Seizing the White Space
Business Model Innovation for Growth and Renewal
By: Mark W. Johnson
Published: February 22, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 240pp
ISBN-13: 9781422124819
ISBN-10: 1422124819
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
"The term white space has been used in business parlance to mean uncharted territory or an underserved market", writes strategic innovation thought leader and co-founder and Chairman of Innosight, Mark W. Johnson, in his visionary and business transformational book Seizing the White Space: Business Model Innovation for Growth and Renewal. The author goes beyond the standard concept of white space, and presents a convincing case that white space goes beyond the basic definition, to include activities outside of a company's core business model and its adjacencies, requiring an entirely new business model.
Mark W. Johnson understands that white space is difficult to define. Where white space may represent available opportunities outside of one company's area, those same opportunities may represent the core business for another organization. In the case of a company considering entering a white space, there is the challenge of risk. For many organizations, the risk of failure is considered too great, and many potential new products and markets are missed as a result. The compromise position, taken by many enterprises, is to enter into related markets, adjacent to their core product line. While potentially profitable, the adjacent market doesn't represent a transformation of the business model in a fundamental way, leaving the company vulnerable to more innovative competitors.
Mark W. Johnson (photo left) recognizes that a risk averse business strategy contains different, and often unaddressed risks of its own. Dependence on the current business model may not be sustainable over the longer term. As new competitors, improved products, and more efficient business models enter the marketplace, current strategies, products, and business models can become obsolete. To counter this dangerous complacency, the author proposes the concept of business model innovation where white space can be exploited on three different levels, to enhance innovation while controlling risk factors.
The three levels include:
* The white space within: Transforming existing markets
* The white space beyond: Creating new markets
* The white space between: Dealing with industry discontinuity
For me, the power of the book is how Mark W. Johnson addresses the challenge of innovation, and redefines white space, in a holistic manner that transforms business models to create sustainable growth. The author looks beyond the standard application of white space to create a fresh vision of organizational models as generators of opportunities. To achieve the necessary organizational transformation, Mark W. Johnson presents a repeatable process for reexamining the current business model to discover white space on three different levels. The new process provides for unlimited innovation and growth potential, that in turn spur additional adjacencies, and opportunities to develop and exploit further white space innovation. The risk factor is reduced, through the development of a workable framework and innovation process, turning white space into unlimited potential markets and opportunities.
I highly recommend the ground breaking and thought provoking book Seizing the White Space: Business Model Innovation for Growth and Renewal by Mark W. Johnson, to anyone seeking a fresh and dynamic model for exploiting the opportunities presented by a more comprehensive approach to white space. The author describes the concept of white space as a continuum, rather than a static entity. As a result, potential for creating new products and markets exist everywhere along that larger and redefined business model.
Read the essential guide Seizing the White Space: Business Model Innovation for Growth and Renewal by Mark W. Johnson, and put the concept of a repeatable innovation process to work for your organization. The process creates unlimited areas for business model transformation, for ensuring sustainable company growth and renewal, while reducing the risk of complacency.
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