Which markets do Isolde and Emanuel target respectively? How do their respective business/revenue models align with their markets?
Isolde’s market is hospitals and diagnostics labs, small and large. Since she targets both large and small hospitals/labs and mentioned that even the larger ones don’t have budgets to support excessive spending, her business model of focusing on test kits and consumables aligns with the market. Emanuel’s market is research labs and universities focused on research. Research tends to get a lot more funding, so their business model of focusing on patent-protected, high-end medical devices aligns with this market which is willing and able to spend this kind of money.
What are the pros and perils of “imposing the structure of a single revenue model” vs. “letting [the company] continue on its flexible way”?
A pro of imposing the structure of a single revenue model is that its much easier to explain to offerings to customers without “leaving potential
buyers confused” by different packages and prices. However, a peril of the single revenue model, as passionately espoused by both Isolde and Emanuel, is that flexibility leads to innovation. Isolde gives the example of their “pay-per-test innovation” which was only born out of response to customer complaints. A pro of continuing on the flexible path is this flexibility and adaptability that allows both to “keep up with a dynamic marketplace.”
Pretend that the CEO has decided the department heads must merge their divisions together. As a star PM assigned to mediate this interaction between department heads, how would you scaffold the discussion to ensure a fair merging process?
This is a hard question… I would first try to get both teams aligned on common goals that would benefit the entire company. Since each department head is attached to their original company and proud of its own history, it would be easy for these conversations to devolve into “how much of my company culture/strategy can I preserve?” instead of “what’s the best way to merge two great companies into a better, more successful company?” From there, we could discuss what each side brings to the table in terms of experience and success in achieving that goal and see how we can pull from both sides to create a fair merge.
