Business Modeling Courses
Self-paced, instant access to the most practical, powerful models possible
Transform performance with living business models
Developed and proved with top strategy consultants and corporations over 20 years
No other "business models" can do what these can do
Can be applied at any level, for any one-time issue or continuing plan
Less work - not more - to make more reliable and powerful decisions and plans
Learn a reliable, rigorous process and method to build working, quantified simulations, fast.
Why do we need these models?
Everyone talks about "Business Models", but most popular frameworks are just descriptive - little more than abstract statues! We need models that work, doing what the real-world data says is actually happening, showing how the future may play out, and then testing how your plans might improve things. Dynamic, “living” business models simulate reality.
Our Dynamic Business Models are in a totally different league:
- They are fully quantified - every element is a real-world item with values that can be measured or estimated.
- They show how those elements depend on each other (if you know values for A and B, you can work out the value of C) - a DBM truly gives the joined-up-view you always wanted.
- They show how everything changes over time - watch the model play out the entire plan or issue over any time-scale you choose, under any scenario or strategy.
Reviews for our courses
"I have applied these models in business units at Sun Microsystems and Microsoft. The resulting performance speaks for itself - it is a key tool for senior managers" John Kapson, Managing Consultant, Oracle
"We can so easily internalize these ideas - the model almost had a mind of its own, changing my understanding of our challenge completely." Stephen Green: Director - Continental Mills
"The course really exceeded my expectation, the material is very powerful, and provides rich and deep concepts."
Ahmad Waleed: Strategy Director - ELM, Saudi Arabia
"This great course provided just what we need to explore scenarios for competition in our sector and test our strategies." Kevin Boettcher: Director, Emerging Business - Vertex, Inc
How can these models be possible?
Few people believe we can simulate the performance of a real business, but our courses not only show that it is possible, they give you the skills to actually do it!
Any enterprise is a “machine” designed to produce the products, services and other outputs needed by the customers or communities it aims to serve – and of course, cash-flow in commercial cases.
If the enterprise is a machine we designed, then we can surely replicate that machine in software – how its elements are growing or declining (customers, staff, products and services, capacity …); how they work together as a working system; where and how we control each part of the system, and so on.
“But what about the people!?” you ask. Well, they too are part of the machine, and though their behaviour is not totally fixed, it is well-enough understood and reliable to be captured in the model of that machine. (If this was not true, then we could never have any confidence in anything we try to do - we would never know what customers or staff might do next!)
“How can we know the model is OK?” Any model is an approximation of the real world, but its behaviour (not just its of its outputs but of all its elements) matches what we see in reality, we can be pretty confident it is a good approximation. See more at What is a Dynamic Business Model?
A dynamic business model can be close to a "digital twin" of your enterprise, your plan or your issue - mimicking with uncanny realism how the real world plays out.
Choose your level
Essentials
Selected classes from the Core classes as an introduction to our teaching method and materials. If you decide to then progress to the full CORE course we refund the cost of this course.
Core classes
Four essential classes that provide the fundamentals required to get to a reliable working model with the least effort, and become skilled in using most features of the powerful Silico modelling software
Extension classes
Taken together with the Core Course, these SIX Extensions classes complete your reference library of instructional material on how to build dynamic business models. Classes may also be purchase spparately.
Resources for Teachers and trainers
We make our courses available free of charge for academic faculty and at a discount for corporate trainers - more information here
Who is this course for?
Business leaders Some heads of marketing, R&D, HR - even some CEOs, feel it is so important to get a grip on the quality of their business that they invest effort in modelling it themselves - even a top level appreciation of the model will aid your thinking.
Analysts and accountants. Every analyst supporting a business or functional leader should know how to model the quality of their organisation's resources, and understand how they are changing through time so they can advise leaders on what needs to be done.
Consultants. These models are so powerful that clients will be blown away by the value you bring to their business. It's faster and easier than using spreadsheets and less prone to error. The approach used provides a valuable addition to a consultants toolbox.
Business students (and teachers*) The mechanisms in this course are a critical element of how business works - so understanding them will give you an important additional method for approaching strategic questions - and employers will really value this skill.
* Teachers - we can provide materials from our courses for you to use in your classes - contact us for information. Please do let us know where you teach and approximate student numbers in addition to any questions or comments you have.
