Stefan Reitbauer

Redesigning business networks: reference process, network and service map

Driven by factors like globalization, increased competition, and declining customer loyalty, the financial industry is facing a structural transformation. Operating in a changing market, the (re)design of business models and thus also the business network is a mayor challenge for financial institutions. One way of succeeding in this endeavor is to focus on core competencies. Banks therefore adjust their business models in order to reduce their degree of vertical integration by outsourcing complementary activities. This business redesign requires an integrated approach to align the future business model with the involved processes and information systems while also taking the surrounding conditions of the company and its market into account. Present approaches show a restricted usability as they focus either on strategic aspects or process-efficiency only. Moreover, these procedures often lack methodological support so that they are rarely applicable in practice. This paper introduces an integrated approach of business network redesign for the financial industry that covers the layers strategy, process and systems. The methodology considers the necessity for a common understanding of the underlying processes when reshaping the business model / network. Since research is still in progress, this paper concentrates on the basic instruments which are used to describe a distinct business environment: a reference network and a reference service map both derived from a reference process. As the research focuses on the financial services sector, the paper exemplifies these reference models for the investment process from a banks point of view. Finally, the instruments are applied to a case study to verify their content and examine their applicability.

Vernetzungsmodelle für Banken

Als eine mogliche Reaktion auf Veranderungen in ihrer Unternehmensumwelt, z.B. aufgrund von Globalisierung, regulatorischen Neuerungen, verandertem Kundenverhalten sowie moderner Kommunikations- und Informationstechnologien, nutzen Unternehmen aller Branchen in ihren Geschaftsmodellen verstarkt die Gesetze der vernetzten Wirtschaft [Kagermann/Osterle 2006, 169f]. Grundsatzlich sind sowohl die Idee der Vernetzung wie auch die haufig bemuhten Analogien zu anderen Branchen wie beispielsweise zur Automobil- oder Elektronikindustrie nicht neu. Was bis anhin jedoch fehlt, sind Modelle, welche die konkreten Ausgestaltungsmoglichkeiten der Wertschopfungskette fur Finanzdienstleister strukturieren und so die Desintegration im Finanzsektor unterstutzen.

Instruments for an Integrated Business Network Redesign in the Financial Industry

Driven by factors like globalization, increased competition and declining customer loyalty the financial industry is facing a structural transformation. To focus on core competencies banks adjust their business models and reduce their degree of vertical integration by sourcing complementary activities. Operating in a changing market with regards to sourcing strategies, the (re)design of business model and thus also the business network is a main challenge for the financial institutions. This research paper introduces an integrated approach of business network redesign (BNR) for the financial industry that not only covers all three layers of business engineering – business model, process model and information systems – but also provides extensive methodological support. Present approaches either only partially cover these layers and thus show a restricted usability or lack methodological support so that they are merely applicable in practice. Since the research is still in progress, this paper concentrates on the core instruments used in the process of BNR. Thereby the redesign is discussed for the example of the investment process and thus presents the following fundamentals: a reference network, a reference process and a reference service map for investments.