Gennaro Cuofano's Blog, page 178
December 25, 2020
Top Digital Advertising Business Models








Read Next: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Microsoft, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok.
Main Guides:
Business ModelsBusiness StrategyBusiness DevelopmentDistribution ChannelsMarketing StrategyPlatform Business ModelsNetwork Effects
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Management Tools for Business People















Main Guides:
Business ModelsBusiness StrategyBusiness DevelopmentDistribution ChannelsMarketing StrategyPlatform Business ModelsNetwork Effects
The post Management Tools for Business People appeared first on FourWeekMBA.
Change Management In A Nutshell

Change is an important and necessary fact of life for all organizations. But change is often unsuccessful because the people within organizations are resistant to change. Change management is a systematic approach to managing the transformation of organizational goals, values, technologies, or processes.
Understanding change management
Indeed, research has found that just 38% of individuals like to leave their comfort zone regularly. For the remaining 62%, change in a workplace setting is met with apprehension. Thoughts may turn to job security or whether they might be required to take on new roles or responsibilities.
Through a range of strategies, change management smooths the transition process for all employees. It is also important in ensuring that businesses remain financially viable long after the change has been implemented.
Change management is useful in a variety of scenarios, including:
Mergers and acquisitions.Crisis management.Change in leadership or leadership style.Improving company culture.Technology implementation.
The four principles of change management
To navigate successful change, a business must focus on four core principles:
Understand change. Decision-makers must first understand the reasons for change before promoting change to subordinates. Benefits of change to the employee and the business should be communicated first and foremost. But it’s also important to stress the costs or negative outcomes of not changing. Ultimately, employees need to feel confident a change initiative is worth the effort.Plan change. Transformation does not happen overnight, nor does it happen by chance. Change strategies should identify the personnel most suited to supporting and mobilizing support for change. The business must also define what successful change looks like by setting appropriate goals. Popular planning tools for change include SIPOC diagrams and the Burke-Litwin Change Model.Implement change. Change measures should be implemented with a sense of urgency incorporating small, achievable wins to build momentum and employee motivation. Each employee should understand what is required of them and be offered support if they are having difficulty in transitioning. Some businesses choose to appoint staff whose primary role is to model new behaviors or actions.Communicate change. Change should be communicated so that it aligns with the company’s mission statement or vision. This “bigger picture” thinking inspires employees to act purposefully, safe in the knowledge that they are contributing to the success of the organization. The ADKAR model provides a helpful framework for communicating change at the individual level.
Consequences of poor change management practices
Businesses that fail to recognize the importance of people in successful change are likely to experience a raft of negative consequences.
Some of the more high-impact consequences are outlined below:
Poor project management. A lack of suitable change management can result in projects running over budget with missed deadlines. In extreme cases, projects fail to deliver and can be abandoned entirely. This is invariably caused by employees with low morale and low productivity because of poorly defined goals or change measures.Employee resignation. Valuable members of staff who experience poor change management at the project and organizational level are more likely to resign. The cost of losing experienced employees is obviously high, but mass departures also create a cultural legacy of failed change which becomes hard to reverse.Incomplete implementation. Change management that ignores people as a key driver is less likely to deliver results or meet outcomes. Goals may include reducing expenses, increasing productivity, capturing market share, or meeting certain regulations. In this scenario, the business is left with a change management plan not fully realized. Without direction, the business is unlikely to recoup costs and move forward without significant difficulty.
Key takeaways
Change management is a systematic, people-centric approach to handling change within an organization.Change management is useful in scenarios where people are less likely to leave their comfort zones. These scenarios include crisis management and a change in leadership change or company culture.The costs of poor change management are high. Businesses are likely to lose experienced employees to other organizations and not be able to recoup project costs if they do not maintain a focus on people.
Main Guides:
Business ModelsBusiness StrategyBusiness DevelopmentDistribution ChannelsMarketing StrategyPlatform Business ModelsNetwork Effects
Main Case Studies:
Amazon Business ModelApple Mission StatementNike Mission StatementAmazon Mission StatementApple Distribution
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Lean Manufacturing In A Nutshell

