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Seizing the White Space: Business Model Innovation for Growth and Renewal
Business model innovation is the key to unlocking transformational growth—but few executives know how to apply it to their businesses. In Seizing the White Space, Mark Johnson gives them the playbook.
Leaving the rhetoric to others, Johnson lays out an eminently practical framework that identifies the four fundamental building blocks that make business models work. In a series of in-depth case studies, he goes on to vividly illustrate how companies are using innovative business models to seize their white space and achieve transformational growth by fulfilling unmet customer needs in their current markets; serving entirely new customers and creating new markets; and responding to tectonic shifts in market demand, government policy, and technologies that affect entire industries.
He then lays out a structured process for designing a new model and developing it into a profitable and thriving enterprise, while investigating the vexing and sometimes paradoxical managerial challenges that have commonly thwarted so many companies in their unguided forays into the unknown.
Business model innovators have reshaped entire sectors—including retail, aviation, and media—and redistributed billions of dollars of value. With road-tested frameworks, analytics, and diagnostics, this book gives executives everything they need to reshape their businesses and achieve transformative growth.
Leaving the rhetoric to others, Johnson lays out an eminently practical framework that identifies the four fundamental building blocks that make business models work. In a series of in-depth case studies, he goes on to vividly illustrate how companies are using innovative business models to seize their white space and achieve transformational growth by fulfilling unmet customer needs in their current markets; serving entirely new customers and creating new markets; and responding to tectonic shifts in market demand, government policy, and technologies that affect entire industries.
He then lays out a structured process for designing a new model and developing it into a profitable and thriving enterprise, while investigating the vexing and sometimes paradoxical managerial challenges that have commonly thwarted so many companies in their unguided forays into the unknown.
Business model innovators have reshaped entire sectors—including retail, aviation, and media—and redistributed billions of dollars of value. With road-tested frameworks, analytics, and diagnostics, this book gives executives everything they need to reshape their businesses and achieve transformative growth.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
37 people are currently reading
843 people want to read
About the author
Mark W. Johnson
22 books17 followersMark Johnson is co-founder and Senior Partner of Innosight, an innovation and strategy consulting firm Innosight, which he co-founded with Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen. He has consulted to the Global 1000 and start-up companies in a wide range of industries—including health care, aerospace/defense, enterprise IT, energy, automotive, and consumer packaged goods—and has advised Singapore’s government on innovation and entrepreneurship.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 26, 2017
This book suggests that innovation in a modern business context has less to do with developing new products and services, and more to do with developing new business models. Author Mark Johnson discusses what a business model is and why organizations so often resist new ideas, even ones that have the potential to be highly profitable. He offers some tools for understanding what your organization's current business model is and discusses ways to identify and capitalize on new opportunities that involve business models outside of your company's core competencies or even outside of your organization's comfort zone.
I think this book deals with a very important topic and does a great job of describing it. The "four-box" approach to understanding a business model - customer value proposition, key resources, key processes and profit formula - is very helpful and could be useful even for organizations not looking to innovate. And Johnson's delineation of approaches to taking on new business models and the real-world examples he uses are great.
Unfortunately the style of the book is quite dry. Despite quality content and very good stories from industry, the writing makes this feel like a particularly boring lecture. The graphs and charts are bland and uninviting. Everything is functional, not fun. Which is too bad for a book on innovation. It's almost as if Johnson was a top secret spy who said, "I have this great idea. Now how can I present it in a public forum so that only a few people understand the message?" He then proceeded to make the material as boring as possible, knowing that the average reader would zone out eventually.
I would give the ideas in this book 4 out of 5 stars, but the quality of the writing 2 out of 5 stars. For those who are looking to move their companies or organizations into new markets or who want to chase new opportunities, there is a lot of good material to consider here. You'll just have to slog through some dull writing to dig out those pearls of wisdom.
I think this book deals with a very important topic and does a great job of describing it. The "four-box" approach to understanding a business model - customer value proposition, key resources, key processes and profit formula - is very helpful and could be useful even for organizations not looking to innovate. And Johnson's delineation of approaches to taking on new business models and the real-world examples he uses are great.
Unfortunately the style of the book is quite dry. Despite quality content and very good stories from industry, the writing makes this feel like a particularly boring lecture. The graphs and charts are bland and uninviting. Everything is functional, not fun. Which is too bad for a book on innovation. It's almost as if Johnson was a top secret spy who said, "I have this great idea. Now how can I present it in a public forum so that only a few people understand the message?" He then proceeded to make the material as boring as possible, knowing that the average reader would zone out eventually.
I would give the ideas in this book 4 out of 5 stars, but the quality of the writing 2 out of 5 stars. For those who are looking to move their companies or organizations into new markets or who want to chase new opportunities, there is a lot of good material to consider here. You'll just have to slog through some dull writing to dig out those pearls of wisdom.
January 21, 2018
If you work in an established business, this is for you. Innovation inspiring. Solid platform for building startups within established businesses to "Seize the White Space". Managers should especially read this.
February 2, 2018
It's an interesting book to get different models of innovative business models and rich of good examples, which is the best part to me. Worth a read, but didn't change my life.
December 6, 2020
A good book with many examples of successful and unsuccessful businesses. It had been sitting on my shelf for a number of years, so unfortunately already a bit out of date.
July 11, 2023
Not what I expected but I interpreted the white space to find room for what I was looking for.
March 10, 2015
Great exploration of innovation and how business models influence growth and renewal. The book presents many examples of how to approach new ideas and solutions by focusing on a company's white space or possible "job to do" propositions; giving the customer either a new product or a better way to address an existing need or service. Explains business models in a very concise and understandable manner. Highly recommended.
July 24, 2011
READ MAY 2010
Good treatment about innovative business models. Best quote, to develop customer value, "stop trying to figure out what kinds of products people are trying to buy and instead work out what they are trying to get done in their lives in a given circumstance" (p. 26).
Good treatment about innovative business models. Best quote, to develop customer value, "stop trying to figure out what kinds of products people are trying to buy and instead work out what they are trying to get done in their lives in a given circumstance" (p. 26).
June 19, 2013
Excellent read for anybody interested in business model innovation or learning how to pivot your company into a new space. A bit dry and can get repetitive. Read the first chapter for the overview, and skim the book for examples that seem compelling or relevant.
January 22, 2012
Great book, simple and easy to understand how the business model transforms.
March 29, 2013
A must-read book on business models for knowledge workers who want to be in executive role and entrepreneurs.
April 6, 2014
Goes straight to the point with relevant examples. Nice 4 box model to understand business models.
August 20, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews