Video: Business Model Innovation in Private Banking

This week I participated in a high-level panel on strategic and operational private banking models in the 21st century in Zurich Switzerland. I talked about business model innovation in private banking (not meaning the innovative financial products that provoked the current financial turmoil, of course).

Enjoy the video:



You can check out the videos of the other panelists on www.privatebankinginnovation.com.

Podcast with Dave Gray on Visual Business Communications & Workshop in Geneva

I'm a strong proponent of using visual techniques and tools in business communications. This starts with sound Power Point Presentations and culminates in the clear and visual communication of corporate strategies (including business models). Therefore I'm a big fan of XPLANE, the global market leader in visual thinking and visual techniques that helps companies solve business problems and improve business communications through visuals. They've worked with a large number of global companies, including Credit Suisse, Nokia, Apple, IBM, Bank of America and many more.

I've talked to XPLANE's Founder and CEO, Dave Gray, about using visual techniques in business in today's podcast. We also talked about the workshop Dave will be giving at our premises at Arvetica in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 18th of March (there are still a few seats available, if you are interested).

Enjoy the podcast:

In the podcast Dave explains the value of visual techniques for businesses and private banks and outlines what we will be doing during the workshop in March. He particularly stresses that mediocre communications lead to misalignment in management and hence result in poor implementation. Dave invites entire management and project teams to participate in the workshop so that they can directly work on concrete business problems. That's quite an opportunity to be able to benefit from individual coaching by one of the leading thinkers in visual business communications.

If you are interested in participating in the workshop download the flyer (pdf) and send us the registration form.

Business Model Innovation Workshop in Amsterdam at ULURU Innovation Theatre

I'll be giving a full day workshop on business model innovation at the ULURU innovation theatre in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 3. April 2008.

The invitation (image left) shows that ULURU is a company that does things differently. They have a strong network among Dutch multinationals (including Heineken, TomTom, ING , KPN and many others).

Workshop Take Away: After this workshop you will know and understand innovative business models from various industries and be able to apply the business modelling methodology to your own company. You will also be able to use a pragmatic framework to innovate within your own business model.

Content: Help (senior) management foster business model innovation at large; Give (senior) managers a broad overview of innovatieve (disruptive) business models in various industries; We will show examples from various industries (including in wealth management, private banking, telecom (Skype)); The participants will learn how to apply a simple and pragmatic approach to achieve and implement business model innovation.

If you're interested in participating click on the invitation image and contact them directly. Of the 25 available seats, only 10 are left after 4 days of workshop announcement. I'm sure it will be a great experience.

See you in Amsterdam!

Ad-hoc Business Model Stage Fight (LIFT'08 Geneva)

Arvetica is organizing an Ad-hoc Business Model Stage Fight at LIFT'08 in Geneva, Switzerland. Just like last year we thought we would contribute to the workshop program of the conference...

In this half day workshop participants will learn about a method to rapidly prototype business models. Then they will form ad-hoc teams that compete against each other. Each team will come up with an innovative business model based on a given scenario. The attendees will jointly vote the winner by evaluating creativity, realism and story.

Images and take-aways will be available on this blog soon. I'm curious to see how participants will perform with "rapid business model prototyping" (RaBMoPro ;-)

For the attendees: Here the plan to get from Unimail (venue of other LIFT'08 workshops) to Arvetica, where the workshop "Ad-hoc Business Model Stage Fight" is taking place...



Directions to Arvetica (stage fight) from Unimail (other LIFT'08 workshops):

• walk out of the main entrance of the Unimail building


• turn right


• walk straight (along the tram line)


• cross the bridge


• continue approx. 600m (street = route des Acacias)


• Arvetica is just across the street from the Shell station


• Address: route des Acacias 24


• go inside the building and take the elevator to the 6th floor


• WELCOME!

Podcast with John Hagel, Co-Chairman of the Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation

In the context of my company, Arvetica, I recently recorded a podcast with one my favorite thinkers, John Hagel, who is Co-Chairman of the Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation, based in Silicon Valley. I am cross-posting the podcast on this blog because it would be a waste to miss John's interesting thoughts.

The podcast is about three distinct topics John has worked on: first, his approach to strategy, second, a concept he developed called "unbundling the corporation", and third, "IT as a tool for strategic differentiation". Enjoy the listening:



Strategy approach: John emphasizes that all organizations should reassess their approach to strategy. He outlines an approach that departs from the traditional view of strategic planning which has a time horizon of 1-5 years. John proposes a strategy approach that operates in parallel on a long term time horizon of 5-10 years and on a short term time horizon of 6-12 months, with continuous iterations between them. He notes that this is the only way to avoid risks in high uncertainty environments.