Lean manufacturing seeks to maximize product value while minimizing waste without sacrificing productivity. According to the Lean Enterprise Research Centre (LERC), 60% of a typical manufacturing process is waste. While the removal of waste is perhaps synonymous with lean manufacturing, the goal of the methodology is the sustainable delivery of value to the customer.
Understanding lean manufacturing
Lean manufacturing began with Henry Ford and his philosophy of production line assembly. However, modern lean manufacturing was established by engineers Taiichi Ohno and Eiji Toyoda in the Toyota Production System (TPS).
The TPS seeks to address wastage resulting from three common scenarios:
Muda – or the Japanese term for “waste” encapsulating anything that creates waste or constraints during manufacturing. Toyota defined eight different waste categories: defects, overproduction, waiting, not utilizing talent, transportation, inventory excess, motion waste, and excess processing.Mura – or the Japanese term for “unevenness in operations” that describes any factor creating inefficient or inconsistent workflows. Muri – the Japanese term describing the “overburdening of people and equipment”. These factors cause employee burnout and lead to equipment malfunction, reducing productivity and quality.
The five key principles of lean manufacturing
Businesses wanting to create a culture of lean excellence should consider these principles:
Value. To deliver value to the customer, the business must first define it. How much is the customer willing to pay for a product or service? With this figure, the business creates a top-down target price with which it can determine manufacturing costs.The value stream. This encompasses the entire product life cycle from raw material acquisition to product disposal. The value stream should be mapped out to determine which processes add value and which do not. Any process or product step, feature, or material should be eliminated if it does not add value.Flow. After waste has been removed from the process, the process should be tested to make sure that the remaining value-adding steps flow harmoniously without delays, interruptions, or stoppages.Pull. The fourth principle argues that businesses should adopt Toyota’s “just-in-time” manufacturing philosophy. This means that products should be built-to-order which avoids inefficiencies associated with large amounts of stockpiled materials.Perfection. Lean manufacturing advocates continuous improvement. Although perfection is an ideal, businesses that relentlessly strive toward it have an advantage over their competitors. They also become more productive and adaptable to change.
Useful lean manufacturing tools
Since the implementation of the Toyota Production System, many tools and methodologies have been developed for use beyond the automotive industry.
Here are three of the most common:
The 5S System – which is a tool for organizing materials for quick access and improved maintenance. The 5S system details the effective and efficient reorganization of a workspace. It is also ideal for businesses that experience waste from poorly maintained tools and equipment. Kaizen – this tool is one of continuous observation and incremental improvement. Kaizen argues that employees and managers should work toward reducing waste, as their combined skills and expertise creates a collaborative and highly effective approach. Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) – a four-step iterative process utilizing the scientific method to facilitate the continuous improvement of processes and products.
Key takeaways
Lean manufacturing focuses on reducing waste from manufacturing processes and adding customer value without sacrificing productivity.Lean manufacturing is based on the Toyota Production System which describes the creation of waste according to three common scenarios.Lean manufacturing has applications beyond the automotive industry. Several tools have been developed to help businesses implement lean principles. These include the 5S System and Kaizen.
Read Next: Agile Methodology, Lean Methodology, Agile Project Management, Scrum, Kanban, Six Sigma.
Main Guides:
Business ModelsBusiness StrategyBusiness DevelopmentDistribution ChannelsMarketing StrategyPlatform Business ModelsNetwork Effects
Main Case Studies:
Amazon Business ModelApple Mission StatementNike Mission StatementAmazon Mission StatementApple Distribution
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Zachman Framework In A Nutshell

