Isolde and Emanuel are in the market of genetic research machines, where Isolde’s company Siiquent targets the “Stuff machines use”, while Emanuel’s company Teomik targets the machines themselves. This worked in the past, as Siiquent’s machines were too costly for all but the biggest labs to purchase, so they pivoted towards making a loss on the machines, to then profit on the “biological and chemical compounds, test kits, and other consumables” that the machines need to complete the research. On the other hand, Teomik’s machines derived from a long history in the field, so they were able to acquire patents to protect their devices, and sell them to labs that needed them to do research at any cost necessary.
Both companies preferred to continue their money-making flexibly, since by staying flexible, they could cater to their customer’s specific needs and complaints, adjusting features and costs, allowing them to keep hold of these customers in the long term. On the other hand, as these companies start encroaching on each other’s markets, meaning that for the overarching company, there was no sense of unity, and customers had the possibility of being confused. Imposing a single revenue model would fix this, as they would either focus on machines, or the stuff that feeds the machines, meaning that they could compete with the rest of the market as a united front.
As a PM I would first conduct analysis on the money/customers we are losing by competing internally, and present this to both parties. Next, I would conduct analysis on the potential money we could be making by making certain adjustments that could satisfy both parties – for example combining product lines. After implementing these changes, I would come back to the table, and redo the analysis for how the businesses are performing, and adjust the business model from there.
