Functional Strategy
Business Model
Innovation
Organizational Architecture
IT Strategy and Governance
IT Cost Optimization
Organizational ReinvigorationBusiness Model Innovation
In today’s flatter, globalizing world economy, competition seemingly can come from anywhere. Pressure on costs is relentless, but cost advantages based on labor or materials are fleeting. Budgets are tight, yet most companies desperately need top-line growth.
As a result, the ability to innovate effectively and repeatedly is becoming an increasingly important source of competitive advantage. But what kind of innovation? Most firms are focused on product innovation, and particularly the "ideation" stage. In addition to brainstorming workshops, numerous gurus offer advice on where to focus product ideation efforts, or how to generate the ideas most likely to succeed. Yet development of new products costs money, and success is uncertain — no matter how carefully you study buyer preferences. Furthermore, successful new products are quickly mimicked — often by competitors with lower cost structures, who have not had to finance travel along the production or marketing learning curves.
A new business model, on the other hand, takes longer to duplicate and requires competitors to acquire or develop the assets and capabilities required by a new model. A different business model changes the “rules of the game,” and may enable small companies (or new entrants) to overtake large incumbents. Finally, business model innovation is a more reliable generator of value than product innovation. As Bob Higgins (of Highland Capital Partners) put it: “I think historically where we [venture capitalists] fail is when we back technology. Where we succeed is when we back new business models.”
But why leave business model innovation to the start-ups? We help both young and established companies find new ways to “go to market” — exploiting products, assets and capabilities they already have (or can assemble with only a few new pieces). We help our clients to:
Recognize their current capabilities (even those they don’t fully exploit) and business models, and how they generate value;
Identify new business capabilities which can be assembled with current or easily-available assets;
Devise new business models (and value propositions, if appropriate); evaluate them, and select which model(s) to pursue;
Develop the organization (if necessary) and processes required to execute the new business model.