The Zachman Framework is the brainchild of business and IT consultant John Zachman. The Zachman Framework is a core component of enterprise architecture. It is a formal and structured means of viewing and defining an enterprise.
Understanding the Zachman Framework
Zachman created the framework in response to the difficulty that many large and complex businesses have in managing change. Indeed, many do not understand their own organizational structure. Many others do have this knowledge, but the information is confined to individual employees or departments and is not freely available.
The Zachman framework is a means of classifying organizational architecture. It considers the pre-existing functions, elements, and processes of a business so that decision-makers can proactively manage change.
Importantly, the framework is an enterprise ontology that shows an organization and its information systems from different perspectives. It is not a methodology that can be followed to produce a desired result.
The structure of the Zachman Framework
The Zachman Framework is a two-dimensional classification scheme in the form of a 36-cell matrix, with each cell focusing on one perspective or dimension of the enterprise.
Columns in the matrix represent interrogatives, or questions that are asked of the enterprise:
What (data) – what data or information is required to institute change or carry out a project?How (function) – how does the business work? What are its processes?Where (network) – where does the business operate?Who (people) – who runs the business? What are the business units and how are they structured?When (time) – when does the business perform its processes? What are the schedules and workflows?Why (motivation) – what motivates the business to choose one solution over another? How was the solution arrived at?
Rows in the matrix represent the perspectives of key stakeholders who are involved with change and are ordered according to priority.
Combining all six cells in one row gives a holistic representation of that enterprise according to one (or each) of the following perspectives:
Planner’s view (Scope contexts) – or the purpose and strategy of the business that defines the arena for the other views.Owner’s view (Business concepts) – the structure, functions, and organization of the business. This gives insight into areas that might be automated.Designer’s view (System logic) – how will the system satisfy the informational needs of the business? Ignore solution specific aspects or production constraints.Implementer’s view (Technology physics) – or how the system will be implemented. What role will technology play in creating solutions or alleviating production constraints?Sub-constructor’s view (Component assembles) – what are the specific details that need to be clarified before production can begin? Since this view is more concerned with a part of a system and not the whole, it is sometimes considered less important.User’s view (Operations classes) – or the view of a functioning system within its respective operational environment.
Key takeaways
The Zachman Framework is a formal and structured means of helping large organizations manage change through information sharing.The Zachman Framework is an enterprise ontology. It is not a methodology that offers explicit advice on how change should be managed.The Zachman Framework is a two-dimensional classification scheme represented by a 36-cell matrix. Rows in the matrix represent six key stakeholder perspectives, while columns represent interrogatives that help an enterprise clarify every aspect of its operations.
Main Guides:
Business ModelsBusiness StrategyBusiness DevelopmentDistribution ChannelsMarketing StrategyPlatform Business ModelsNetwork Effects
Main Case Studies:
Amazon Business ModelApple Mission StatementNike Mission StatementAmazon Mission StatementApple Distribution
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Circular Flow Model In A Nutshell

In simplistic terms, the circular flow model describes the mutually beneficial exchange of money between the two most vital parts of an economy: households, firms and how money moves between them. The circular flow model describes money as it moves through various aspects of society in a cyclical process.
Understanding the circular flow model
Households – whose primary function is to supply firms with production factors. The 4 factors of production are land, enterprise, real capital, and human capital and each is supplied by factor owners in exchange for a reward. For example, land is supplied by landowners, human capital is supplied by labor, and capital is supplied by capital owners. Entrepreneurs, who absorb enterprise production risks, combine land, human capital, and real capital.Firms – whose primary function is to supply goods and services to households and other firms. This is achieved by paying for the services of the abovementioned factors.
Money moves between households and firms in a cyclical process whenever a transaction takes place. Transactions are attributed to factor incomes. For example, human capital receives a wage in exchange for labor. Land receives rent and real capital receives a rate of return.
Firms also inject money into the circular flow model through production function.
A simple production function (Q) formula argues that output is a function (f) of factor inputs, where Q = f (L, La, K).
Where:
L = landLa = labor, andK = capital.
Consumer spending in the circular flow model
Another way to think of the circular flow model is by considering income and spending. In this case, money flows in the opposite direction to that of goods and services and production factors.
Here is how it works:
When a household wants to purchase a good or service, money flows toward the product market. Most understand this process as consumer spending.The product market then purchases goods and services from businesses to provide them to households. This generates revenue.To manufacture or provide goods and services for the product market, the business must purchase resources from the resource market. This is a cost to the business.With resources acquired, the business must pay workers and landowners to create goods and services in the form of income. This income is then used by the household to purchase goods and services, thereby restarting the process.
Other key factors in the circular flow model
Supply and demand rarely occur in a vacuum. Indeed, simplistic circular flow models omit other key drivers of economic systems.
These include:
Government – an important player because of its ability to inject and remove money from the flow. Government spending can be directed toward the product market (a new highway) and the resource market (teachers, fuel, or electricity). Governments also remove money from the flow (“leakage”) through sales, income, or property taxes.Financial institutions – banks also contribute to leakage by encouraging households and businesses to save their money with higher interest rates. They can also inject money into the circular flow model in the form of loans and interest rate cuts.Foreign sector – through imports, the foreign sector injects goods but leaks income because goods are manufactured offshore. However, this is at least partially offset by exports, which leak goods but injects income.
Key takeaways
In simple terms, the circular flow model illustrates the cyclical flow of money as it moves between households and firms.The circular flow model of consumer income and spending moves in the opposite direction to the classic model incorporating goods and services and production factors.Many circular flow models omit important players, such as government, banks, and the foreign sector. Each has the ability to inject and remove money or goods and services from the process.
Main Guides:
Business ModelsBusiness StrategyBusiness DevelopmentDistribution ChannelsMarketing StrategyPlatform Business ModelsNetwork Effects
Main Case Studies:
Amazon Business ModelApple Mission StatementNike Mission StatementAmazon Mission StatementApple Distribution
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December 16, 2020
Best Books For Starting A Business In 2021
This is the most advanced guide on business models that you can find. An over 770 pages ebook, covering many case studies, practical analyses, systems, and business models.
Through this master book, you can learn, improve your business acumen, and borrow parts of those models, to test them out to build, grow, or scale a business. Or simply have an advanced understanding of the business world, even if you’re starting from scratch.
Master 100 business models dominating our times. A master guide from FourWeekMBA, in ebook format, to be consumed at your own pace!
In the last years, I’ve been dissecting business models of any type, and companies of any size. At the same time, I’ve been talking, interviewing, and discussing business models and business model innovation with dozens of entrepreneurs and practitioners.
I’ve been doing that for several reasons:
To gain a better understanding of the businesses around me. As I had the option to gain a Ph.D. on the topic or to create my Ph.D. I went for the latter, and in the process, I thought to document it all on FourWeekMBA. Over time I wanted to create the business school I always dreamed of.

