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Recently, i posted a question on Quora. Initially meant to be a question i was searching on mobile which then ended up a question I posted to the community. In true knowledge sharing fashion, I received a reply on a topic I am definitely curious about.

How can we engage active users within an organisation as communities, like Quora, to participate in the knowledge sharing process?

Learning by sharing

The prospects of this sharing economy excites me in which the value in which knowledge is shared without any form of barter but for the benefit of a community. I was curious to look at the need for business model innovation to bring a case for change if necessary. Below is a great reply from Philip William on Quora.

When do organisations need to redesign the business model?

There are 5 major triggers that would cause a business to change their business model.

The obvious first one is: when the competition changes the game. The most obvious miss that everyone’s talking about these days is Blockbuster missing the Netflix train. Netflix wasn’t a surprise. The idea wasn’t a surprise. In fact the Steve Case was applauded for his acquisition of TimeWarner when he was running AOL because many thought that the internet company would somehow be able to stream the Warner Bros. library of movie content.

Second: When general market conditions change. Typewriters didn’t go out of fashion until the 90's. But Watson moved IBM into adding machines to gain sales 60 years earlier when Social Security was created and to keep the company alive during the Great Depression. IBM needed another source or revenue to compensate for the overall economic problems of the time.

Third: When your clients wants and needs change. Think of the change that phone companies went through between 1990 and 2005. As consumers started carrying cell phones and many discontinued their land lines at home this forced the phone companies to change their business models. They now provide many different services to your home: phone, internet, and television.

Fourth: During the early years of a startup when you’re still trying to figure out the right product/service mix and really nail your market. Over the last 5 years over 90% of Inc500 CEO’s each year have responded that their company has a different business model than when it was launched.

Fifth: When you are looking for new ways to grow your business. This can be by serving markets, changing your offering, or integrating vertically or horizontally. An example of this would be Ford owning Avis Rent-a-Car (I’m not sure if they still do, but they once did).

Companies really have to keep their eyes and ears open. Attend industry conferences for your own industy, and sometimes for industries that can be substitutes. Benchmarking your business annually is another way to spot trends in your industry that could be telegraphing change. Survey your clients and actually and absorb what they are saying. Customers can be a great source of ideas for change.

http://www.quora.com/When-do-organizations-need-to-redesign-the-business-model