Unbundling the corporation: This concept highlights that most companies today are an unnatural bundle of three very different types of businesses: infrastructure management businesses, customer relationship businesses, product innovation and commercialization. Each of theses businesses has very different economics, skill-sets and cultures. Hence, companies should unbundle them.

IT as a differentiator: John points out that IT is today becoming even more strategically important as a foundation for rapid incremental business innovation than previously. He explains this through new and flexible architectures which allow companies to continuously achieve IT innovation and keep a constant head start. This contrasts with the past, when companies made heavy punctual investments in IT innovations every few years, but were then copied. Finally, John also refers to the innovation potential of newer technologies that help people come together, collaborate and create value rather than just create savings through automation.

If you are interested in John Hagel's work and thinking, you should imperatively consult his blog where he writes on various topics related to business and technology. You may also want to consult his latest book "The Only Sustainable Edge", which he wrote together with John Seely Brown.

Speaking Engagements and Workshops 2008

I am currently allocating some time for speaking engagements in 2008, based on strong demand from companies and business schools around the world during Q4 of last year.

The areas I cover in my talks and workshops are:

• business model abc
• business model innovation 101
• achieving competitive advantage through business modeling
  
• business model assessment
• rapid business model prototyping
• from business model to business plan and project roadmap
• business models in private banking (adaptable to other industries, e.g. telecom)
• the private banking industry landscape (Arvetica's core focus)
  
• design and business
  

Last year I have completed engagements running from 45 minute talks to 2 day tailor-made workshops. Please contact me if you are interested or would like to get a price quote. Write to alex@arvetica.com

For references about my work you can follow this blog or ask me to put you in contact with one of my former clients. You may also check out:

• a video of a 45 minute talk on business models (watch video)
  
• a draft business model manual (download pdf)

Speaking engagements are offered through Arvetica, the consulting firm I am partner of. Please note that I only allocate a limited amount of time to speaking engagements due to my consulting work.

Draft Business Model Innovation Manual (beta version)

Yesterday I finished a draft for a simple business model innovation manual co-financed by La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia and DOTARS. In the spirit of open innovation I am sharing this "beta version" online to trigger your feedback.

Draft Business Model Manual (beta version): How to Describe and Improve your Business Model to Compete Better (pdf)

The manual shall help business people describe their business model step by step, assess its strengths and weaknesses in order to then improve it. I'm not yet happy with the document, but it's start. The final document will be posted here later.

Acknowledgments: A special thanks goes to Dr Vijaya Thyil and Professor Geoffrey Durden of La Trobe University, who enabled this manual. A particular thank you goes to Professor Yves Pigneur of HEC Business School in Switzerland who has been the driving force with whom I have developed the underlying business model concept.

Professor Henry Chesbrough on Open Innovation and Open Business Models

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the great pleasure to speak at the same conference as Professor Henry Chesbrough. The event took place in Dublin and was organized by Enterprise Ireland. It was great to follow Henry's talk on Open Innovation and Open Business Models, two terms he coined in two different books.

I used the opportunity to interview Henry for a webcast for Arvetica's Private Banking Innovation Blog. As loyal readers you can of course enjoy the interview on this blog:

Victor Lombardi and Jess McMullin speaking in Europe

Two people who are at the forefront of thinking on the intersection between business and design will be speaking in Europe this November. Though this is not 100% related to business model design, I believe they promote the kind of tools & techniques that are necessary to come up with sound business models. I very much value their contributions of bringing design thinking to business.

Victor and Jess will be first speaking at the IA Konferenz 2007 in Stuttgart, Germany (9./10. November).

Jess will also speak at the Italian IA Summit 2007 in Trento, Italy (16./17. November).

Conference Talk: Innovating the Business Model (Dublin, Ireland)

I will be speaking at the "Innovating the Business Model" conference organized by Enterprise Ireland, tomorrow, Wednesday 24th of October.

I'm quite excited to be the closing speaker of the conference, since the opening speaker is Professor Henry Chesbrough, author of the books "Open Business Models" and "Open Innovation". I had a chance to meet Henry this evening and he is a really great guy. It's wonderful to meet one of the mentors of the open enterprise concept which we apply day after day at our consulting firm Arvetica.

So in the spirit of open knowledge, please find below the set of slides that I will be presenting tomorrow:

| View | Upload your own

Course (in German) on Modeling Business Models - Day 4 of 4 half-days

Here day Nr.4 (last day) of a course I was teaching at a Masters class on "Modeling Business Models" at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Hochschule Luzern).

At the end of the class lecture the students presented their group projects. I had asked each group to model the business model of a start-up business they should come up with. I told them that part of their grades would come from the way they presented the story of their start-up. The groups did a fantastic job in their presentations and really integrated the story telling factor. It was a quite a fun experience for all in the classroom.

