Study the Business Big Picture [Workshop]
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Program
3 Pages
Workshop Setup
Age 13+, 10-40 Students
(Flexible and Adaptive: The workshop’s duration and the extent of theory exploration can be tailored to the group’s size and the previous business experience of the average participant.)
Overview
Student Profile
Manager, Director (Low to Mid Level, Minimum 3 Years of Experience)
Goals
Provide a holistic understanding of how businesses and economies evolve over long periods of time;
Provide a deep understanding of the two fundamental forces that drive businesses and economies: Commoditization and Innovation;
Provide a deeper understanding of human behavior, through a theory of needs and value;
Provide a tool for sharpening one’s abstract and systems thinking.
Benefits to the Employer
Develop a workforce that better understands the company and its environment, in a broader context;
Develop an aggregate capability of better understanding the customer;
Develop a stronger foundation for collaboration and thus innovation.
Workshop Structure
7 Segments / 11 Sessions (Topics)
The final session consists of a Project.
Setting
In-Class Participation 20 Students / Class
Materials per Student
One copy of SLIDE DECK (To Be Developed based on the Resources listed in the Structure section below.)
One copy of Board Game OFMOS (Details about the game can be accessed at ofmos.com.)
Instructors
Trainer and Assistant
Last Updated
December 2018 (First draft / Prototype)
Structure
Session 1 (~60 minutes)
Content
Ask the students to form teams of two.
Ask the students in each team to play the board game OFMOS against each other.
The winner of the match will be the team lead in the final Project.
Objective
Provide a quick and fun introduction to the “big picture mechanics” of the business world.
Content Sources
Cristian Mitreanu, Board Game OFMOS
Cristian Mitreanu, OFMOS Game Instructions, October 2018
Break
Session 2 (~20 minutes)
Content
Why are we here? Explain the workshop’s goal of providing a deeper understanding of how businesses and economies evolve over time.
Explain the How. Explain that theories are the only way to understand complex phenomena. Theories are like maps or shortcuts.
Discussion on the notion of fundamental, and the value of examples in business learning.
Objective
Detail the goals and the structure of the workshop.
Identify and address skeptics and skepticism about the notion of theory. In essence, “unfreeze” old worldviews and prepare the students for new perspectives.
Content Sources
Clayton M. Christensen and Michael E. Raynor, Why Hard-Nosed Executives Should Care About Management Theory, Harvard Business Review, September 2003
Cristian Mitreanu, Drucker + Big Data = A Fundamental Theory of Business?, LinkedIn, August 2014
Cristian Mitreanu, The Example Dilemma in Business, LinkedIn, July 2014
Session 3 (~30 minutes)
Content
Present the current state of affairs in the business and economic world.
Include a brief history of business and economic thought, statistics about business and economy, and the issues plaguing the traditional business schools.
Objective
Make the point that our understanding of the world around us changes over time.
In business, in particular, we have not made much progress over the past few decades.
Content Sources
Cristian Mitreanu, Business: Knowledge, Education, and The End of an Era (Part I), LinkedIn, December 2016
Cristian Mitreanu, Business: Knowledge, Education, and The End of an Era (Part II), LinkedIn, February 2017
Cristian Mitreanu, Breaking the Wall of Short-Termism, Falling Walls Conference, September 2018
Cristian Mitreanu, Powerful Quick-Fix for the MBA, Cristian Mitreanu’s Blog, February 2011
Session 4 (~10 minutes)
Content
Review the concept of value as utility (as opposed to monetary value).
Objective
Emphasize the importance of value/utility and prepare the student for a deeper dive into human behavior.
Content Sources
Rory Sutherland, Life Lessons from an Ad Man, TED, July 2009
Break
Session 5 (~60 minutes)
Content
Introduce the new theory of needs and value, and the concept of successful existence.
Cover the importance of thinking about needs as goals.
Discussion on the customer needs in a B2C market as well as a B2B market.
Objective
Provide a view of the human needs as a dynamic structure.
Focus on the process of need generation and not on the need categorization.
