Comments on: Reinventing your business model? Forget it [most of you!] http://kimwarren.com/strategy/reinventing-your-business-model-forget-it-most-of-you/ with Kim Warren Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:26:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Kim Warren http://kimwarren.com/strategy/reinventing-your-business-model-forget-it-most-of-you/#comment-563 Kim Warren Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:10:29 +0000 http://www.kimwarren.com/?p=330#comment-563 You are rather hard on the auto industry Ralf - the US majors may have been slow to identify new opportunities and develop products to serve them, but the likes of BMW, Toyota, Honda, Audi are awesome, not just technically, but strategically. Sorry, but 'transformational change' is very rarely appropriate. As other posts here have pointed out, the most powerful firms we all know have got that way by relentlessly improving and extending what works over many years. The big-shift examples like iPod are very, very rare, and it is completely irrelevant for the vast majority of organizations to go looking for them. You are rather hard on the auto industry Ralf – the US majors may have been slow to identify new opportunities and develop products to serve them, but the likes of BMW, Toyota, Honda, Audi are awesome, not just technically, but strategically.
Sorry, but ‘transformational change’ is very rarely appropriate. As other posts here have pointed out, the most powerful firms we all know have got that way by relentlessly improving and extending what works over many years. The big-shift examples like iPod are very, very rare, and it is completely irrelevant for the vast majority of organizations to go looking for them.

]]> By: Ralf Lippold http://kimwarren.com/strategy/reinventing-your-business-model-forget-it-most-of-you/#comment-560 Ralf Lippold Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:35:29 +0000 http://www.kimwarren.com/?p=330#comment-560 Hi Kim, It makes me wonder whether companies in trouble really know what their key value proposition is that is and will be appreciated by customers (and potential ones!). Take for example the auto industrie, they struggle for years, haven't got a clue on how to get on new tracks, and even manage that CO2-policies are extended even further by government. Transformational change that is truely needed to shift the thinking and consequently the acting starts small and innovations always start like that. Small, unseen by the rest, looking a bit silly, no big return, not even big investments in the first place and yet without focusing on a vision (a shared one!) there will be no bright future for those companies (and others alike). Peter Senge says about Tranformation Change: http://www.solonline.org/repository/file?item_id=9002726 The CUSTOMER defines what is valued in the future and companies have definitely adapt to that which they for long haven't done as they were pushing their products and services onto the market (customer) by marketing and selling. Just my 2 cents on the issue which is a systemic and big one for the next time to come Ralf Hi Kim,

It makes me wonder whether companies in trouble really know what their key value proposition is that is and will be appreciated by customers (and potential ones!).

Take for example the auto industrie, they struggle for years, haven’t got a clue on how to get on new tracks, and even manage that CO2-policies are extended even further by government.

Transformational change that is truely needed to shift the thinking and consequently the acting starts small and innovations always start like that. Small, unseen by the rest, looking a bit silly, no big return, not even big investments in the first place and yet without focusing on a vision (a shared one!) there will be no bright future for those companies (and others alike).

Peter Senge says about Tranformation Change:

http://www.solonline.org/repository/file?item_id=9002726

The CUSTOMER defines what is valued in the future and companies have definitely adapt to that which they for long haven’t done as they were pushing their products and services onto the market (customer) by marketing and selling.

Just my 2 cents on the issue which is a systemic and big one for the next time to come

Ralf

]]> By: Kim Warren http://kimwarren.com/strategy/reinventing-your-business-model-forget-it-most-of-you/#comment-540 Kim Warren Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:37:40 +0000 http://www.kimwarren.com/?p=330#comment-540 I don't mean to dismiss the idea altogether Alex - but the examples you quote all date from many years ago, and what management have been doing since is to relentlessly drive forward what works. My worry is that management of troubled firms now may waste time and effort hunting for some magic innovation that isn't available, rather than getting their basically sound business model working again as it should. My post on the strategy life-cycle looks at Blockbuster, whose performance went wobbly years before it was threatened by Netflix, and when that business model innovation was spotted, the company could in principle have responded with a much stronger response than it did - it didn't need to invent the innovation itself. I don’t mean to dismiss the idea altogether Alex – but the examples you quote all date from many years ago, and what management have been doing since is to relentlessly drive forward what works. My worry is that management of troubled firms now may waste time and effort hunting for some magic innovation that isn’t available, rather than getting their basically sound business model working again as it should.
My post on the strategy life-cycle looks at Blockbuster, whose performance went wobbly years before it was threatened by Netflix, and when that business model innovation was spotted, the company could in principle have responded with a much stronger response than it did – it didn’t need to invent the innovation itself.

]]> By: Alex Osterwalder http://kimwarren.com/strategy/reinventing-your-business-model-forget-it-most-of-you/#comment-538 Alex Osterwalder Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:24:47 +0000 http://www.kimwarren.com/?p=330#comment-538 Kim, you have a point as to short term crisis management. However, over the long term serious business model innovation is about competitiveness and survival. Consider these examples: * Xerox introduced the way photocopiers are rented today * Gillette makes us buy razors differently * Southwest/easyJet/Ryanair allow us to fly cheaply * Nespresso brings us great coffee (and George Clooney) * Ikea brought us quality design furniture at affordable prices * ... These are all examples of companies that have brought new ways of doing business to their industries. It is not about over-expanding. It is about redefining the way business is done... Companies that don't constantly question themselves how they create value will have a difficult time to survive over the long term... Kind regards, Alex Have a glance at my blog if you want to learn more about business model innovation: http://business-model-design.blogspot.com Kim, you have a point as to short term crisis management. However, over the long term serious business model innovation is about competitiveness and survival. Consider these examples:

* Xerox introduced the way photocopiers are rented today
* Gillette makes us buy razors differently
* Southwest/easyJet/Ryanair allow us to fly cheaply
* Nespresso brings us great coffee (and George Clooney)
* Ikea brought us quality design furniture at affordable prices
* …

These are all examples of companies that have brought new ways of doing business to their industries. It is not about over-expanding. It is about redefining the way business is done…

Companies that don’t constantly question themselves how they create value will have a difficult time to survive over the long term…

Kind regards, Alex

Have a glance at my blog if you want to learn more about business model innovation:
http://business-model-design.blogspot.com

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