Writing and Business Models

In our teaching, we are often asked by students to provide examples of the topics we are covering. Often, such examples are seen by those same students as the “correct answer” to the whatever question is being addressed. This is rarely the case in school and never the case in the business world. In both realms, samples are provided to help the analyst (or student) get started. The circumstances of the problem (or assignment) should always dictate the final outcome.

This chapter is intended as a culmination of everything that comes before it. It is not an exhaustive treatment of common business models. That would be daunting! Instead, these models are discussed as examples of how a business student might use them in conducting an analysis and writing a report.

Crafting these examples required first understanding a specific business model, comparing the components of the model to the facts of a specific case to make precise conclusions, and finally writing about these observations in concrete language. Such a linear and systematic approach to the application of a business model is an example of demonstrating critical thinking. In the business world, this type of thinking and reasoning is expected. In its absence, the author is judged incompetent and may eventually lose their job. In the academic world, this is the kind of thinking that separates the “A” student from their peers.

Why Use a Model?

Many a problem has been solved simply by asking the right question. In the business world, our experience has shown that having an analytical model is one of the single best predictors of successfully finding a workable solution. That’s one reason why in the academic world, students are exposed to many and varied analytical models. Models help you know what questions to ask, what questions are out-of-scope, and most importantly, when you are done.

Whether it is ethics, marketing, finance, strategic management, or any other topic, there is probably a model that will fit the situation. And because business students have this exposure and knowledge, analysis is one of the most marketable skills you can demonstrate to an employer. While in school, it is simply a tool in the first part of the writing process.

Prior to teaching, John worked at a large consumer electronics manufacturing and marketing company. One task he took on was to lead a global project to standardize problem solving across the many divisions of the company. The logic behind the project was simple, yet ambitious—identify a universal and standardized approach to speed up the time-to-resolution when engineers from different business units came together with a common problem. The justification for the project was that different approaches, and sometimes conflicting terminology, for solving technical problems was interfering with the ability of engineers and scientists to collaborate and solve problems quickly.

Step one was to identify the primary methodologies, find  a champion to speak for each, and bring those experts together for a conversation. An exhaustive survey of the company found some 120+ unique problem solving methods. Fortunately, they could be grouped into a dozen camps such as those based on Kepner-Tregoe (KT), those related to TRIZ, ones using a Six Hats approach, etc. For example, a KT approach might involve an extra step if used for research and development rather than production, but they still started with identifying a root cause. After some discussion among these camps, each identified one or two spokespersons to represent their approach in deeper discussions.

These representatives agreed to an evidence-based approach of study. That is, each would go to their respective operating practitioners to create an inventory of when their specific approach was used effectively to solve a technical problem and to both categorize and quantify (in monetary terms) the outcome. After a couple months of research, the group came back together and compared results.

Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a straightforward comparison of investments and their returns in terms of time and money was a much more complex exchange of difficult-to-compare outcomes. It appeared that all twelve approaches were roughly equivalent in efficacy. Whenever a group undertook solving a problem using any of the approaches or one of its derivatives, they typically came to a satisfactory conclusion. This contrasted many examples of attempts to solve problems that were not supported by a formal approach. In other words, experts taking a trial-and-error approach to finding a solution took longer and were less likely to find a solution than a group that systematically used one of the dozen problem solving methodologies or one of its derivatives.

Eventually, the group disbanded with an unexpected conclusion. While we reported to management that a single approach was not advised, we advised using any formal approach to solving problems would make a significant positive difference when compared to not using one. As this story relates to the textbook’s current chapter therefore, we advise using a business model when writing business case responses. Doing so means you will make fewer mistakes of omission and will create a significantly more robust answer than if you don’t use one. Read on for some examples of how this can be done effectively.