The TOM Challenge: TOM Winners and Losers Assignment

December 09, 2015

Read The Full Prompt

The basic thesis of the TOM course is that company performance is driven by the alignment between the company’s business model and operating model. As defined in the “Introduction to the RC TOM Course” note, a business model is defined as how the firm creates and captures value, and an operating model refers to the processes that transform a firm’s assets (e.g., capital, labor, intellectual property, equipment, etc.) into valuable actions.

Please identify one organization in the global economy that you think is highly effective (or one that is highly ineffective) at driving alignment between its operating and business models

  1. Did you choose the company as an example of effectiveness or ineffectiveness? Why?
  2. Describe the company’s business and operating models. What is interesting about them?
  3. Do the models align and support each other?  How?  What specific features of the operating model are designed to create and sustain competitive advantage?  What features of the business model leverage unique capabilities of its operating model?  What are the implications for performance?

Submitted (929)

Natura: the cosmetics company from the Amazon rainforest that sets the example
Mapu
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 9:14 pm
Natura is an example of achieving operating alignment with a triple bottom line business model
Meritage Midstream: Stable infrastructure development in an unstable energy environment
RMN
Last modified on December 8, 2015 at 5:51 pm
How aligning business and operating models in the midstream industry drives performance through downturns
INDITEX: Lessons in “Fast Fashion”
GER
Last modified on December 8, 2015 at 6:54 am
The global fashion retailer Inditex, best known for its Zara brand, continues to chart the course of “fast fashion” through the intimate alignment between its operating and business models.
Flexible Business Model vs. Standardized Operating Model
abc123
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 8:46 pm
Can a business succeed that aims for flexibility, but is build on standardization and centralization?
Patagonia: A Different Way of Defining Value
Pete Mitchell
Posted on December 6, 2015 at 5:18 pm
Patagonia aligns its business and operating models to "do good for the world" as opposed to generating profit.
Netflix: Finding the Next Hit Business Model
A Grotta
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 5:46 pm
Companies struggle to successfully reinvent biz model once, let alone twice in 5 years. Netflix’s successful shifts -- from DVDs to streaming to originals -- have largely been in response to to trends impacting its content supply chain.
PARIBUS — reclaiming $$$ that stores owe YOU.
Mike Contillo
Last modified on December 14, 2015 at 2:00 pm
Retrieve the money that stores owe you! No hassle, no paper work, just cash.
Sweetgreen’s Winning Recipe
Mike
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:17 pm
Sweetgreen's attention to detail and strategic alignment is paying dividends for the fast causal startup.
Spirit Airlines and the Success of the Ultra-Low Cost Carrier
SGhitis
Posted on December 8, 2015 at 2:26 pm
How is one the most hated airlines also one of the most successful? By having a tightly aligned business and operating model.
Nucor Revolutionizes the Steel Industry
Vik Bakshi
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 6:48 pm
Nucor Steel disrupted and overhauled the steel industry with innovative technology, forever changing how steel is manufactured around the world. In doing so, it built a culture that proved the potential of well-executed pay-for-performance systems.
Xiaomi – Mobile Disruptor from China
LucyWang
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 3:37 pm
How did Xiaomi become the #3 smartphone manufacturer worldwide in just three years?`
Peloton: Breaking Away from the Pack
RealJLevine
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 10:31 pm
“We feel like we’re more akin to a Facebook or an Apple than a Soulcycle"
Tencent’s Growth Through Accelerated Innovation Processes
Hermione
Last modified on December 1, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Tencent successively used accelerated innovation processes to become one of the largest internet companies in the world.
#GOFOGO
Erica Son
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 10:22 pm
Authentic, Differentiated Dining Experience Delivers Long-term Shareholder Value
Profitably lending to lower income households in Mexico
Axel P
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 12:19 am
Mexico´s largest microfinance lender, Banco Compartamos has more than 2.5 million customers with an average loans of US$360. Through an effective alignment of its business model and operating model, this lender has profitably served millions of lower income households by [...]
GrubHub: Connecting 6.5 million hungry people with 35,000 restaurants
SarahMascioli
Last modified on December 7, 2015 at 9:39 pm
GrubHub: Connecting 6.5 million hungry people with 35,000 restaurants
ALDI – A German success story
Peter G
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 10:07 pm
ALDI is a leading global supermarket operator that has revolutionized the supermarket industry in the last century using a strict no-nonsense value driven approach to all aspects of its business
Gavi: The Inverted Pyramid of the Vaccine Alliance
TOMChallenge
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 5:12 pm
Adaptive and innovative work increasing access to immunization across the world, from the safety of DC and Geneva
Inditex, king of fast fashion
NLIinasC
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 9:18 pm
Over the past 20 years, one word disrupted the fashion industry and changed it more than any other single trend: fast. At the helm of this movement has been Inditex, a Spanish firm that originally started as a dress maker [...]
McKinsey & Company – an operating model perfected through decades of refining
Dany El Khoury
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 9:58 pm
1. Brief description: McKinsey is a leading strategy consulting Firm 2. McKinsey creates sustainable value for clients of which it extracts fixed fee or % of monetary value 3. McKinsey's continuously evolving Operating Model is designed around its Business Model
AREZZO&CO: Succeeding in fashion retail
Alex F
Posted on December 7, 2015 at 4:35 pm
How a well-designed operational model can deliver superior value in the fashion world
Y Combinator: Accelerating Innovation
ajoshi
Posted on December 2, 2015 at 8:38 pm
Merits of the Startup Accelerator Model
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc.
TOM100
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 12:56 pm
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. "Hew a stone of hope out of a mountain of despair and you can make your life a splendid one."
Chobani: Sour Milk Never Tasted So Sweet
Sophia Popova
Last modified on December 4, 2015 at 2:38 pm
How a Turkish farmer grew a 90-year-old abandoned Kraft factory into the world’s largest yogurt plant.
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