Disruptive

Technologies For Sustainability

Anurag Gupta1st Year MMgt

Table of Contents

1. Definitions

2. Introduction

3. Differences between Sustaining Innovation and Disruptive Innovation

4. Apple Case

5. A Simple View of Disruptive Innovation

6. Sources to Identify Successful Disruptive Opportunities

7. Few Examples of Sources

8. Sustainability Needs

9. Demands for Sustainability

10. From Linear to Circular

11. Information Technology

12. Information Technology and the Platform Revolution

13. A Sustainable Dialogue

Definitions

Sustainability:The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.

Disruption:Disturbance or problems which interrupt an event, activity or process.

Change to alter the structure.

Introduction

● There has been a disruption in the way, we handle information.

● These are fundamentally information dependent categories.

● A plethora of information can be gained from the stakeholder, from news and social media, and from governmental and other sources.

● Most critical information is now web- based.

Differences between Sustaining Innovation and Disruptive Innovation

Sustaining Innovation  -> Incremental innovation -> Enables an existing product

-> Companies constantly improve same product.

Disruptive Innovation  -> Innovation to create new market (+) -> Disrupts an

existing firm(-), displacing an earlier technology.

Example: Class topper.

Sustainable Innovations  -> Change along a known road.

● Larger screen for your iPhone

● Internal combustion engine with higher efficiency with lower pollution

● A new taste of ice cream, with changes in amount of cream and sugar.

Disruptive Innovations  -> Game changers -> Subset of Sustainable Innovations

● Nokia destroyed because of transition from mobile pones to smartphones.

● Hard Metals (otherwise known as cemented carbides) have killed tool steel and are, still now, progressively eroding its business.

● LEDs are disruptive towards incandescent filaments.

Differences

Apple Case

Original Macintosh (1984)

-> The original Macintosh. Introduced January 1984.-> Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985.-> The Macintosh Classic. Introduced October 1990. -> Sustaining Innovation.

Macintosh Classic (1990) 

Apple Example

-> Loosing market share to IBM Compatibles.

-> In 1998, Steve Jobs returns.

-> Apple consolidated its multiple consumer-level desktop

models into the all-in-one iMac G3.

-> Commercial success and brand revitalized.

-> Disruptive Innovation.

iMac G3 (1998)

Sustaining technologies

-> Foster improved product performance.

-> Do not alter markets.

-> Requested by users. 

Disruptive Technologies

-> Drive corporate sustainability efforts.

-> Example of pen manufacturing.

More Points

A Simple View of Disruptive Innovation

● Is the innovation disruptive to all of the significant incumbent

firms in the industry?

● If the innovation appears to be sustaining to one or more

significant players in the industry, then the odds will be

stacked in that firm’s favour, and the entrant is unlikely to win.

● Immelt’s approach shift power to where the growth is. Build

new offerings from the ground up. Customize objectives,

targets and metrics. Build a new unit from the ground up, like

new companies. Have the unit report to someone high in the

organization.

Disruptive Innovation

Creative destruction: In capitalism, innovative entry by entrepreneurs was the force that sustained long-term economic growth, even as it destroyed the value of established companies that enjoyed some degree of monopoly power.

Example: Hyderabad changing from a city for public sector to a knowledge sector (IT, Healthcare).

A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.

Age of Discontinuity: In an ‘age of discontinuity’, as Drucker called the current era, entrepreneurs could find significant opportunities to transform organizations, if they were willing to get ahead of societal changes.

Example: CEO of HCL Vineet Nayar.

Sources to Identify Successful Disruptive Opportunities

● The emergence of big data and big data analytics has had a

paramount impact. 

● This is possible thanks to cognitive computing.

● This enables the computer to process text just as a human

would.

● Another element to cognitive computing is machine learning.

● This provides the ability of the computer to learn autonomously.

● A plethora of information can be gained from the non-investor

stakeholder, from news and social media, and from governmental and other sources.

Sources

Few Examples of Sources

● The future of agriculture – Digital has changed business forever – and the agricultural sector is no exception. The digitisation of applications, processes and technologies is giving the sector the opportunity to become more insight-driven, efficient and productive. 

● The future of connectivity – The Internet of Things (IoT) is not just about technology, but having a broader vision encompassing the system, stakeholders and technology.

● Reinventing manufacturing – Challenging convention allows you to reinvent your key manufacturing platforms, deliver totally new products, explore new channels and go-to-market strategies and most importantly reduce waste and costs.

Sources Examples

Data

Estimated annual growh rate of IoT share:28% India

33% Globe

IoT Growth

2016 2020

5.6 15

119

373

SHARE OF Iot growth (in usd billion)

India Globe

Sustainability Needs

● Disruptive innovations have transformed society through the ages, from the horse-drawn plough to the first steam engine to the personal computer and the smartphone.

● Sustainability- needs will drive future disruptive innovations.

● They improve our lives in all sorts of ways, but the impacts can

be profound, often in ways that are quite unexpected. 

● Renewable energy (along with energy efficiency and energy

storage) has started to usurp the fossil fuels industry. 

● Other technologies that will have similar effects include 3D printing, electric vehicles.

Demands for Sustainability

● Consumers, manufacturers and retailers are all demanding more sustainable systems which are formalised in corporate social responsibility goals.

● Sustainability is now an expectation, not a differentiator. This leads to disruptive technologies for sustainability.

● Demand for packaging sustainability drives change in the way businesses will compete.

Example: Samsung.

Demands

From Linear to Circular

● General Motors, which has a target of having 125 zero-waste facilities by 2020, says that its “underlying philosophy is thinking of waste as a resource out of place.

● Waste reduction also often enhances productivity, quality, efficiency and throughput.

● Recycling the various components so they could be reused.

Wastes

Information Technology

1st generation – primarily to improve productivity and efficiency of selected processes – transaction processing, accounting, support for engineering and science.

2nd generation – integration within the enterprise, organization level optimization – ERP, Marketing, Sales.

3rd generation – integration between enterprise and its customers and partners – e-Business, supply chain integration, B2B, B2C.

4th generation – New communication and collaboration paradigms – social, mobile.

4th generation ++ - Innovative services and products driven by technology capabilities.

Platform

Information Technology and the Platform Revolution

Many industries are being disrupted by information technology platforms.

Example: Ola, FlipKart, MakeMyTrip. Early platforms provided easier access to a set of services, often removing middle men

Example: Travel reservation systems like MakeMyTrip. Next platforms enabled a select set of service providers to reach a broader market, often

disrupting other channels of delivery.

Example: FlipKart, eBay. Current platforms increase value through network effects.

Example: Ola cabs, FaceBook. Many existing services and products are being disrupted.

Example: AirBnB Platform provides a marketplace for providers of short term rental properties to offer hosting services to travellers Producers: Property owners, can even be private individuals rather than businesses Consumers: Travellers looking for accommodation Platform value

Consumers get a larger selection of unique accommodations. Often cheaper than traditional lodging options. Producers get access to large pool of consumers without having to do lot of marketing and sales. Even private individuals can participate.

Owner of the platformProvide information about the lodging facility, ratings and reviews from other participants, reputation of guests and hosts, secure purchase and payment, rules of engagement

Network effectsConsumers are attracted by cheaper and unique accommodation. Producers are attracted by access to a large pool of customersAs more consumers make reservation, more providers list their accommodation

Platform provides new value for producers (owners had limited ability to rent before AirBnB) as well as for consumers

Disrupts existing model of hotel industry.

A Sustainable DialogueYou can never have an impact on society,

if you have not changed yourself .

- Nelson Mandela