Schlagwort-Archive: Business model

Human – Machine – Business model

The main task of the strategy, the plan or the own initiatives, is to keep all aspects in line. It concerns the seizable products, facilities, storages, transport equipment, material as well as the immaterial, mental factors such as convictions and cultures. These mental aspects are very stable and prepared for long-term use. They change almost unnoticed in individual areas, so that there is sufficient time available to adapt to the new conditions. The life cycles of the physical aspects however shortened so that the development of a plan is nowadays a complex venture. What does this mean for humans, machines and business models?

komplexitaet

We learned that everything follows lifecycles – starting with the Kondratiev cycles that divide the last two hundred years into waves. The Gartner Group finally introduced the Hype Cycle for IT- solutions. Thus, we have a tool for a long time that arranges the elements of the business. The purpose of such curves is to make the business complexity manageable, in order to better justify decisions. Since nowadays all aspects can be described in such a way, we again have a complexity of lifecycles that can only be overlooked with difficulties. They function at the same time and affect decisions. Gary Hamel already predicted in 2000 that leading enterprises of the future are characterized by fast development and replacement of business models. Additionally, however, the interrelationships of humans, machines and business models must be considered.

  • Human
    Despite all the technological developments, people become more and more important for the alignment and control of business procedures. As soon as you have to make decisions outside of the routine, it requires people with their convictions, creative abilities and their sense of duty. The advancement of these attitudes is an essential task of everybody. For smart deployment, it is important to know the ways of thinking and the talents of the employees. Skill profiles and the understanding of the mental states are the basis, in order to be able to assign the suitable employees to the tasks.
  • Machine
    The machine includes today not only the physical cogs that keep production moving, but also digital aspects that represent the physical and contentual parts in the virtual space. This covers all equipment, including the computers with their programs, databases and networks as well as all interconnected sender-receiver-systems. Together they represent the machines that keep today the momentum of the business. Each individual component has thereby its own life cycle that does not only result from the technical advancement, but also from the economic interests of the manufacturers. Unfortunately all components are in another phase of the life cycle. As soon as fundamental technologies begin a new cycle, they also carry away dependent components, which again drag others along and so on. The simplest example is the operating system of the computer. A new version of Windows requires new printer drivers, requires new printers, requires new ink cartridges … For this reason today the Enterprise Architecture management (EAM) is an important IT-task to illustrate the current and the future IT-landscape in a model and to create a framework for decision making with a roadmap.
  • Business model
    The business model bundles the business components. This includes the following elements. The deliverable concept contains the extended business idea. The earning model describes the prepared income sources. The value creation determines the procedure of delivering the products and services. The organization is the internal network. The partners extend the internal network to the outwards. The customers are the target groups, which give the cash-flow to the enterprise, in order to act. Resources are the means that the employees need for producing the deliverables. Communication covers the channels to all involved parties. The coordination specifies the control mechanisms.
    The complexity of the business model results from the different life cycles of its components and their mutual dependency. At the same time the feasibility is determined by humans and the machines. The competition takes place on the level of the business model. Customers buy the deliverables that cover their needs best. For this reason it is an important task of the leaders to develop a business model as viable and competitive as possible that is not only attractive to the customers, but also to employees and partners.

The art of the strategizing coordinates the asynchronous life cycles of humans, machines and business models. The joint initiative only succeeds, if planning is accomplished holistically and the components are manageable. It is not enough to develop visions for the machines, or social ones, or economical. The viable conception of the future evolves, if all areas are considered with their interactions. The development of the various elements requires at the same time the overarching expansion of the company. The purpose of the company should lead and not the general, technological development.

Bottom line: The business delivers the desired results, if it is based on a holistic plan that considers people, machines and the business model. Humans are thereby the mobile, formative variable that makes the machines and the business model to become real. You only have to create the appropriate conditions – capable humans, effective functions of the machines and a viable business model.

Chicken-and-egg – the ideal metaphor for unclear causes and effects

Regularly we buy eggs, which were hopefully laid by happy chickens. And sometimes the egg is used, in order to let hatch out another happy chicken. Actually the cycle of laying and hatching is turning without interruption. If you would like to go back to the beginning of this cycle, it is hard to define the starting point. Apart from religions that simply answer this question with a creator, a logical starting point is missing. An egg is laid by a chicken, which, in turn, slips out of an egg. Thus, chicken-and-egg is an ideal metaphor for unclear causes and effects.

henneei bw

Actually the chicken-and- egg problem is solved – in the beginning was the egg (John Brookfield). This is valid, if you accept the argumentation of John Brookfield that the genetic make-up of an animal does not change during lifetime. The change from the nonchicken to the chicken can only happen in the egg. And anyway, eggs existed a long time before the chickens. Let’s transfer the problem to our everyday life.

  • E-Mobility
    Electric cars are not bought yet, because there are not sufficient charging stations. As long as there are not sufficient charging stations, electric cars are not bought. What comes first? The politicians believe the electric cars and therefore want to subsidize the purchase. If you consider the metaphor, another approach would be to install NATIONWIDE at the existing gas stations charging possibilities (of course as well as EVERYWHERE else) – in the beginning are the loading stations.
  • Social Networks
    A social net offers advantages for the users, as soon as the right number of contents is available. However contents are only sufficiently shared, when the necessary number of users is connected. What comes first? The providers of the social nets avoid this dilemma by concentrating on the programming of the platform. They hope that an interesting platform lead to appropriate numbers of users, who will also provide contents. If you consider the metaphor, everything starts with the contents available. For this reason a sufficient number of articles should be provided in the beginning, so that the user numbers pass quickly the tipping point. Afterwards the contents of the users will lead to additional users – in the beginning the real focus are the contents.
  • New businesses
    New shops are opened up, if sufficient customers are available. However, customers are only won, if the business offers its deliverables. What comes first? If you consider the metaphor, the market is defined by companies that offer their products and services. Namely before the first customer can go to the shop. Therefore you cannot avoid launching an affair with the faith that sufficient customers will buy the deliverables. The success of the trade will be seen subsequently – in the beginning stands the launching of the firm.
  • Families with children
    Two lifetime partner want to have children, as soon as they can afford it. But they believe that they can only afford children, if somebody takes care of the children. What comes first? If you consider the metaphor, then families of different incomes always had children. The desire for having children results in a dramatic break-down of the family income on the one hand because one partner stops working for taking care of the children or because of the cost for the childcare. For this reason the family starts with the first child, since thereby the requirements adapt automatically to the new conditions – in the beginning are the children.

Bottom line: This metaphor helps finding solutions more easily for some of the chicken-and-egg problems. Fundamental changes always mean change from one into another condition. When deciding on the best solution the look at the history of the two alternatives helps, since changes have always similar forerunners. That way you find the smartest solution. The chicken-and-egg problem is the ideal metaphor for unclear causes and effects.