The 7 Blocks

 

The 4-Field Approach

Mintzberg defined the "5 Ps" of strategy: Plan, Position, Pattern, Ploy and Perspective. BM differs from business strategy: it focuses less on Plan, Ploy or Perspective. Considering Mintzberg's typology, BM is mostly about "Position" and "Pattern". But the Bm2 framework proposes its own view on those aspects. If "Position" just becomes "Positional" field, Mintzber's "Pattern" turns into "Functional" field and "Behavioral" field when it comes to BM. And the Bm2 framework adds a new "P" to business strategy: "Posture", with the "Postural" field.

Business can then be analyzed, following four different fields: 

 

• The Positional Field: a BM analysis through the Positional Field is like a virtual map describing the organization, the values it manages and the set of actors it deals with.

• The Functional Field: a BM analysis through the Functional Field is like a virtual flowchart presenting the nature and paths of the value streams.

• The Behavioral Field: a BM analysis through the Behavioral Field is like a virtual animation showing the value management modes.

• The Postural Field: a BM analysis through the Postural Field is like a virtual profile depicting the organization’s strategic choices to play its business game.

 

This 4-Field approach is declined at 2 practical levels: Strategic & Tactical.

 

Strategic Level

The Business Activity is analyzed in terms of SCOPE (Positional Field), MATTER (Functional Field), RANGE (Behavioral Field) and MANNER (Postural Field).

These 4 sides of analysis, for the Strategic level of a BM, are obtained respectively by Setting, Specifying, Quantifying and Qualifying the Business Activity.

This level of analysis is presented in the following page: Business Activity (General View). 

 

Tactical Level

The Business System is analyzed in terms of STRUCTURE (Positional Field), MECHANISM (Functional Field) and DYNAMICS (Behavioral Field)

These 3 sides of analysis, for the Tactical level of a BM, are obtained by determining respectively the Actors & Values, the Channels and the Schemes of the Business System.

This level of analysis is presented in the following page: Business System (General View). 

(Note that the Business System is not analyzed with regards to the Postural Field: such a level of abstraction is not relevant in terms of BM, as it would correspond to the level of operational methods)

 

Synthesis

 

At Strategic level, the BM describes the Business Activity in terms of Scope, Matter, Range and Manner, with regard to the 3 Super-Processes.  

At Tactical level, the BM describes the Business System in terms of Structure, Mechanism and Dynamics, with regard to Processes and Transactions.

 

 

Putting It All Together

The Bm2 framework can be synthesized as follows:

 

 

     

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