Isolde and Emanuel are both specialized in biological research equipment for gene-based diagnosis, but their target markets are slightly different, although they do overlap. Teomik focuses on universities and research labs, while Siiquent focuses more on hospitals and diagnosis labs. Where they really differ is on their way to make money : Siiquent (Isolde’s unit) makes money primarily on the consumables labs need to operate the equipment they sold for a competitive price. On the other hand, Teomik makes most of it’s money on the sell of the equipment itself, and much less on the consumables. Both business models have been flourishing, and at the moment no-one really seems to be able to say which one’s best for this market.
Peter is faced with the choice of either letting the unit operate as is, with multiple business models and a very flexible process for building offers for clients, or enforce a more defined revenue model. Enforcing a more defined revenue model seems to entail creating a conflict between himself and the Isolde, Emanuel, and potentially their employees as well, which might be detrimental for the business. On the other hand, letting things operate without structure makes for more external facing risks, with for instance labs being priced differently for the same service, which would result in client insatisfaction if that were to be known, or even legal issues.
In the case that units had to be merged, what I would do first is try to assess the pros and cons for each business model, by meeting with the sales and customer service teams of both units, and with their main clients’ representative. Then, I’d try to build a project team dedicated to finding the best BM for the merged unit, this would probably include Isolde and Emanuel, but also sales people from both teams, and eventually other important stake holders. Then use this team to build a new, structured BM instead of solely relying on the legacy ones. The most important being to emphasise on creating a new and better one so that nobody feels like they are being left behind.
