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)

EOG Resources: More Oil, Quicker Oil, Cheaper Oil
Jeff Judkins
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 10:38 pm
Oil Company Invests in Railroads and Sand Mines to Maximize ROCE
The LEGO Success Story: Getting Everything to Awesome!
Samantha Greenblatt
Last modified on November 28, 2015 at 2:03 pm
How has LEGO transformed itself from a business on the brink of bankruptcy to the largest toy company in the world?
Open Blue and the Innovation of Open-Ocean Fish Farming
BBurke
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 5:12 pm
Creating a sustainable, environmentally neutral food source in the deep seas of Panama.
Penguin-Random House, A Publisher Failing to Adapt to the Digital Age
Andy Rougeot
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 8:09 pm
Penguin-Random House, the publisher of authors as varied as John Grisham, Mindy Kaling and Gloria Steinem, is failing to adapt to the new digital age
JetBlue Mint: Disrupting the Equilibrium for a Low Cost Carrier
Sarah Lux
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 4:41 pm
JetBlue is the leisure traveler’s airline, offering leather seats and DirectTV at a discount to legacy airlines. But how will their customers react to an expensive premium cabin? Is JetBlue still a low cost carrier?
Trader Joes – Innovation in the grocery business
Aaron Stolear
Last modified on December 3, 2015 at 4:33 pm
In 2012, Fast Company ranked Trader Joes as the 11th most innovative firm in the US. That same year, Trader Joes managed to outperform the rest of the grocery industry with a record revenue per square feet of $2,054 (compared [...]
The house always wins
SK Misra
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 6:05 pm
The effectiveness of Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas
Bridgewater Associates: More than just luck
Ken
Last modified on December 6, 2015 at 7:53 pm
Bridgewater Associates' operating model, making investment decisions collectively following thorough and logical discussions, enables them to effectively utilize its intellectual capital to win in the capital market at higher probability than its competitors do.
The Related Companies
Sayiddah
Last modified on December 10, 2015 at 9:13 pm
Related Companies, vertical integration at its best
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.
Basecamp – Finding Signal in the Noise
S. Duncan
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 9:00 pm
"We believe software is too complex. Too many features, too many buttons, too much to learn. Our products do less than the competition — intentionally. We build products that work smarter, feel better, allow you to do things your way, [...]
Hilton Worldwide: Creating Value for Hotel Owners, Customers and Investors
Scott Maddux
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 4:00 pm
Hilton Worldwide: Creating Value for Hotel Owners, Customers and Investors
Yoobi: One for You, One for Me!
Megan Trout
Posted on December 5, 2015 at 11:58 pm
Yoobi - a colorful school supply brand helping students in need!
Whole Foods Market: Healthy Products with a Healthy Profit
TRogers
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:56 pm
The Whole Foods Market, Inc. (“Whole Foods”) motto of “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet” rings true in every aspect of the company. As a premium food retailer, Whole Foods does an excellent job of aligning its business model with [...]
Deliveroo: When Fine Food Meets Exceptional Logistics
LuluQ
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 11:28 pm
Fine Food in 32 minutes? YES PLEASE!
OMyBag: An (un)sustainable business model to support a sustainable brand’s expansion?
Heleen van Poecke
Last modified on December 8, 2015 at 7:44 pm
Designed in Amsterdam and handmade in India OmyBag is not your ordinary bag. This eco-friendly bag brand with a social mission, has successfully expanded its sales to 21 different countries across 121 different cities since its inception in 2010. The [...]
Blue Bottle Coffee: Managing Expectations for Rapid Growth One Cup at a Time
Rafiq
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:37 pm
Blue Bottle Coffee - The Craft Alternative to Starbucks? Only time will tell...
Softbank Robotics – World’s First Consumer Humanoid Robot “Pepper”
Satoshi
Last modified on December 5, 2015 at 7:15 pm
  Softbank Robotics introducing Pepper “Sold Out”. 10:00 AM on June 20th, 2015, Softbank Robotics released its first wireless humanoid robot on earth in its website – and at 10:01 AM, registration closed. 1,000 robots were sold out in less [...]
Zara: A Better Fashion Business Model
ahallak
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 11:22 pm
Zara has the formula to fashion retail success: fast fashion through supply chain innovation.
Less Than Clean Car Wash
AWang
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 10:58 pm
Dirty cars, ineffective operations
Oscar: consumer-centric health insurance
JCSS
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 7:21 am
Oscar has set out to revolutionize the cost and convenience of U.S. health care by targeting one of its most overlooked elements, the payer-patient relationship
SoulCycle: Spinning towards Success
BC
Last modified on December 4, 2015 at 6:39 pm
Introduction SoulCycle is a rapidly growing boutique fitness brand whose studios offer indoor cycling classes.   In the last two years, the Company has opened a total of 24 studios and grown revenue and EBITDA at compound annual growth rates in [...]
Harry Winston: “Glitz, Glam, and Gorgeous Rocks”
Elizabeth D.
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 11:29 pm
Transforming Fine Jewelry into Fine Works of Art for over eighty years
TESSEI: The 7 minute miracle of the bullet train cleaning crew
Yukako
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 10:34 pm
Japan’s bullet train cleaning crew elevates “cleaning” to an “art”
1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 39