Designing

Operating
Models
A three day residential workshop
to help design better target
operating models

(Typically runs January, April & September)

Designing Operating Models
An operating model is a visualisation (a model) of the operations of an
organisation in a form that helps managers with all the detailed design
decisions that need to be made before the organisation can start
operating. There are five categories of design decisions that are relevant
(the PILOS framework):

P rocesses and Equipment - the work of the organisation

I nformation Technology - the systems needed to support the work
L ocations and Properties – the locations and buildings that house the work
O rganisation and People – the people who do the work, their culture, structure, etc
S uppliers and Partners – the sourcing agreements needed to support the work

A target operating model defines how the organisation will operate in the future. It is developed
from an understanding of the organisation's strategy and business model.

INVESTORS

RETURN TO BUSINESS
INVESTORS
MODEL

OPERATING
MODEL
Process and Equipment
STRATEGY Information Technology OFFER CUSTOMERS
Locations and Properties
Organisation and People
Suppliers and Partners

“Very high energy and extremely good value”

Eric Smith, General Manager Operations, CalMac Ferries Ltd.
About the workshop
Before an organisation can operate managers must make many decisions. What to insource
and what to outsource? Where to locate? Who to hire and what terms of employment to
offer? What information systems to set up? These decisions are made at different points
in time by different functional leaders. This workshop is about how to design all of these
decisions so that they align with each other and with the strategy.

“Full of variety, interactive learning and 'real world' case studies”

(Nick Lund-Conlon, Strategic Development Manager, MGM Advantage)

Who should attend?

You will have a role that involves linking strategy to operations or operations to strategy.
„ 

You may be in a planning or strategy team and need to ground your business plans.
„ 

You may be in an operations team trying to interpret strategy for your area.
„ 

You may be a business architect or enterprise architect attached to an IT team.

„ 

You may be a business partner or strategist in HR or IT or Finance.

„ 

You may be a member of a Lean or Business Improvement or Operational Excellence team.

„ 

You may be part of a group working on Transformation or Project Management.

„ 

Finally you may be a consultant in any of these areas.

„ 

Whichever of these roles you have, you want to ensure that your operating model
is efficient, innovative and aligned with your business strategy. You want to better
understand the operating model of your business, and have more influence over the
major choices made.

You may have been involved in incremental improvements, and are now looking for
more transformational improvements. You may know how to deliver change projects,
and now want to help decide which projects to initiate. You may be an expert in Lean
methodologies, and now want to be more strategic in the changes you make. You may
be doing design work for IT or HR or Finance, but want to contribute to the broader
business design. Importantly you will feel that you have something to contribute as
well as something to learn.

“A thoroughly well thought out “Very good grounding. Presented

course. Content provided the right numerous tools to develop an OM
level of tools and approaches to from scratch or transform an
Operating Design” existing one”
Merryn Horneman, Nick Ouston,
Principle Management Consultant (Pcubed) Management Information Manager, EDF
Learning Objectives Expected timetable
Operating model design is a developing
field. Some frameworks and tools are well Day 1
established, but some are still evolving. We
will discuss the well-established tools and 09.00 Agenda and objectives
explore new ones. You will learn about:
09.15 What is an operating model?
„„ The difference between a business model
and an operating model 09.45 A worked example from PA
„„ The importance of taking a stakeholder view 10.45 Meat and potatoes case
„„ The design process, in particular how to turn
business strategy into good design principles 11.30 Linking strategy and operating model
„„ The levels of design from level 1 (design
principles) to level 5 (implementation) 14.00 An operating model as a value chain
„„ Tools for documenting business strategy in a 15.00 An operating model as an
way that is helpful for operating model design organisational model
„„ Design thinking, in particular the benefits of
drawings and rough sketches 16.00 Design thinking and visualisation
„„ The Dupont Model, for linking operating 17.30 End of day one
model choices to financial outcomes
„„ Tools, such as IDEA and ASIAA, for
challenging the status quo and encouraging Day 2
innovation
08.30 Discuss visualisation examples from
„„ Frameworks for thinking about technology participants
„„ Tools for checking the robustness of new
designs, particularly organisation structure 09.30 The process of design and design
and relationships with suppliers and principles
business partners.
10.30 Challenging an operating model with
Since this is a workshop, we will all be learning IDEA
together. Hence, your learning will depend, in
part, on the other participants. 11.30 Improving an operating model with
technology
Learning Approach 13.30 Improving supplier relationships
The workshop has three parts to it: 14.45 Challenging an operating model with
„„ Six hours of structured preparation: four SPACI
hours to read assigned articles (we also offer
an online test that helps participants confirm 17.00 Planning and project management
that they have understood the reading); two
hours to prepare a case study and participate 17.15 End of day two
in an online discussion of the case (this helps
participants orient their thinking to the topics
of the workshop) Day 3
„„ Three-day residential workshop 08.30 Review
„„ PA Consulting and Ashridge will continue to 09.00 Major case study with Mikel Gutierrez
share their learning in this area with regular
updates on insights into business design - 16.00 Review and close by 16.15
(visit ashridgeonoperatingmodels.com or
follow @operatingmodels or @marklancelott)
and with occasional conference calls to
share experience.
Faculty
Andrew Campbell
Andrew Campbell is a Director of Ashridge Strategic Management Centre and a
world-renowed expert on corporate strategy and organisation. He has authored 10
books on strategy and organisation issues, published numerous articles including
six in the Harvard Business Review and spoken at many conferences. He leads
research projects, directs management courses and works with client companies.

Mikel Gutierrez
Mikel Gutiérrez is ex-CEO of Asebal, a company producing galvanized steel for road
and solar businesses. He took it from being a domestic, almost bankrupt, Spanish
company to a strong business, selling in more than 20 countries. Previously he
was General Manager of Ormazabal Germany and Director of Business Process
Improvement of the parent company Ormazabal Group, a producer of equipment
for the power industry. He has worked in the aerospace, automative, energy, road
construction and solar sectors across Europe and the USA.

Mark Lancelott
Mark Lancelott is the Managing Consultant of PA Consulting’s Business
Transformation Group. He specialises in business design, helping businesses define,
design and deliver the business and IT architecture to execute strategy. He has
worked with clients across many sectors throughout Europe. Before joining PA,
Mark spent eight years with Barclays in IT, strategy, consulting and service
design roles.

“Worked examples bring the “Very stimulating, will help me a lot

theory to life. Andrew and Mark back at work”
were great course tutors.” Sardip Sandhu, Strategy and Transformation Lead,
Steve Curry, Boots Company Plc
Assistant Director of Operations, Health Board

Booking information
The three day workshop is residential at Ashridge Business School,
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire HP4 1NS; one hour from London airports.

The course typically runs in For enquiries concerning bookings:

January, April and September Tel: +44 (0)20 7681 6422
For this year's dates please see our website Email: Ravinder.lidder@ashridge.hult.edu
www.ashridge.org.uk/dom
The fee, including two nights accommodation:
£2,950 (+VAT)
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Visit www.ashridge.org.uk/dom
or contact Ravinder Lidder
Ashridge Strategic Management Centre
Tel: +44 (0)20 7681 6422
Email: Ravinder.lidder@ashridge.hult.edu
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