Fashioning a new business model for the new age

As a result of this workshop you and your organization will:

Ask, what would you want if you were the customer?
Ask, what could you achieve if there were no technological or organizational obstacles?
Fashion a new business model for the new age and assume that technological innovation will create opportunities for improvement.

Henry Ford and Thomas Watson, pioneers of the 20th century corporate world, had no idea of how much they would change the world, nor could they possibly foresee how the car and computer would transform our lives forever.

When the steam engine came along in the 19th century, some people scoffed at it and said, “There will always be a need for horses.” Others said, “This looks promising. Let’s invest in railroads, in companies that build locomotives and make products shipped by rail, and in the new communities built in the new territories.” Which side would you have been on?

Prior to creating a new future, businesses must assess the current situation. What value is offered, delivered and consumed that justifies your business’s right to exist? How is value created and who helps create it?

Then, identify each separate key participant and process and describe what each contributes to the existing system. Pinpoint the weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. Next, imagine a reinvented, hugely successful, and highly value-added future three to five years from today. Consider the following forward-looking questions:

· How will your organization change when the customer gains full control?

· What would you want if you were the customer?

· What could you achieve if there were no technological or organizational obstacles?

Your restated value proposition should inspire a new, original and competitive strategy. Once you have taken apart the old value proposition, identified its weaknesses, and envisioned a transformed value proposition for the information age, it’s time to fashion a new business model for the new age.

Consider how the Internet infrastructure can support real-time, customer-responsive communications and transactions in your business. Recognize and reward all participants, including customers, for their value contributions.

Each and every business must assume that technological innovation will create opportunities for improvement. Therefore, each organization should identify all the key classes of participants, including strategic partners, suppliers, and customers, and create a plan of how it will operate in the future.

Will your company add future value by distribution like FedX and UPS? Is there an opportunity in your industry to mirror Wal-Mart or Woodbury Commons? What about allowing customers to “discover” prices like eBay, a sell-side Internet-based auction? Or could the Ariba.com model, a buy-side auction, enable your buyer to receive bids from several sellers, becoming an innovative on-line business procurement site.

Information age content providers will design, make, and deliver the goods, services and information that satisfy customer needs. Infrastructure providers will deliver communications and computing, electronic and physical records. Roads and buildings will be needed.

How could Ford and Watson know that institutions, steeped in command-control cultures, and “scientific management” would change into places where success depends on letting go, on teamwork, and on trusting the wisdom of front-line employees?

For many organizations, learning to live and work effectively in the Internet age poses the most gut-wrenching change of your business lives. For others, because of youth or temperament, the new business model is already the only livable kind of environment.

Are you investing in today’s equivalent of stables, saddles, and blacksmiths? Or, are you able to look far enough ahead to invest in the emerging infrastructure? Your answer could very well decide the future of your organization.

This article is provided by Joe Murtagh, “The DreamSpeaker” www.TheDreamSpeaker.com an MPI member and an expert at solving industry challenges. For keynotes, workshops, consulting and questions or a free report on The 3 Most Common Mistakes MPI Members Make email Joe Murtagh at Joe@TheDreamSpeaker.com or call 800-239-0058.

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