100 Strategy Tools
The business world is extremely noisy.
So how do we make sense of it?
The path ahead for better decision-making for many is about using complex models and searching for more data. However, there is also another approach.
That is about reducing complexity, by using strategy tools for your business.
In this book you will find a complete list of tools and frameworks you can use for business, thoroughly explained!

An Entire MBA In Four Weeks
An Entire MBA in Four Weeks brings you thorough a journey to master the business world, as quickly as possible:
Week One: Mastering The Financial GameWeek Two: Business Model EngineeringWeek Three: Mastering The Customers Week Four: Growth And DistributionWeek Five: Take Action With The M.O.V.E. Framework

BizBooks On Demand by FourWeekMBA

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December 15, 2020
Full Stack Vs. DevOps
DevOps is a conjugation of the term “development” and “operations” to emphasize how functions integrate across IT teams. DevOps strategies promote seamless building, testing, and deployment of products. It aims to bridge a gap between development and operations teams to streamline the development altogether. Full-stack development represents the ability to operate and design at both user interface level and back-end level and, therefore, a programmer with the full skill set to perform all functions to bring web apps to life.


Read Next: Full-Stack Development, DevOps, DevSecOps.
Main Guides:
Business ModelsBusiness StrategyMarketing StrategyPlatform Business ModelsNetwork Effects In A Nutshell
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December 14, 2020
Operating Model

The operating model is a visual representation and mapping of the processes and how the organization delivers value and, therefore, how it executes its business model. Therefore, the operating model is how the whole organization is structured around the value chain to build a viable business model.
Porter’s Value Chain
Porter for instance helps visualize the value chain and how the whole organizaiton is structured around it.

Organizational Structure
The organizational structure also determines how the company can deliver value.

Distribution Channels
Also, the distribution side, so how sales and marketing are organized to produce value is critical. Perhaps, an organization selling an enterprise solution will structure its distribution around a qualified salesforce. A company selling a consumer-facing product will structure its organization more toward marketing instead.

Marketing Mix
The various marketing channels the company will use to build its brand, and sell its product will also determine the way the operating model delivers value.

Financial Structure
And accordingly the financial model will also determine how the company acquires the financial resources for the operating model, and therefore build a viable business model.

Main Guides:
Business ModelsBusiness StrategyMarketing StrategyPlatform Business ModelsNetwork Effects In A Nutshell
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December 13, 2020
Copywriting vs. Content Marketing
Copywriting has the precise scope of writing text to enable users/potential customers to take a certain action. On the other hand, content marketing usually has a broader scope from the top of the funnel (branding and awareness) to the funnel’s middle and bottom (actions and conversions). Therefore, the primary difference is on the scope: copywriting looks at persuading potential customers to take action, and content marketing can be used for branding or reach.


Read Next: Copywriting, Content Marketing, Marketing Mix, Distribution Channels.
Main Guides:
Business ModelsBusiness StrategyMarketing StrategyPlatform Business ModelsNetwork Effects In A Nutshell
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