Doyen of 'disruptive innovation'

IN OUR furiously-paced world where once-iconic companies fall by the wayside and even disappear, entire industries are reinvented and countries lose their competitive mojo with frightening speed, probably the most compelling business idea is what has come to be called "disruptive innovation".

As a phenomenon, this is not new. The motor car disrupted the horse-drawn carriage, the telephone disrupted the telegraph, the word processor disrupted the typewriter.

But in the age of globalisation and the Internet, disruptive innovation has accelerated and spread with an unprecedented ferocity. Among its victims are companies in industries as diverse as travel, aviation, publishing, telecommunications, consumer electronics, retail, financial services and even parts of manufacturing.