Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen is the father of the idea of disruptive innovation, and one of a select few business thinkers who can claim that their theories influence the behavior of top companies.
Right now, he thinks that his own employer is ripe for disruption. He’s argued previously that higher education as a whole “is on the edge of the crevasse,” and will be disrupted by online competitors. In a discussion at Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab (full video available here) Christensen focused specifically on the disruption of the MBA.
“You guys need to stay tuned because it’s happening to the Harvard Business School,” Christensen said. “It truly is and nobody at Harvard even thinks about it.”
There are two things that make MBA programs like Harvard’s ripe for disruption, Christensen argues. The first is the cost.
“To get a Harvard MBA, you gotta to be the best of the best of the best to get yourself admitted, and then we empty your pockets to the tune of $120,000,” Christensen said. “Then you have two years of foregone salary. So this is a very intensive investment.”