Harvard Business Review on Rebuilding Your Business Model

Building Breakthrough Businesses Within Established Organizations

by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble

FEW BUSINESS NARRATIVES are more evocative than that of the inspired leader boldly pursuing an extraordinarily innovative idea. So romantic is the notion that companies pushing for more innovation often devote the bulk of their energies and resources to generating ideas and encouraging individual initiatives. This is a good start, but nothing more. New businesses with the potential to deliver breakthrough growth for established companies face stiff headwinds well after launch. Ray Stata, a cofounder of Analog Devices, the $2 billion semiconductor company, has lived this challenge for decades: “I came to the conclusion long ago that limits ...