Why and How Organizations Around the World Apply the Business Model Canvas

The roots of the Business Model Canvas lie in a PhD dissertation that started in 2000 and wasintroduced in Business Model Canvas . Today its success goes far beyond our wildest imagination. Strategyzer spent a year researching why the Business Model Canvas is so popular and how organizations apply it. We surveyed over 1,300 Canvas users and conducted 35 interviews with individuals in FT Global 500/Fortune 500 corporations, consultants, entrepreneurs, and academics. Our findings and some Business Model Canvas best practices are summarized in a beautiful research report. 

A Language for Strategy and Innovation: How the Business Model Canvas Creates Value for its Users: 

The Business Model Canvas has been downloaded more than 5,000,000 times on our website. We asked survey respondents to highlight how the Business Model Canvas creates value for them. The main contributions lie in providing a shared language, leading to better strategic conversations and better ideas on the table.

How the Business Model Canvas creates value for its users 

Seduction of the Canvas:  Why Users Decide to Adopt the Canvas

Canvas users appreciate the visual, practical, and intuitive aspects of the Business Model Canvas most, leading to better group discussions. We learned that the Canvas is particularly valued in cross-functional teams and especially among users in non-business functions (IT, engineers, scientists, etc.).

How adopters find value in the Business Model Canvas in a few quotes.

Putting the Canvas to Work: How Does the Canvas Help?

Users put the Canvas to work in very different areas of their organizations. The majority of our surveyed users apply the Business Model Canvas to develop entirely new businesses, launch new products and services, or revamp their existing business model and strategy. Applications span from strategic reorientation at the corporate level, all the way to better understanding of B2B clients and on-boarding senior executives and new employees.

Reasons for using the Business Model Canvas

Disrupting the Strategic Plan

An increasing number of users apply the Business Model Canvas to describe current and future strategy. A Google Trend analysis shows how the traditional strategic plan is losing popularity, while the Canvas is gaining popularity. The latter was coined in 2009, while the former has a much longer track record. 

A Google Trend analysis of the keywords 'Strategic Plan" vs. "Business Model Canvas"

Teaching the Canvas Globally

The Business Model Canvas is also widely used by academics. Top ranked business schools around the world like Stanford, Harvard or IESE are adopting the Business Model Canvas  in their class rooms. Students are learning how to apply the Canvas in strategy and innovation in leading MBA and Executive programs, and they are bringing this cutting-edge knowledge back to their organizations.

We're just getting started. Strategyzer aspires to create a whole new generation of business tools that change the way organizations do strategy and innovation. Accompany us on this exciting journey of transformation! 

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