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)

ASOS: Delivering Fast Fashion to Style-Conscious Twenty-Somethings
Nkem Oghedo
Last modified on December 7, 2015 at 5:54 pm
Founded in 2000, UK-based ASOS has grown to become one of the world’s most successful online fashion retailers. In 2015, ASOS had ~10 M active customers, 60% of whom were located outside the UK. The site attracted 90 M visits [...]
Palantir: The Hottest Startup You’ve Never Heard Of
Nate Fox
Last modified on December 12, 2015 at 7:17 pm
The real differentiating feature of Palantir is the ability of its operating model to execute engineering talent arbitrage.
Post-Conflict Turnaround: The Sale of a Country on a Thousand Hills.
SheilaK
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 6:15 pm
How a government was able to successfully apply a business turnaround strategy to a governance challenge.
DryBar: No cuts! No color! Just Blowouts!
MTS
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 6:15 pm
Blowouts on steroids! Transforming the hair industry one head at a time!
Shouldice Hospital: Standardized, Specialized Clinical Processes
Gorale
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 6:42 pm
standardized hernia surgery, the health care delivery model of the future?
SolarCity: Where Sunshine Meets Innovation
-MP
Last modified on December 3, 2015 at 5:01 pm
SolarCity brings clean energy to the masses through an innovative, customer first approach.
LinkedIn: Capitalizing on All Value Streams
JohnE2017
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:15 pm
LinkedIn creates and captures value from all of its customers.
Ikea: Making Couches Look Good Since 1943
YRezni
Last modified on December 6, 2015 at 9:30 pm
What do H&M, Zara, and Ikea have in common? #FastFashion. Ikea's operations revolutionized the customer experience, paving the way for all those retail giants that we all know and love. #disruption #lowcost #highvalue
Blue Apron and the Race to Innovate Dinner
scox
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 8:52 pm
Blue Apron seeks to make home cooking accessible and convenient by delivering creative recipes and fresh ingredients to customers nationwide.
thredUP – inspiring a new generation of consumers to think secondhand first
CCC
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 10:25 pm
thredUP is disrupting the $16B secondhand market for apparel and accessories through an innovative online platform with superior operating efficiency
EnerNOC: The Software Leader You’ve Never Heard Of
nlake
Posted on December 4, 2015 at 10:26 pm
EnerNOC utilizes an operating model focused on technology, R&D, acquisition and partnership to carve out a category for energy intelligence software (EIS).
Dr Lal PathLabs: Achieving scale in Indian diagnostics market
Mohit Mittal
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 4:25 pm
Learn how a single diagnostic center grew into a chain of 1500 centers serving 12 million patients annually!
New York Road Runners: Run for Life
c
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 6:29 pm
New York Road Runners is an organization committed to providing runners all over the world the means to run, and an opportunity work towards a social cause while doing so. The growth that the organization and its insignia event- the [...]
LendingClub
czph
Last modified on December 8, 2015 at 10:56 pm
LendingClub uses technology that banks don't have, to offer what they can't.
Jet Blue: Bringing Humanity Back to Air Travel
Rebecca
Last modified on December 7, 2015 at 7:16 am
JetBlue is a full service, low cost airline that serves as a great example of a company whose business model and operating model exist in harmony. At its’ inception, JetBlue’s hybrid full service, low cost business model shocked the traditional [...]
Grocery Outlet: Christmas cereal in July
rdenious
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 5:25 pm
Smell the milk before you drink it.
Action: The incredibly complex endeavor of a simple store
Daniel C
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 9:53 pm
Action – a discount store that sells everything from food and clothes to paint supplies and decorative glow-in-the-dark ducks – is the darling of the European market. It’s secret? One-off batches. A purposefully disorganized store. And 7 people in procurement.
Blue Apron: Bringing economical exotic meal experiences to door-step
changeme_15
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 3:56 pm
How an HBS graduate is disrupting the food industry by building an innovative ~$2Bn valued meal kit business in under 4 years!
Bloomberg: From Financial Markets to Acquisition Targets
Bing
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 7:30 pm
Bloomberg: Get yours now!
Tinder: Business vs. Operating Model – is it a match?
HA
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 7:12 pm
The popular hookup app is looking for the most attractive operating model and is constantly changing to promote romantic connectivity online.
SunEdison: The Renewable Supermajor Stumbles
L
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:30 pm
Has the fastest growing solar company overheated its operating model?
Publix: Every Floridians’ Favorite Supermarket
Natalie
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 3:51 pm
Publix employee satisfaction leads to superior customer service.
Chipotle: Fast food at its best
Chipotle Lover
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 6:35 pm
Chipotle went out and revolutionized how the world thinks about fast food.
Ryanair: The lowest cost airline in Europe.
AC
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:27 pm
Launched 30 years ago, the Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair disrupted the European airline industry and started the low-cost revolution in Europe. Ryanair is now Europe’s largest airline with more than 90 million passengers per year and shows record profits of [...]
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