
Disruptive Strategy
Disruptive Strategy enables you to make innovation a reality. Created by Clayton Christensen, who coined the theory of disruptive innovation, this online course will equip you with the skills and techniques to develop executive-level strategy, organize for innovation, and discover customer jobs to be done.
Apply NowWhat You'll Learn
- Become fluent in disruptive innovation theory
- Assess new opportunities and potential threats
- Discover jobs to be done and develop frameworks to better understand customer needs
- Acquire techniques for executive-level strategy development
- Organize for innovation and maintain a disruptive scope
- Gain confidence articulating complex viewpoints
Harvard Business School Online is saddened by the loss of acclaimed teacher, scholar, and innovator Clayton Christensen. Professor Christensen’s online Disruptive Strategy course has engaged thousands of learners and will continue to reach individuals and organizations worldwide. HBS Online worked closely with Professor Christensen on the development of the course and is honored to deliver Disruptive Strategy as part of his legacy.
About the Professors

Rory McDonald is the Thai-Hi T. Lee (MBA 1985) Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches the MBA course Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise and, in 2016, was named one of the world’s top 40 business school professors under 40 by Poets & Quants. His book, Productive Tensions: How Every Leader Can Tackle Innovation's Toughest Trade-Offs, focuses on how leaders can achieve success by embracing the tensions that arise from competing aims—efficiency versus flexibility, consistency versus change, product versus purpose.

Clayton Christensen was the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and is regarded as one of the world’s top experts on disruption, innovation, and growth strategy. He was twice named the world’s most influential business thinker and authored several books, including The Innovator’s Dilemma, which lays out his theory of disruption, New York Times best-selling How Will You Measure Your Life?, focused on achieving happiness in your personal life, and The Prosperity Paradox, which explores how innovation can help lift nations out of poverty.
Who Will Benefit
Innovative Leaders
Align your resources, processes, and financial strategy to position your business for growth.
Forward-Thinking Strategists
Assess opportunities and learn how to better determine what profitability looks like as your industry evolves.
Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Discover what causes customers to buy your products and why, and predict when disruption will happen.
Program Structure
Disruptive Strategy consists of 30 to 35 hours of material delivered over a six-week period. You can complete the coursework on your own time while meeting regular deadlines. In addition, two group exercises and an individual final paper are required for course completion. This course is delivered fully online, with no live faculty interaction.
- Length: 6 Weeks
- Program Dates: 2/22/23 – 4/5/23
- Cost: $1,750
- Application Deadline: February 13
- Detailed Calendar
- Length: 6 Weeks
- Program Dates: 3/22/23 – 5/3/23
- Cost: $1,750
- Application Deadline: March 13
- Detailed Calendar
- Length: 6 Weeks
- Program Dates: 5/24/23 – 7/5/23
- Cost: $1,750
- Application Deadline: May 15
- Detailed Calendar
- Length: 6 Weeks
- Program Dates: 7/26/23 – 9/6/23
- Cost: $1,750
- Application Deadline: July 17
- Detailed Calendar
Disruptive Strategy is part of the Strategy and Entrepreneurship & Innovation Learning Tracks. If you’re interested in developing deeper insights and expertise, you can choose to complete three strategy or entrepreneurship and innovation courses within 18 months to earn a Certificate of Specialization.
Syllabus
Disruptive Strategy is an online program providing world-renowned tools and frameworks for growth, strategy, and innovation.
Learning requirements: In order to earn a Certificate of Completion, participants must thoughtfully complete all modules (Introduction, Modules 1-4, and Conclusion) and exercises therein (including a Team Project, Jobs to be Done Interview, and Final Paper, among others), by stated deadlines.
Download Disruptive Strategy Syllabus
Modules | Case Studies | Takeaways | Key Exercises |
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Introduction: Lenses on the World |
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Module 1: Aligning with Innovation and Disruption |
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Module 2: Discovering Customer Jobs to be Done |
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Module 3: Organizing for Innovation |
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Module 4: Maintaining a Disruptive Scope |
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Module 5: Managing the Strategy Development Process |
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Conclusion: Reflecting on Disruptive Strategy |
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The HBS Online Advantage
- World-class faculty
- Edge-of-your-seat online learning
- Global peer collaboration and networking
- Real-world, case-based learning
Harvard Business School Online offers a unique and highly engaging way to learn vital business concepts. Immerse yourself in real challenges faced by seasoned leaders across a variety of industries, including Bill Hambrecht, founder of WR Hambrecht & Co.; Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google; Joe Tucci, chairman and CEO of EMC; and Ryan Caldbeck, founder of equity crowdfunding platform CircleUp. Wrestle with the same issues they faced, while problem-solving and engaging with learners from around the world.
Stories from Our Learners
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The framework of Disruptive Strategy helps you to make strategic thinking something that you do every day, as opposed to an exercise to get a strategic plan put together.
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The Disruptive Strategy class was so very engaging, you really feel like you know Clay Christensen by the end of the class. And more than that, you really feel like you know your peers.

Enroll today in Harvard Business School Online's Disruptive Strategy course.
Apply Now