management Review
Leading Disruption in a Legacy Business: A Compelling Growth Ambition Is a Critical Enabler for New Ventures
By: Andy Binns, Michael Tushman and Charles O'Reilly
Abstract
Leading innovation in established corporations is difficult. Active inertia and dynamic conservatism are real. Still, leaders can drive disruptive ventures from inside large corporations. These leaders ideate, incubate, and scale innovations, much as an entrepreneur does. However, innovating inside an existing corporation is different in important ways from conventional entrepreneurship. These leaders need an enabling context that authorizes and encourages them. Strategic ambition provides an emotionally engaging aspiration that creates a logical bridge between the past and the future. It answers the “why” question that tells nascent corporate explorers that it’s OK to risk taking the business into the unknown. And it provides the context for corporate explorers to ideate and incubate innovation and new business models.
Keywords
Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Model
Citation
Binns, Andy, Michael Tushman, and Charles O'Reilly. "Leading Disruption in a Legacy Business: A Compelling Growth Ambition Is a Critical Enabler for New Ventures." MIT Sloan Management Review 63, no. 2 (Winter 2022).