Disruptive innovation in the higher education sector : The case of the one planet MBA

Abstract

In 2010 the MBA team at the University of Exeter in the UK faced a strategic challenge: how to differentiate and grow their MBA provision in a context in which there were major players with size, location and branding advantages. The decision was taken to adopt a radical approach, building on early discussions with the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), and to create a ‘One Planet MBA’ with the explicit mission of providing relevant management skills to people who in the future would help deal with the challenge of sustainability. The strategy was developed and framed in part through the emerging theory of disruptive innovation (Christensen, 1997) and tried to open up a distinctive market niche in a previously underserved segment of the management education marketplace. This chapter reviews the case and the learning which came from trying to deal with a number of challenges at institutional, faculty, student and market level. It offers insights for institutional players looking to align their offering more closely with the wider societal concerns as framed, for example, by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.