Speaker: Adam Hartung, Author and Managing Partner of Spark Partners

In his new book Create Marketplace Disruption: How to Stay Ahead of the Competition (FT Press, August 2008), Adam Hartung describes why most businesses are unable to maintain superior performance. The companies that continue to succeed, such as Apple, Virgin and Nike, are constantly disrupting the market -- by implementing new business models, releasing new technology or changing how customers buy.

Most companies, Hartung notes, become "locked-in" to the ways they achieved success in the past. That keeps them focused on defending heir market position and business model rather than making the changes that they need to seize the opportunities in the dynamic market place. Because companies become locked-in" to their old ways, they often fail to recognize their own vulnerabilities or the opportunities for accelerating growth. Applying his "Phoenix Principle," Hartung shows how companies can put a process in place for continually repositioning their businesses to create disruptions in the marketplace to break down competitors' defenses and achieve accelerated growth.

Adam Hartung has spent three decades helping companies large and small develop growth, innovation and breakthrough strategies at CSC, Coopers & Lybrand Consulting and the Boston Consulting Group. He is now the Managing Partner of Spark Partners. Mr. Hartung has an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Business School.