Ron Adner

NATHANIEL D’1906 AND MARTHA E. LEVERONE MEMORIAL PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Bio

Ron Adner’s award-winning research and teaching introduce a new perspective on value creation and competition when industry boundaries break down in the wake of ecosystem disruption. His two books, The Wide Lens: What Successful Innovators See that Others Miss (2012) and Winning the Right Game: How to Disrupt, Defend, and Deliver in a Changing World (forthcoming, October 2021) have been heralded as landmark contributions to the strategy literature. Clayton Christensen (Innovator’s Dilemma) described his work as “Path-breaking,” and Jim Collins (Good to Great) has called him “One of our most important strategic thinkers for the 21st century.” Read More.

Knowledge in Practice: Innovation Ecosystems with Ron Adner

Professor Ron Adner reveals the type of strategy businesses need to adopt in order to implement successful innovations.

Clayton Christensen Discusses Ron Adner’s Contribution to Disruption Theory

Excerpt from talk at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Watch the video.

Highlights

Winning the Right Game  //

How to succeed in an era of ecosystem-based disruption: strategies and tools for offense, defense, timing, and leadership in a changing competitive landscape. Learn more

The Wide Lens  //

The Wide Lens: What Successful Innovators See that Others Miss, has been heralded as a path-breaking guide to successful innovation in an interdependent world. Learn more

Stuck in the Middle With You  //

New research by Ron Adner defines the variables that determine whether firms will be stuck in the middle, or sitting in a strategic sweet spot. Read more

Many Companies Still Don’t Know How to Compete in the Digital Age  //

Ron Adner uses Kodak an example of disruption in the digital age. "Companies that learn the right lesson from Kodak’s failure—that learn to approach their competitive strategy with a wide lens that captures ecosystem dynamics—will be more likely to respond effectively to this new generation of disruptive challenges. Those that don’t risk suffering Kodak’s fate." Read more

Contact

E-Mail

Phone

603-646-9185

Education

  • Ph.D., Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1998
  • M.A., Managerial Science and Applied Economics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1998
  • M.E., Mechanical Engineering, The Cooper Union, New York, 1993
  • B.E., Mechanical Engineering, The Cooper Union, New York, 1993