Many revolutionary products and services are born out of disruptive innovation. In this article, the authors explain what is meant by disruptive innovation, factors that affect disruptive innovation, and the organizational capabilities required for disruptive innovation to happen. The `Grameen' family of enterprises in Bangladesh is credited with many innovations. One such innovation was the `Grameen Bank.' In late 1970s, the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh pioneered the concept of microcredit. This innovative way of lending benefitted the people in rural areas of Bangladesh immensely. Another innovation of the Grameen group was Grameen Telecom, a firm which provided information and communication technology to rural Bangladesh.

More than three billion people in the world do not have access to reliable telecommunications services. The reason is the high cost of installing wire-line infrastructure from urban to rural areas. In the case of Bangladesh, the average per capita income is $286 per year. With such a low per capita income the existing business models for telecom service are not feasible. Thus, the need for a disruptive business model.Grameen Telecom aimed to provide wireless telephone services to poor people residing in the rural areas of Bangladesh. At first, nobody believed that this was a viable project. Critics pointed to the fact that only the richest city residents in Bangladesh used their own mobile phones. But Grameen Telecom followed in the steps of the Grameen Bank's microcredit model to come up with an innovative approach.