Based on his search of the literature, Osterwalder lists nine building blocks for managers to use in developing an innovative and effective business model. We list them, along with some comments of our own:
- “The
value proposition of what is offered to the market”; We have covered this issue earlier in the chapter in general, and with specific reference to how Porter’s analytical tools can assist managers in generating a viable value proposition that consumers perceive as one that is superior to what is offered by the competition.
- “The
target customer segments addressed by the value proposition”; Managers soon learn that they cannot be all things to all people, that what appeals to one segment of the market will not appeal to another. We will discuss this in more detail later in this chapter.
- “The communication and
distribution channels to reach customers and offer the value proposition”; This issue relates to two of the “four P’s” (promotion and place) we discussed briefly when we discussed the marketing mix. For example, do we promote the business by word of mouth, signs on a storefront, ads in a newspaper, ads on TV, ads on the Internet, or some combination of all of these? Place refers to where the product or service is made available to the customer. The three usual choices are in a store, through a mail-order catalog, or from an Internet website.
- “The
relationships established with customers”; In general, however, the important point is not just to acquire customers, but to serve them in a way that your business retains them as customers. For example, it is usually much more expensive to attract a new customer to your business than it is for you to encourage a previous customer to return.
- “The
core capacities needed to make the business model possible”; This point refers to the necessity to define the basic capabilities your business must have. For example, if you are opening an art gallery to sell your own work, you had better have some talent as an artist!
- “The
configuration of activities to implement the business model”; Another way of stating this is to define the business processes that your business must have in order to function properly.
- “The
partners and their motivations of coming together to make a business model happen”; Partnerships and alliances are increasingly important in today’s world.
- “The
revenue streams generated by the business model constituting the revenue model”; In essence, this is the Price component of the “Four P’s”. Where does your revenue come from, what are the projections for the future, and what are the plans to sustain the necessary revenue stream as business conditions change?
- “The
cost structure resulting of the business model”. The difference between revenues and costs, of course, is your profit. Without a profit, it will not be possible for you to stay in business very long.
Examples of successful business models
It may be helpful to illustrate the concept of business models with two examples, McDonalds and CEMEX. In the case of McDonalds, it operates franchises all over the world. Franchises are proven and successful business models whose business model “prescription" is successful within the country of origin and even overseas. Dominating the hamburger fast food market, McDonalds’ franchise model has also proven to be successful since it quickly adapts and evolves according to the environment. For example, McDonalds USA does not have hot sauces, but in Mexico where Mexicans like a lot of spicy food, they offer hot sauce, as well as spicy meat put into the hamburgers. Another successful example is the Mexican cement maker CEMEX (the world’s third largest producer of cement) that has successfully implemented and tested a standard business model called the “CEMEX Way” in all the plants and business units it has within more than 50 countries around the world. Considering it operates in four different continents, except Oceania, with very different cultures and ways of thinking; countries such as the US vs Thailand, or Italy vs Bangladesh; it allows CEMEX to have a very quick response mechanism to adjust to the market demands since it has a standard operational platform. This gives CEMEX a clear competitive advantage against its main rival giants such as Holcim and Lafarge.
