Rating: 
Summary: Good introduction to a nice Theory
Review: Not quite as easy to read as I would have liked. Christensen describes some very interesting & plausible theories, but is somewhat confined into employing the computer disk industry as the rapidly changing example which both demonstrates & proves his theories, and its not necessarily the most exciting case material. Other products only get a minor look-in.What I did like is how he covers the footnotes at the end of each Chapter - so if they don't interest you, you can skip over them, but if they do interest you, then you don't have to struggle to the back of the book. I wish more authors & publishers would use that technique. One quibble - given his Economics background - of course there are plenty of graphs, and 99% of them are straight lines - there are no time dependent variances in his world. Read this before you read the Innovators Solution.
Rating:
Summary: Driven by disks
Review: Clay Christensen combines the science of empirical research with the art of organizational behavior in his best-selling "The Innovator's Dilemma." The book provides tangible advice on how to foster innovation within a corporate environment. His case studies draw from the successes and failures of American companies within numerous industries (disk drives, excavators, motorcycles, software). Christensen's strong points include a creative presentation of data, lucid writing and frank admission that the advice in his book is not a one-size-fits-all panacea for management challenges. But a heads-up to readers: perhaps 50% of the book centers on the disk-drive manufacturing industry. Although the lessons learned in hard drives are interesting, a more balanced approach would have been welcome. "The Innovators Dilemma" is a well written management how-to, in the same league as classics by Peters or Hammer. The book seems to be written for managers in large organizations, but entrepreneurs will probably find the material just as beneficial.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic book for anyone . . . especially business students
Review: This was a fantastic book. I began reading it less than half way through the MBA program I am in and I was amazed at how many of the arguments others were making in class fell apart. This book helped me better analyze several aspects of many of my classes and I only wish I would have read it sooner. I continued on and read the Innovator's Solution, and while I thought it was also a good book, I got much more out of the Innovator's Dilemma, though I still recommend both of them.
Rating:
Summary: Good companion for "Crossing the Chasm"
Review: Clayton Christensen breaks technology developments into two groups. "Sustaining" technology improvements are those which seem to be in line with the needs of the current customers. The "Disruptive" technology developments are those which don't immediately seem to meet the established customer's demands. The basic problem is that often the large companies get blindsided by disruptive technology, and they either don't react, or react too late. Normally someone will figure out a slightly new market for the disruptive technology, improve the basic process, drive down the costs, and then go after the more established markets. Clayton shows how this model applies to a number of different industries over the last hundred years. He has a lot of hard data from the Disk Drive industry, but he mentions a number of other industries which underwent fundamental changes, and shows how the old companies were not able to adapt to the changes. "The Innovator's Dilemma" and "Crossing the Chasm" go well together. They are addressing many of the same issues from different perspectives. Clayton Christensen is looking at changes in the market place from the point of view of the large established companies, while Geoffrey A. Moore is coming from the other direction, that of a small startup company with some new cool technology. Clayton is more concerned with technology, while Geoffrey is focused on more on marketing issues. This is a very well written book, good for anyone in business. It reads well, and I found it very thought provoking. There are a lot of good ideas here.
Rating:
Summary: Classic
Review: Well written. Extensive examples illustrated using the harddisk drive industry. Focus, start small, think big - this is what I got out from the book. I will certainly read this again and again.
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