Many new products and ventures fail in the marketplace. One reason for this is that most innovations fail to make a mark in the mainstream market. This simulation allows students to experience the frustrations and challenges of taking a disruptive innovation from initial success with early adopters to widespread adoption by the mainstream market. Said transition has been termed as "crossing the chasm" by Geoffrey A. Moore, and is the foundational framework for the simulation. Students play the role of a self-driving vehicle technology firm that has garnered significant attention from the early adopter market but is struggling to break in to the mainstream market. Investors are now looking for exponential growth through mainstream adoption. Students will be tasked to assess the market segments that have shown interest in self-driving vehicles (SDVs), develop the appropriate product solution for their selected segments, and achieve the growth promised by their technology. In short, students must find a way to successfully "cross the chasm."
Company: Harvard Business Publishing
Approximate price: $10.00
Playtime: 30 minutes
Learning objectives: 1. Understand and experience the discontinuity (chasm) between the early adopter and mainstream markets in the adoption of a disruptive innovation. 2. Discover how innovations can attain widespread adoption through a strategy that successfully bridges the early adopter and early majority markets. 3. Learn to ascertain the appropriate target market segments for mainstream adoption using limited, qualitative data. 4. Overcome the tendency to follow a conservative market strategy, pursuing a high-risk strategy instead. 5. Realize the importance of completely satisfying market needs with a whole product solution. 6. Recognize the long-term benefit of market domination to achieve success in adjacent market segments. The simulation is based on Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm (3.0) framework.
Link to simulation home page: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/8695-HTM-ENG