Innovator's dilemma: When success hinders change

The innovator's dilemma describes a phenomenon in which successful companies ignore new, disruptive innovations or take them up too late so as not to jeopardise their existing business model. The term goes back to Clayton Christensen and explains why market leaders are often displaced by smaller, more innovative competitors. The internal conflict between short-term success and long-term innovative ability is at the centre of the dilemma.