Isolde’s business, Siiquent, targets hospitals and diagnostic labs conducting gene-based diagnostics. In the early days, due to budgetary constraints, these institutions were unable to purchase Siiquent’s costly procedures and equipment, so instead, Siiquent sells them diagnostic tools for less and makes its profits from biological and chemical compounds, test kits, and other consumables.
Emanuel’s business, Teomik, targets research labs and universities. These institutions conduct genetic studies and purchase patented research instruments from Teomik. The business model relies on selling expensive machines used for genetic research at high prices that these research-focused institutions are willing to pay.
“Imposing the structure of a single revenue model” could allow the joint company to take advantage of internal synergies such as customer service. Also, the two markets began converging, as diagnostic lab customers of Siiquent began pursuing the sort of research that Teomik’s customers conducted. So, to avoid the two businesses from competing with each other, unifying their sales approaches and defining a clear strategy could help with this internal sense of competition. On the other hand, as expressed by Emanual and Isolde, imposing a single revenue model would make it difficult for the businesses to continue their reactive, flexible approach to serving their markets and earning revenue. This has been regarded as a great competitive advantage and what has allowed them to serve their customers’ specific needs.
“Letting the company continue on its flexible way” would allow the company to proceed as it has been. Innovating and adapting to customer demands and competitive pressures. Customer loyalty and retention has been built up by the company’s ability to respond to customer needs. On the other hand, a single revenue model could allow issues of internal competition to persist. Possible synergies that could boost scale and efficiency would be unrealized and the waste that resulted from the pay-per-test innovation would go on.
As a star product manager tasked with mediating the interaction between the department heads, I would ask each to define their division’s strengths as well as their pain points or challenges. I would also ask them to define their objectives and how they hope to achieve them. Once these were identified, I would work with Isolde and Emanuel to match up their goals and strategies, paving the way for solutions that could help the divisions achieve individual goals as a merged entity. I would conduct analysis to quantify or estimate the benefits of a more unified business model in order to demonstrate the positive impact of a merged strategy. Rather than convincing the department heads to take the risk of permanently changing the way they carry out business, I would propose testing out new approaches with a small number of customers at first. I would also suggest involving employee representatives in strategic discussions, as allowing employee feedback to shape strategy is important to both heads.
