Business Model Innovation is a hot topic these days. I thought I’d post a note about some of my fellow bloggers who focus on the topic and who are friends or colleagues…
Anders Sundelin who launched the Business Model Database Blog
Patrick Stähler the sharp brain behind fluidminds
Peter Froberg who focuses on the freemium business model
Saul Kaplan of the amazing Business Innovation Factory
For all others who have a special focus on business model innovation, who read this blog and who blog about it themselves: don’t hesitate to post your URL as a comment…
I would like to add our visual business model exploration blog as well: http://www.boardofinnovation.com
We focus on new experimental concepts and are analyzing the principles behind them. All feedback is welcome of course.
Great, Nick. Nice that you added the link!
We are all learning a lot from one another. Thanks.
I wrote a book (Beyond Price) that provides a leadership team roadmap for business model innovation. The book's holistic step-by-step guide uniquely identifies and integrates best practices in strategy and change management – including leadership, business model innovation, operational execution, and culture – to help leaders create sustainable advantages and earn price premiums across their offerings. I also blog on business model innovation.
http://www.beyondpricebook.com
Kay, looking forward to reading your book & blog!
At PRTM we have identified several archetype business models including:
1. Change the Value Proposition
Bundle products and services to provide a solution– GE Power by theHour
Change the scale of the offering–Eclipse Aviation’s light regional jets
2. Change How You Deliver Value
Partner aggressively– Intel+GE recent joint foray into home health care
Build and monetize social networks –Nike
3. Change the Targeted Customer
Find non-consumers–the Tata Nano automobile is a recent example but preliminary results from an on-going survey indicate that this is a major focus of company innovation strategies in these tough times (We invite you to participate in our recently launched survey. )
Of course there are more.
These companies innovated their way to significantly larger and more profitable market potentials by shifting key elements of their business model.
Why do other companies find it so hard to tunnel to the new potential in response to these leaders?
Organizational antibodies are the main reason the shift is so hard. Organizational antibodies fight change and are well developed forces that exist in every organization — the problem is that the antibodies can’t tell good change from bad change. Mitigating organizational antibodies to make the shift to a new model requires among other things, clear leadership to support the change and new performance metrics and innovation motivators. Otherwise the antibodies block and corrode the model changes and old behaviors win out.
Rob Shelton
rshelton@prtm.com
Thanks Alex for your kind posting. My traffic peaked after you mentioned my blog on yours
Thanks, Alex, for the great workshop. Looking forward to more exchanging ideas on business model design.
Hi,
Already several months that I'm working on my thesis and studying Business Model literature. A.Osterwalder, Y.Pigneur, (can see P.Stähler also) are familiar names to me now haha and I'm discovering that they actively manage a community, that's amazing
Anyway, you do great job. This is a really captivating topic.
@Axel: was a pleasure to be in Munich at UnternehmerTUM – great people!
@Cyril: thanks for the kind words!
It has been very interesting the experience we had last month in MONDRAGON around Alex course on the concept of Business Innovation.
In our company, Ikerlan Research Centre we deal with innovation in industrial companies every day and the CANVAS Alex presented is a powerful tool to focus in the way of radical innovations.
I hope we follow in touch!
Iñaki Zugasti
Iñaki, happy to hear that Ikerlan is still excited about the Canvas. As we discussed in the workshop, more traditional areas of industry are facing some interesting & difficult challenges – with hopefully exciting new business model solutions solutions!
Hi Alexander, I follow your blog for some while now. Where you started with the structure of a business model, I followed another route: competitive strategies. We all know BCG, Porter, Treacy & Wiersema, but are these strategies out of the 20th century still valid?
I see two directions for bringing competitive advantage into your business model: either having a unique product or being relevant as a supplier in the eyes of your customers. I worked it out in a book that will be published in September. It is in Dutch, but I have the structure available in English on my website & blog http://www.strategy-accelerator.com
Please let me know what you think and how we can cooperate in this.
Alfred, I don't think competitive advantage can be limited to a unique product. It is the combination of what you do, how you do it, for whom you do it and with which financial consequences that helps you develop a competitive advantage. That's what business models are all about. Going beyond product. But maybe I got you wrong. Anyways, looking forward to your book.
Hi Alexander,
Having a unique product or service is only one way to differentiate. The second one is how being relevant to your customers, even with not-unique, easy to copy products. McDonalds hamburger is for example no unique product, but the certainty that the food is the same all around the world makes the chain relevant to its customers, e.g. for travellers. The same applies for clothing brands. What's the difference between a Boss and a GAP pair of jeans? I wouldn't know. But through it marketing communications Boss has more relevancy to me, but for others that might be GAP. In think in this second aspect lies a whole field of business model innovation possibilities. The key for me is to check the end result: do the alterations in your business model lead to either a unique product or more relevancy?
@OsandiSAYs
This is useful for businesses up and running and for businesses "UP AND RUNNING": away from facing the music…YOU'RE OUT OF TOUCH AND OBSOLETE!
VISION BOARDS ROCK! Take it a step further and for each Post-It, add an visual example of who's doing it right. More than likely there's something your business can learn.
I often see businesses get caught in the trap of "JUST DOING IT" (c)Nike;), but with no real explanation except for "IT'S WHAT WE'VE ALWAYS DONE".
I wish some business' leaders and their colleagues would just STOP, employ visual exercises to get their face out of the rear view mirror and into a collective-mental-design space and see the potential in what's just beyond the headlights.
Alex, Thanks as always.
P.S. If business' leaders don't make change a priority, you're better off finding leaders who are open, willing and take a participatory approach toward helping themselves out of the mess and design-less operation has caused them.
Osandi, more and more business leaders are jumping on board. Visual thinking, for example, is taking off. Hopefully there will be more with a lasting change of mindset.
I went through your blog my friend. Business model redesigning is going great all round the world. Good going.
[...] idea stems from researchers like Alex Osterwalder, Gary Hamel (business concept innovation), W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne with their blue ocean [...]
Alex, Thanks for you and your team’s excellent book for business modeling. I purchased it 3 days ago and am waiting to get it in my hand.
I want you to come and see VisionArena Sites. (http://www.visionarena.net)
I am consistently writing posts about the new business model.