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)

Citi Bike – Potholes instead of Profits
John M
Posted on December 5, 2015 at 4:43 pm
Citi Bike, the popular NYC bike share system, looks to turn a corner (financially) after a rocky start.
IKEA: World’s Most Successful Furniture Retailer
Kevin
Last modified on December 6, 2015 at 8:43 pm
High quality home furnishings at affordable prices achieved by optimizing the entire supply chain, operations, and inventory management
Shake Shack: Serving Up More Than Just Burgers
William S.
Last modified on December 7, 2015 at 4:28 pm
Caring Customer Service Comes From the Top Down
How Kenya created the world’s most successful mobile-payments service
Andrea Barry
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 9:44 pm
M-PESA has transformed the everyday lives of most Kenyans, disrupting the traditional banking system and capturing the previously unbanked market. Allowing whole businesses to be run from a mobile phone, the secret to M-PESA’s impressive performance can be found backstage.
SLC Agricola: The way to run a farm in the 21st century
Techie
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 10:51 pm
SLC Agricola is poised to become a key player in the agricultural world thanks to its leading farming position in Brazil and premier operational efficiency
Airbnb: how a simple online matching service trumps value of hotel giant, Marriott
Anny J
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 11:29 pm
How does a simple online matching service become valued higher than hotel giant Marriott, a long-established hotel giant that owns over 4,000 physical properties, in just under 8 years? The secret is in its disruptive genius business model – designed [...]
VisionSpring: Providing eyeglasses to millions
acoravos
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 5:45 pm
703 million people need, but don't own, eyeglasses. How does a company solve a social mission at scale? By having strong business and operating models associated with it.
Area Woman Writes on The Onion, Questions Not Choosing IKEA Instead
Alice
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 4:22 pm
May the ox of journalism always be yoked to the cart of commerce
Ace Hotel
Luthan
Posted on December 8, 2015 at 9:44 pm
A friendly place, continually new.
AmenZone – Training for Life
ABenas
Posted on December 8, 2015 at 8:56 pm
Why doing more with less is hurting AmenZone and its growth through franchise strategy.
Aldi – driving transformation of the UK grocery industry
Lia Prendergast
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 4:16 pm
Aldi's business model is supported by an incredibly efficient operating model. The UK's Big4 grocers have responded to Aldi's growth with price cuts, but is this really a sustainable response?
Nike: Lapping The Competition
A2017
Last modified on December 1, 2015 at 6:44 pm
Nike aligns operating and business model to drive performance and lap its competition.
Hermès: The ultimate luxury company
NMA
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:56 pm
Hermès is a unique example of a highly successful premium business model
KiOR – Biofuel Company Burns
RNatesh
Posted on December 7, 2015 at 5:34 pm
KiOR was a spectacular failure in the biofuel space. Where did it all go wrong?
GridPoint: Misalignment through Acquisition and Channel Partnerships
Caroline
Last modified on December 5, 2015 at 1:32 pm
Over the past 12 years, GridPoint has struggled to identify itself as a leader in the energy efficiency space.
SpaceX: Bringing the costs of space back down to earth
SamJohnson
Posted on December 5, 2015 at 7:40 pm
At SpaceX the name of the game is moving material into space at the lowest cost conceivable. This is being accomplished by radical innovation in manufacturing and rocket design principles.
Teach for America: Falling Short on Promises to Students and Teachers
TZ
Posted on December 8, 2015 at 11:52 pm
TFA promises better education to students and a rewarding teaching career to new recruits, but is out of touch with the day-to-day realities of the underperforming K-12 classroom
Amazon: The Cycle of Victory
Liam
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 10:01 pm
Amazon leverages its superior warehousing and product innovation to drive prices down and purchases up.
Emirates – The largest airline in the Middle East
Vimit
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 6:53 pm
Emirates is an airline based in Dubai and its integrated business and operating models have made Emirates commercially successful.
Capital One: Aligning the organization through data
SofiaBerrada
Posted on December 8, 2015 at 10:24 pm
Capital One is a Fortune 500 company that provides financial services such as credit cards and loans to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. The company operates mainly in the US, Canada and the UK. Since the economic crisis in [...]
Boston Beer Co. – The Founding Father of the Craft Beer Revolution
Ivan Salas Orono
Posted on December 7, 2015 at 5:33 pm
@BostonBeer continues to lead the craft beer revolution by innovating like the small guys and distributing like the big ones
Celgene Corporation – Diversifying Bets in Research & Development to Ensure Success in the Biopharmaceutical Industry
Gome
Last modified on December 12, 2015 at 8:32 pm
By investing in in-house drug research and development, partnering with world class research institutes, and acquiring high potential compounds, Celgene has achieved massive success so far and is positioned to continue to do so.
Spirit Airlines: It’s a love/hate relationship…
t.c.
Last modified on November 27, 2015 at 2:30 am
Spirit Airlines operates on a paradoxical paradigm. Despite high levels of customer dissatisfaction, it is the fastest growing and most profitable US airline. How is the "most hated airline in the world" able to pull this off?
Grindr: The Original Location-Based Dating App
Tulio
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 10:03 pm
Grindr: De-stigmatizing gay sex, one [hookup/blocked profile/unsolicited pic/ignored message] at a time.
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