What can I use these models for?
First, we can model any kind of organisation – new ventures, larger firms, even multi-business companies. But we are not limited to business cases - non-profit organisations follow the same machine-principles, as do Universities, health-care systems, Government services or any other case.
Or we can go in the other direction and model just a part of the organisation – how marketing wins customers and sales, how staffing develops, how service is delivered or products are developed.
And we can model any issue that arises, whether a small problem like fixing service quality or too-high staff turnover, or much bigger challenges like acquiring another company or entering a new market. Or we can model any continuing plan for the organisation, a function or team.
Whatever your purpose, a living business model allows you to:
… design the system so it is capable of performing well
… test its performance under any range of uncertainties or strategic choices
… then manage that performance continually, as events unfold
The Silico software we use enables anyone to build models that match the system's structure and mimic its behaviour with uncanny realism - and we provide an easy-to-follow guide on how to use it - if you can use Excel, this is easier!
Why use these models - and when?
Whether launching a new business, tackling a problem or opportunity, or planning for the longer term, surely you would simulate what could happen, just like with other complicated things we do. This lets us:
Design what we might do before we risk serious cash and effort
Test those plans against all kinds of uncertainties (Would you rather experiment with the real world, using real money and people!?)
What is the alternative?
Spreadsheets could theoretically calculate-out everything in a business, but no human could reliably capture a living business system with only rows and columns of numbers to work with.
Balanced scorecards transformed business control by looking beyond the financials! But they do not calculate-out what causes what across the business "machine", and they leave out key issues - like competition! There is no better BSC than a good DBM!
KPI systems often try to be more comprehensive than BSCs, but they often go too far, including every indicator and ratio anyone thinks important. There is no better KPI system than a good DBM!
Business-model canvas and tools like Strategyzer or Leanstack share the same limitations as balanced scorecards and spreadsheets.
How long does it take?
In total, these courses comprise a reference library of instructional material on how to build dynamic business models - so the classes are substantial. But you do not need to slog through everything in order from start to end. We suggest key lessons to focus on first in each class, which may take a half-day per class.
You can then come back to fill in important extra principles and skills. That could be another ½ to 1 day, depending on how deeply you want to get into each lesson and practice it on your own cases – all time that you can claim as self-directed CPD (continuous professional development).
Then, of course, you can spend any time you want on consolidating your skills and following our detailed guidance on how to apply the modelling to your own case and issues.
Some comments on our courses
"I’ve completed the entire Strategy Dynamics course and started the Business Modelling course. These are fantastic - so great that we are looking to hire people with these skills. Thanks!"
Bob Lamb: Founder & CEO, Foundation for Inclusion
"I want to personally thank you for this great course. It has been the most exciting I have taken. I will definitely do this type of work for my clients at the agency."
Esteban Ribero: VP Strategy - Leo Burnett/Lapiz
"I really enjoyed this class - it has fundamentally changed the way I think about analyzing issues concerning our company’s future. I see the power of the approach and plan to use the technique on issues we are facing."
Mark Holman: Manager, Regional Coordination at PJM Interconnection
Video: Former CEO Rod Brown explains how a dynamic business model helped test, finance and manage "Opun" an ambitious new business which was subsequently purchased by the John Lewis Partnership.
Teaching method
Video slide-shows explain each principle, and demonstrate each stage of the model-building process with familiar examples.
Follow along and build your own version of the example model. Completed models are provided, both to check your own, and as a useful resource.
We provide more example models to illustrate key points - and these too provide a start for your own models.
We also suggest how to apply the approach to your own cases.
All courses include
- Comprehensive video lectures with PDF handouts
- Easily accessible models; save to your own account
- Do it yourself: suggestions for applying to own case
- Discussion board for specific class help
- Community discussion board
- Instant access, no expiry
Your instructor: Kim Warren
Developer of the Strategy Dynamics approach
Kim is author of the prize-winning Competitive Strategy Dynamics (Wiley, 2002), a major strategy textbook Strategic Management Dynamics (Wiley, 2008), and a summary e-book now widely used in MBA and executive teaching – Strategy Dynamics Essentials (Kindle, 2011). He is also co-founder of Strategy Dynamics Ltd, which publishes "serious games" and online courses exploiting the user-friendly modelling application, Silico.