Apologies a last time for those who don't read German. We're back to English from the next postings onwards ;-)

Here the slides of the last lecture:

Course (in German) on Modeling Business Models - Day 3 of 4 half-days

Here day Nr.3 of a course I am teaching at a Masters class on "Modeling Business Models" at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Hochschule für Wirtschaft HSW Luzern). Apologies again for those who don't read German. On the 21. September I will be presenting the last set of slides in German.



Group Project

The students will also deliver a project. Each group has designed a business model over the last 3 courses. I am quite curious to see their final presentations. Here is what I asked for:

Course (in German) on Modeling Business Models - Day 2 of 4 half-days

This Friday I continued teaching a Masters class on "Modeling Business Models" at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Hochschule für Wirtschaft HSW Luzern). Apologies to all those whore are less interested in this content that is in German. However, there are some new example as to distribution channel design and new reflections on customer segmentation.

Here the slides I used during class:

Course (in German) on Modeling Business Models - Day 1 of 4 half-days

Last Saturday I started teaching a Masters class on "Modeling Business Models" at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Hochschule für Wirtschaft HSW Luzern). It was the first half day in a series of 4 half day lectures. (NOTE: The course and all the following slides are in German).

The lecture is designed as an extension to a previous course which the class had on the topic of business process management. To me this is a perfect fit, because I see the modeling of business models as the next step after the wave of business process modeling that we now more or less master in most companies. I hope the students will like it...

Here the slides I used during class:



Here the group work the class will pursue during the next few lectures and which will count 50% of the final evaluation:

Conference Talk on Business Model Design and Innovation

Last month I spoke about business models and innovation in Melbourne at an event for business people hosted by La Trobe University. During the trip to Australia through Dubai I realized at how many places I would still like to speak. Top on my list are Dubai, India and China. Maybe that is to come when the topic becomes more popular in management circles and business literature.

You can find a video capture of the event in Melbourne with about 120 people of regional industry below:

Interested organizations can contact me at alex@arvetica.com

Workshop on Business Models in Australia

I was invited to Australia by La Trobe University to give a talk to business people in Melbourne on the topic of business models. The talk took place within the context of a research program I am involved in.

Below you can find the slides of the 40 minutes talk. I included some new and interesting examples, which I prepared explicitly for this presentation. To get a good viewing of the animated slides you must download the slides first rather than just view them (download here from Slideshare.net)



I'm in Melbourne until the 2nd if somebody wants to meet me there. Despite a full agenda, I'm sure I can get a free slot for a chat.

4 Questions for Roger Martin

Today I came across this quite interesting video interview with Roger Martin (hat tip to Ralf Beuker), dean of the Rotman School of Management. What you must know (if you don't already) is that the Rotman School is very design oriented and aims at bringing design to business.

Enjoy the video where Roger talks about the design & business overlap:



I very much apply what Roger says in my consulting work and I also taught it in my last workshops in Mexico.

Workshop Outcome in Mexico

Last week I was in Mexico for Arvetica to facilitate two workshops on Business Model Design and Innovation. The first one was with a group of executives and the second one was with the faculty of the Tecnologica de Monterrey (ITESM). Both were organized by the well known ITESM.

In the first workshop (5 hours) I focused on the utility of the business model concept and a process to achieve business model innovation. In break-out sessions I got the executives to design parts of a business model of a soccer club, which worked out quite well. Here the slides:



In the second workshop (2 days) I emphasized the value of design thinking in business and how it applies to business model design and innovation. The work with the group of about 30 faculty members was quite fun and I made them design an entire (roughly shaped) business model during the two days. Besides that I outlined some of the underlying concepts to business model design and design thinking. Here the slides:



Throughout this first visit to Mexico I had the opportunity to meet some great people. I was very impressed by the strategic thinking and conceptual knowledge of industrialist, Jorge Valdes, of the Valsi and Evans brands and the quality of the people at the Tecnologico, such as Daniel Pandza and Maria Elena Vazquez.

Business Model Design Blog in Chinese

A while ago I was contacted by Mao Xinyu to translate my blog into Chinese. Well, now businessmodeldesign.cn has gone life. Though I can't read it, I think Mao Xinyu did I great job in translating even the figures into Chinese. Thanks for the great work!

PinPointers' Experience with the Business Model Concept

Last week I talked to Michael Nørregard Wilkens and Niels Erik Haug-Larsen of the consulting firm PinPointers about their experience with the business model concept.

They do some interesting consulting work and have applied the business model concept in quite innovative ways. For example, with some of their clients they developed the company's business model portfolio in order to help them innovate and streamline according to their strategic objectives.

I will write about the business model portfolio concept in the coming weeks