Content Sources
Cristian Mitreanu, A Natural Theory of Needs and Value, RedefiningStrategy.com, October 2018
Break / Lunch
Session 6 (~30 minutes)
Content
Introduce the concept of ofmos (offering-market cosmos) and tofmos (total offering-market cosmos).
Review the concepts of market segmentation and business unit.
Present the new worldview, in which businesses and economies are seen as collections of virtual business spaces.
Discussion on the boundaries of the corporation.
Objective
Help the students acquire the abstract perspective on the world.
Content Sources
Cristian Mitreanu, A Natural Theory of Needs and Value, RedefiningStrategy.com, October 2018
Cristian Mitreanu, Spointra and the Secret of Business Success, Apple Books, December 2013
Cristian Mitreanu, Beyond the Fun (A Letter), first draft companion to the book Spointra, May 2013
Cristian Mitreanu, A New Economic Worldview, YouTube, December 2010
Session 7 (~30 minutes)
Content
Present the two fundamental forces that drive businesses and economies: Commoditization and Innovation.
Review the major types of innovation.
Discussion on the notion of disruptive innovation.
Objective
Explain how the two fundamental forces underlie all business activity, as they are both fueled by human nature.
Clarify the different levels of analysis. For example, Michael Porter’s five forces can be explained by Commoditization and Innovation. However, that level of analysis can be useful in certain circumstances.
Content Sources
Cristian Mitreanu, A Natural Theory of Needs and Value, RedefiningStrategy.com, October 2018
Rosanna Garcia and Roger Calantone, A Critical Look at Technological Innovation Typology and Innovativeness Terminology: A Literature Review, The Journal of Product Innovation Management, 2002
Cristian Mitreanu, Deeper Insight Into Disruptive Innovation, RedefiningStrategy.com, June 2008
Break
Session 8 (~30 minutes)
Content
Review the concept of synergy and restructuring through mergers & acquisitions and divestitures.
Discussion on the idea of Alignment, as portrayed in the board game OFMOS.
Objective
Emphasize the importance of “make the sum greater than its parts.”
Content Sources
Cristian Mitreanu, Spointra and the Secret of Business Success, Apple Books, December 2013
Cristian Mitreanu, The Most Important Alignment in Business, The Ofmos Blog, October 2017
Cristian Mitreanu, A Simple Mechanical Model of the Corporation (Game Instructions and Their Deeper Meaning), September 2018
Session 9 (~30 minutes)
Content
Introduce the concepts of Focus and Center, where the Focus represents a company’s strategic intent and the Center represents its emerging way of doing business.
Review the notion of Alignment for a company and for an economy, respectively.
Discussion on what is a good measure of corporate success. What is growth?
Objective
Help the students develop a portfolio perspective (systems thinking) on businesses and economies.
Content Sources
Cristian Mitreanu, Spointra and the Secret of Business Success, Apple Books, December 2013
Break
Session 10 (~30 minutes)
Content
Share some predictions about the future, asking for input from the class.
Discussion on ideas such as CEO-less organizations and Chief Talent Officer.
Objective
Encourage the students to think big and come up with their own predictions about the future.
Shift the general mood toward a more creative atmosphere in preparation for the Project.
Content Sources
Cristian Mitreanu, Ofmos: Why It Matters, The Ofmos Blog, May 2018
Cristian Mitreanu, Ofmos: Why Now, The Ofmos Blog, May 2018
Break
Session 11 (~90 minutes)
Content
Student Project: Have each team create a scenario for the game OFMOS and then present it in front of the class.
Ask for specific information about the type of product each fictional company is selling.
Ask the students to provide details about the Alignment (Synergy) in their particular case.
Let the students vote for the winners.
Objective
Create an opportunity for the students to apply the knowledge that they have accumulated throughout the day.
Content Sources
Cristian Mitreanu, Board Game OFMOS
Cristian Mitreanu, A Simple Mechanical Model of the Corporation (Game Instructions and Their Deeper Meaning), September 2018