Disruptive innovation for social change.
Summary. Catalytic innovation—simpler, cheaper solutions targeting underserved populations—drives social change more effectively than complex offerings. Unlike traditional disruptive innovation, catalytic innovations prioritize social impact through scaling and replication. They succeed by meeting unmet needs with good-enough alternatives that incumbents initially dismiss. Examples across healthcare, education, and economic development show both nonprofits and for-profits deploying this approach to reach broader populations than conventional organizations.
Cite this article
Christensen, C. M., Baumann, H., Ruggles, R., & Sadtler, T. M.. (2006). Disruptive innovation for social change. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17183796
Christensen, Clayton M., et al. “Disruptive innovation for social change.” PubMed, 2006. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17183796.
Christensen, Clayton M., Heiner Baumann, Rudy Ruggles, and Thomas M. Sadtler. 2006. “Disruptive innovation for social change.” PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17183796.
@article{christensen-2006-disruptive-innovation-social-change,
title = {Disruptive innovation for social change.},
author = {Clayton M. Christensen and Heiner Baumann and Rudy Ruggles and Thomas M. Sadtler},
journal = {PubMed},
year = {2006},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17183796}
}
TY - JOUR TI - Disruptive innovation for social change. AU - Clayton M. Christensen AU - Heiner Baumann AU - Rudy Ruggles AU - Thomas M. Sadtler JO - PubMed PY - 2006 UR - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17183796 ER -
Details
- Countries
- United States
- Regions
- North America
- Categories
- innovation-theory, general-innovation
- Added
- 2026-04-28