Goal: Conduct/construct an experiential evaluation/assessment of the business model of your organization (or one with which you are closely familiar) using the business model canvas and related text.
Introduction: Managers who want to improve the effectiveness of their business model and organization, as well as to increase their own ability to manage, use diagnostics/assessments to determine the reality of business effectiveness in comparison to what they originally envisioned. Good feedback contributes to the development of plans to improve business/organizational effectiveness and management performance.
This is the third of three assignments that draws from your association with your organization. The previous two “canvas” assignments flow into this one. Identify one or more of the building blocks from the business model canvas where modification should be recommended. Be careful to avoid bias in determining the issue/problem identified by using the canvas. Do not merely critique, but contribute to your organization’s overall success. This paper should be the culmination of the overall work you have done with the business model canvas so that all the pieces go together.
Your final paper should include:
- Your business model canvas – Post-It notes discussion/observations (week 2)—summarize this area, but provide the initial canvas.
- Identification of theoretical/behavioral trends that you observe in the business model and organization (week 5)—summarize this, do not merely cut and paste.
- Discussion of appropriate theory, metaphors, and frames with which to describe your business model in operation, as well as to identify areas needing improvement and how to get there.
- Use of the Osterwalder/Pigneur text (Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.) to evaluate and diagnose your organization’s business model, as well as an integration of the course materials into your writing and consideration.
- Recommendations for improvements identified using the canvas, theories, and assessment tools used in this course. What are the expected outcomes.
Full Answer Section
- Identify appropriate theory, metaphors, and frames to describe your business model in operation. This can help you to better understand the underlying dynamics of your business model and to identify areas where improvement is possible. For example, you may want to use the concept of customer value to assess the effectiveness of your Value Proposition building block.
- Use the Osterwalder/Pigneur text to evaluate and diagnose your organization's business model. This text provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and assessing business models. It can help you to identify the key elements of your business model and to assess how well they are working together.
- Develop recommendations for improvement. Based on your findings, develop concrete recommendations for how to improve your business model. Be sure to consider the potential impact of your recommendations on all aspects of your business, including your customers, employees, and bottom line.
Here is an example of how you might apply these steps to a specific business model:
Organization: A large retail company
Business model canvas building block where modification is recommended: Customer Relationships
Data to support the recommendation: Customer satisfaction surveys show that customers are often frustrated with the long wait times at checkout and the difficulty in getting help from store associates.
Appropriate theory, metaphor, or frame: The customer journey framework can be used to identify the key touchpoints where customers interact with the company and to identify areas where the customer experience can be improved.
Evaluation and diagnosis using the Osterwalder/Pigneur text: The Osterwalder/Pigneur text identifies the Customer Relationships building block as one of the nine essential building blocks of a business model. The text also provides a number of tools and frameworks for assessing the effectiveness of a company's Customer Relationships building block.
Recommendations for improvement: The company could implement a number of initiatives to improve its Customer Relationships building block, such as:
- Reducing wait times at checkout by hiring more cashiers and using self-checkout kiosks
- Increasing the number of store associates and training them to provide better customer service
- Implementing a customer loyalty program to reward customers for their patronage
Expected outcomes: The expected outcomes of these initiatives would be improved customer satisfaction and increased customer loyalty. This could lead to increased sales and profits for the company.
It is important to note that this is just one example of how to conduct an experiential evaluation/assessment of a business model using the business model canvas and related text. The specific steps you take will vary depending on the organization and the specific business model you are evaluating.