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The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out, by Henry Eyring and Clayton Christensen (Jossey-Bass, 2011)

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The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out, by Henry Eyring and Clayton Christensen (Jossey-Bass, 2011) TAKE AWAYS The Innovative University: Historically, higher education has avoided Changing the DNA of Higher Education competitive disruption. One reason for this past immunity is the power CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY of prestige in the higher education marketplace, HENRY J. EYRING, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY-IDAHO where the quality of the product is hard to measure. Now with more focus on outcomes and the steady improvement of low-cost online learning technology, For most of their histories, traditional colleges and universities have had no serious the prospect of competitive competition except from institutions with similar operating models. For the first time, though, disruptive disruption is real. technologies are at work in higher education as competitors are offering online courses and degrees. Because new entrants to an industry typically begin Clayton Christensen, Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School at the bottom of a market, selling simple, affordable and Henry J. Eyring, vice president for advancement at Brigham Young University—Idaho, describe products to easily satisfied consumers, the bigger- the evolution of the widely influential Harvard model, and note the disruptive potential of online degree and-better tendencies in providers as evidenced by their divergence from that model. They encourage institutions to commit to established institutions can blind them to disruptive real innovation by changing their DNA from the inside out, and discourage them from trying to excel at technologies. too much as they attempt to climb ahead of their competitors. Instead, they recommend that traditional Traditional universities have spent the past century universities adopt a pattern of continuous innovation focused on their unique mission—without undue getting bigger and better, 1 following standards set by concern for either tradition or what other institutions are doing. the great research institu- tions, especially Harvard. The downfall of many successful and seemingly Generally, traditional colleges and universities In the past, that strategy of emulation proved highly invincible companies has been precipitated by (hereafter called “traditional universities”) haven’t successful. But as costs a disruptive innovation—that is, an innovation considered themselves in competition with these have climbed, so too has that makes a complicated and expensive prod- new entrants, many of which operate as for-profit the number of students for whom a college education uct simpler and cheaper and therefore attracts entities and emphasize marketable skills and de- is too expensive. Likewise, a new set of customers. Disruptive companies grees for working adults. However, the innovative online programs have establish a foothold in the market, expand that learning technologies the new entrants employ become an increasingly attractive choice. market dramatically, and then inexorably migrate have significant potential to serve young students up the quality chain. Ultimately, they pin the as well, especially given these “digital natives” Universities that survive today’s disruptive chal- original leaders in the highest tiers of the mar- comfort with online communication. lenges will be those that ket, where there is simply not enough volume Fortunately, America’s traditional universi- recognize and honor their to sustain them all. In higher education, online ties have unique competitive advantages. They strengths while innovating with optimism. University courses now typically offer lower-end and more perform vital functions that other institutions communities that commit to convenient access to courses that can improve do not. As Jonathan Cole has pointed out in his real innovation, to changing students’ credentials or help them switch careers, book The Great American University, they are their DNA from the inside which is often precisely what the students cus- founts of discovery—including many of the dis- out, may find extraordinary rewards. The key is to tomers want to accomplish by enrolling. coveries that make high-quality, low-cost online understand and build upon their past achievements 1 This piece is largely reprinted from a paper published in 2011 by the American Council on Education as part of its Making while being forward-looking. Productivity Real initiative, funded by Lumina Foundation and conducted in collaboration with the Forum for the Future of Higher Education. That paper was based on The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out, by Henry Eyring and Clayton Christensen (Jossey-Bass, 2011). FORUM FOR THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION 47 learning possible. Traditional universities also preserve and re- way: they seek not just to survive, but to grow and improve fresh cultural memory, helping society build on the wisdom in scale, scope and prestige. Once the typical organization has of the past as it embraces new possibilities. Perhaps most im- more than a few employees and has experienced a degree of portantly, they involve young students in these processes of success, predictable genetic tendencies switch on. These ten- discovering and remembering, mentoring them in a special dencies start to dominate planning and investment processes, community of scholars. driving the organization to make things bigger, better or both. Two unique assets facilitate traditional universities in the Diminishing in size or quality violates the genetic code—it jobs of discovery, memory and mentoring. One is their physi- introduces a mutation unlikely to survive the natural institu- cal campuses, built up over decades at great expense. The other tional response. Becoming bigger and better is “in the genes.” distinctive asset is the professoriate. The graduates of master’s Members of the higher education community readily rec- and Ph.D. programs who enter academic life bring unusual ognize this tendency. With few institutional exceptions, uni- skill and commitment to their work. They choose the pursuit, versities continuously increase the quantity and quality of preservation, and sharing of knowledge over greater financial what they do. Courses become more numerous and more spe- rewards to be had elsewhere. The learning environment they cialized. New degree programs are created. New buildings are create in their face-to-face classrooms, offices, and laboratories added and older ones upgraded. The university seeks more- is uniquely valuable. qualified faculty members and entry into more prestigious But the university learning environment is not invaluable athletic conferences increases. Through a series of “sustaining in the strict sense of the word. There is a price to be paid by innovations” the university’s quality and costs grow with time, students, state and federal governments, donors, sponsors of as shown in Figure 1. research—and by the very employees whose sacrifice of high- The university’s aversion to shrinking or simplifying is er pay elsewhere must be justified by the rewards of academic more than just a matter of personal preference; it is driven life. Increasingly, many who pay those prices are judging them by institutional decision-making systems, individual rewards, to be too high. Given new competitive alternatives, that puts and culture. For example, no risk-averse department chair traditional universities at a grave risk, their unique physical can think seriously about cutting courses or degree programs. and human assets notwithstanding. Even if such a proposal could be pushed through the curricu- lum committee, the only reward to the chair would be col- The Tendency to Get Bigger and Better legial ostracism. For similar reasons, no athletic director can Responding to the risks facing traditional universities requires view dropping a popular sport or moving into a less-expensive understanding not only their current competitive environ- conference as a good career move, nor can a university presi- ment but also their evolutionary behavior. Like most organiza- dent take lightly the risk of offending a major donor who en- tions, universities resemble living organisms in an important visions a new building. Through mutually reinforcing formal and informal systems—the institutional DNA so to speak— the university demands bigger and better. Figure 1: The Progress of Sustaining Innovations Though the Carnegie classification system reinforces this tendency, it is by no means unique to higher education. Most established organizations, including for-profit companies, Performance readily adopt innovations that show potential for enhancing their size and standing. However, they are much less likely Performance trajectory driven by sustaining innovations to see the value of innovations that would reduce the price a customer pays, especially when quality might be adversely Performance that Most demanding customers customers in the affected. As an illustration, the established makers of X-ray mainstream market equipment, General Electric, Siemens, and Phillips, quickly can absorb adopted CT, MRI, and PET imaging technologies as they were Least demanding customers developed. Each of these new technologies allowed them to make enhanced, more expensive equipment that vaulted them ahead of the competition and generated better profit margins. Time However, for thirty years the industry-leading companies persistently overlooked the potential of ultrasound technol- ogy, precisely because it was simpler and more affordable for 48 FORUM FUTURES 2012 customers.
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