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)

EWOS – The Global Innovator in Aquaculture
PeterMichel
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 11:23 pm
WE ARE WHAT WE EAT... BUT WHAT DOES THE SALMON ON YOUR PLATE EAT???
Bridgewater Associates: More than just luck
Ken
Last modified on December 6, 2015 at 7:53 pm
Bridgewater Associates' operating model, making investment decisions collectively following thorough and logical discussions, enables them to effectively utilize its intellectual capital to win in the capital market at higher probability than its competitors do.
Vanguard – Driving Wealth Through Low Cost Index Funds
A Ru
Last modified on December 8, 2015 at 10:45 pm
Vanguard has driven consistent growth in assets under management (AUM) over the last 40 years by offering investors a low cost, passive investment option that consistently outperforms actively managed funds.
SoftBank: Beyond telecommunications
skang
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 4:04 pm
Netbatsu strategy, a digital age variation on the old Japanese zaibatsu, or industrial conglomerate.
Singapore Airlines: Achieving the best of both worlds of low-cost operations model and service excellence
Wendy
Last modified on December 5, 2015 at 11:52 pm
How the world's most awarded airline soared to such great heights by mastering the paradox of dual strategy
Unpacking Trader Joe’s
JJ
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 10:48 pm
In an industry dominated by large incumbent players and razor thin margins, Trader Joe's has discovered a winning recipe. That strategy married with flawless execution has resulted in one of the most recognized success stories of recent history.
EasyJet: Making Travel Easy and Affordable
Alberto
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:27 pm
EasyJet's mission is to deliver market leading returns to its shareholders through maintaining a leading European network at primary airports, with a clear focus on making travel easy and affordable for its customers.
Paddle8: Bringing the Art Auction House Online
Andrew Cone
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:29 pm
Combining the ease and efficiency of e-commerce with the taste and trust of a traditional auction house.
An Ode to Trader Joe’s
AnanthK
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 9:53 pm
Trader Joe's wins over customers (and their wallets) by utilizing an operating model that is perfectly aligned with their core business strategies.
LSE’s model
VincentP
Last modified on February 19, 2016 at 1:45 pm
Breaking away from the traditional vertically integrated "silo", the London Stock Exchange Group is building its growth from a new open-access model.
Revolution Foods. Transforming the way America eats.
GZA
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 4:16 pm
Named by Fast Company as one of the most innovative companies in 2015, Revolution Foods is setting a precedent for social impact for-profit enterprises in the US. The now famous social enterprise was founded in 2006 with the mission to [...]
Solar Mosaic: The Kickstarter of community solar
LiDe
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:19 pm
Solar Mosaic enables crowdfunded loans for residential solar projects. It is an innovative platform that connects borrowers who want to install photovoltaic panels on their roof with investors who are willing to provide capital as lenders.
Growing Power – Cultivating Change in Cities through Sustainable Agriculture
Jackie Reilly
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 10:24 pm
  Growing Power The mission: to transform communities. The means: providing safe, affordable, sustainable, and healthy foods to the underserved, underprivileged in urban settings. An effort started in 1993 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – a city recently recognized as one of [...]
Surf Air – Subscription Private Airfare
Michael Raiche
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 9:35 pm
Surf Air has proven to be a game changer in an era where commercial air travel has come to be detested.
Greenhill: Alignment Through Simplicity
Jacob Goldstein
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 11:22 pm
Greenhill's business model and operating structure are perfectly aligned to maximize profitability by driving fee based revenue while minimizing headcount and overhead
The Force is with Mickey Mouse
Simeon Bochev
Last modified on December 6, 2015 at 9:53 pm
The marriage between Disney’s “Business Model Canvas” and its five core operating assets should allay fans’ concerns that Star Wars has fallen to the Dark Side.
Iora Health: Improving Health While Cutting Costs
SPS
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 6:19 pm
Mission and Business Model Iora is a for-profit primary care model that aims to create value by improving patient health while lowering overall cost to the patients’ employers. Their business model is to provide high quality and service-oriented primary care [...]
Rise of the Machines: Is Betterment a Better Business for Wealth Management?
PNolan2015
Last modified on December 8, 2015 at 2:25 pm
Betterment leads the fray in a group of financial technology (FinTech) companies known as Robo-Advisers who seek to use automated investment platforms to disrupt the wealth management industry as we know it.
Amazon Web Services: Seeing Through the Clouds
vyazdi
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 12:50 pm
How Amazon abstracts the data center and makes billions of dollars in the process.
Tesla Motors: A Battery Charged Model of Effectiveness
Sara Gilson
Posted on November 30, 2015 at 1:38 am
A discussion of the effective alignment of the business and operating models of Tesla Motors that have allowed the company to achieve significant success launching its industry revolutionizing electric cars
Iora Health: Getting People to Pay for Prevention
G
Posted on December 1, 2015 at 10:05 pm
Iora Health uses a unique operating model to improve health outcomes in primary care.
Lenddo: Increasing Financial Inclusion in Emerging Markets through Social Media
AnilAmin
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 6:32 pm
Lenddo has been highly effective in revolutionizing microfinance through its social media-based credit rating system; now, it’s taking its algorithms to a broader set of applications. With offices in Manila, Bogota, Mexico City and New York, Lenddo has assisted more [...]
Volkswagen: how to destroy 30 billion dollars in a week
Simon Edmonds
Last modified on December 6, 2015 at 9:06 am
This post explores how misalignment between Volkswagen’s business model and operating model may have influenced the emissions scandal that is currently gripping the company.
Bose: A Better Business, Through Research
James
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 8:53 pm
A company whose research-driven operating model has helped it build one of the most respected names in electronics.
1 … 15 16 17 18 19 … 39