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)

Wyzant, Inc: A brilliant way to keep everyone on board
Neha Dave
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:23 pm
Win-win-win situations do exist!
Vail Resorts: A Mountain Monopoly
Matthew Durst
Last modified on December 6, 2015 at 9:27 pm
Vail Resort's continued growth has yielded a greater value for both the company and its customers.
Warby Parker: No Blind Spots for the Company that’s Revolutionizing Eyewear
Rachel Sam
Last modified on December 7, 2015 at 10:48 pm
Built on a promise of affordability and convenience, Warby Parker has won the hearts of hip millennials.
Pagani Automobili S.p.A.: Merging Art and Science
Dan Martin
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 5:48 pm
How can an independent, low-volume, uber-premium Auto Company manage to stay profitable for over 20 years?
Warby Parker – making eyewear accessible
T
Posted on December 5, 2015 at 3:58 pm
How it all started Warby Parker (“WP”) is an American glasses brand that was founded in 2010 with the objective to offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially businesses. At the time, the company’s [...]
McKinsey – A Lack of Structural Optimization
Matthew Ressler
Last modified on August 7, 2017 at 5:09 pm
McKinsey is a highly established consultancy that is hampered by its regionally focused operating structure.
CVS Health: Fully Adherent to Its Prescribed Strategy and Winning
Marlene
Last modified on December 8, 2015 at 8:44 pm
Through compliance with its mission of “helping people on their path to better health”, CVS has created a winning alignment between its business and operating models to grow into a success story.
Making Memories with the American Girl Company
Pooja Venkatraman
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:05 pm
The American Girl company is in the business of magic, memories, and new best friends.
CommonBond: Disrupting the $1.3 Trillion Student Loan Market
Aaron Rosenberg
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 7:42 pm
How three MBA students went from disgruntled borrowers to co-founders of a marketplace lending platform that is restoring the element of community in finance
Ginkgo Bioworks: The industrial revolution is coming to the biology lab!
Jonathan Friedlander
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 2:59 pm
Data! Robots! Microbes! The revolution is coming!
Patagonia: Corporate social responsibility as a behavior-binding asset driving demand
AW
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 10:36 pm
"For nearly 40 years, Patagonia has prided itself on selling high-quality, high-performance outdoor apparel to dirt bags."
L.L. Bean: One of these days these boots…
Tom Dan
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:54 pm
L.L. Bean and its famous Bean Boots are taking over the world with the power of stockouts.
Deliveroo: When Fine Food Meets Exceptional Logistics
LuluQ
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 11:28 pm
Fine Food in 32 minutes? YES PLEASE!
Equinix: The Hub of the Internet
amignot
Posted on December 7, 2015 at 7:21 pm
You probably mention putting things into the “cloud” all the time. But do you actually know what that means? No, but like literally? Well, the “cloud” is physically a server sitting somewhere in a data center – most likely an [...]
Gilt: A VIP Club for Shoppers of Flash Sale
changeme_79
Posted on December 8, 2015 at 12:42 am
Gilt is an online retailer that sells designer clothes and other luxury goods at deep discounted prices up to 70% off. It is a fast growing company founded by two HBS Alumnae right after recession.
Slacking Off to Get More Done
Damjan
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:12 pm
More and more companies are using Slack as their internal collaboration tool of choice. Why has this chat app found so much success in cracking the enterprise market?
Yakult: Success with “Yakult Ladies”
Daisuke Arayama
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 8:16 pm
Yakult has built unique operating model with female salesforce called "Yakult Ladies". Its operating model is effective from wealthy neighborhood in developed countries to slum in developing countries.
Dafen Village: Factory of Fine Art
Tina
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:02 pm
Want to decorate your new apartment with Starry Night but don’t have the millions? Dafen is the village behind the $10 hand-painted replica available at your local Walmart.
Slack: The greatest innovation to disrupt the business world since email
Kate Loose
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 11:24 pm
How a two-year-old startup is changing the way teams work with growth that every Silicon Valley tech startup or investor hopes for.
Wal-Mart: Every Day Low Prices Business Model
Aziz
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 6:29 pm
Wal-Mart is a great example of a company that is transforming from originally having best in class alignment between its business and operating model towards having a significant friction between the two. Sam Walton first founded Wal-Mart in 1962, as [...]
Care More. It’s What They Do.
Brendan
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 10:41 pm
As healthcare moves from a volume to value-based model, CareMore is striving to do more with less.
16 Handles: Too Hot of a Business to be Frozen Yogurt
Andrea Montero
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 12:52 am
There is nothing novel about the frozen yogurt business. So how did this company manage to disrupt a market dominated by fierce competition and little differentiation? Simple: by focusing on who you are - versus what the product is - [...]
HBS: Creating Human, Intellectual, and Financial Capital
schen
Last modified on December 9, 2015 at 7:54 pm
Don't forget that we are part of one of the best-designed organizations in the world.
IndiGo Airlines – Ready for takeoff!
MRI
Last modified on December 4, 2015 at 11:49 pm
How does IndiGo tie in "low cost does not mean cheap" and "on time is a wonderful thing" to financial success - the mantra that allows them to fly high!
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