Academic research related articles.

I am a Doctor in Business Management!

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Today I am very happy to share with everyone a significant achievement in my life and career: I have obtained a doctorate in Business Management. My thesis, "Understanding Sustainable Transformation: Business Model Adaptation in the Cultural and Creative Industries“, is not only the fruit of my academic work, but also the symbol of a personal journey full of challenges, learning and satisfaction.

Defense of Montserrat Peñarroya's thesisThis path to the doctorate has been a journey of five years of intense dedication. As a mother of three and grandmother of two, I have had to balance my family responsibilities with the demands of academic research, which has not been an easy task. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it additional challenges, but also offered me a unique perspective to observe how companies, both cultural and non-cultural, adapted to the emergency of confinement and the subsequent “new normal”.

Research in Business Model Adaptation

In my research, I have focused on how cultural and creative industries can reshape their business models to not only survive but thrive in a changing environment. The thesis highlights the importance of adapting the business model to improve competitiveness, increase sustainability and strengthen resilience to environmental changes.

My findings show that associations and clusters can play an important role in adapting the business model of cultural companies. These environments can provide companies with a platform to share knowledge, collaborate with other companies, and access resources and opportunities. Being part of an association of peers affects both the perception of entrepreneurs and managers about the benefits of the changes they must make, as well as whether it will be easy or not to implement them. The experience and results of your peers is essential to make the decision to make a change in your companies' business model.

I opted for a doctoral approach based on the compilation of articles, publishing research in specialized scientific journals. Each article was subjected to a rigorous peer review process, validating the quality and relevance of my work.

Defense of Montserrat Peñarroya's thesis

The defense of the thesis

One of the most notable moments of this trip was the defense of the thesis, carried out on December 15 in front of a panel of experts in the Aula Magna of the La Salle Campus Barcelona. It fills me with pride and satisfaction to have received the qualification of Excellent Cum Laude.

For me, obtaining this doctorate is much more than an academic achievement. It represents years of dedication and effort, and symbolizes my passion for research and innovation. This achievement has not only expanded my understanding in my area of ​​study, but has also strengthened my ability to face challenges and make informed decisions in my professional career.

I understand that academic literature can be complex, so during this Christmas season, I will dedicate myself to turning the thesis into a more accessible and enjoyable book. I will share more details about it soon.

Thanks

I want to thank from the bottom of my heart my family, friends, colleagues and especially my tutor, Dr. Francesc Miralles, for their unconditional support throughout this process. I know it sounds cliché... but it's 100% deserved.

Now, with the doctorate in hand, I am going to continue researching, delving into how professional associations and technological clusters influence business decisions.

You will find more information about the research as well as the link to the three articles, here: Research in Business Model Adaptation

If you are interested in my work or have any questions, I invite you to leave a comment or send me an email.

We're going talking.

Kisses.

Or on the contrary, the survival of the company comes before any consideration

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Business Model Adaptation in the Cultural sector

Magazine "Magazine "February 17, 2022

February 17, 2022 The “Journal of Open Innovation” magazine has published my article on how Spanish cultural companies have adapted their business models during and after the crisis caused by COVID-19

February 17, 2022

The objective of the research is to find out how Cultural companies have adapted their business models during the COVID-19 crisis. Knowing more about this adaptation is important to ensure that both the cultural sector in general, and companies in particular, are more resilient in the future and also to know the various adaptation mechanisms they have used.

Magazine "

The objective of the research is to find out how Cultural companies have adapted their business models during the COVID-19 crisis. Knowing more about this adaptation is important to ensure that both the cultural sector in general, and companies in particular, are more resilient in the future and also to know the various adaptation mechanisms they have used. Some companies did not adapt their business models for various reasons: either they did not believe it was necessary and they had enough financial muscle to wait for “the storm to pass”, or their managers had the perception that adaptation was impossible and they prepared themselves to resist or they dedicated themselves to other works.

Some companies did not adapt their business models for various reasons: either they did not believe it was necessary and they had enough financial muscle to wait for “the storm to pass”, or their managers had the perception that adaptation was impossible and they prepared themselves to resist or they dedicated themselves to other works.Some companies did not adapt their business models for various reasons: either they did not believe it was necessary and they had enough financial muscle to wait for “the storm to pass”, or their managers had the perception that adaptation was impossible and they prepared themselves to resist or they dedicated themselves to other works.

Some companies did not adapt their business models for various reasons: either they did not believe it was necessary and they had enough financial muscle to wait for “the storm to pass”, or their managers had the perception that adaptation was impossible and they prepared themselves to resist or they dedicated themselves to other works. The companies that adapted did so in 3 phases, the first being improvised adaptation, in which they had to respond to the emergency with the technical, human and knowledge assets they had at that time, while planning the adaptation to the environment. term.

The companies that adapted did so in 3 phases, the first being improvised adaptation, in which they had to respond to the emergency with the technical, human and knowledge assets they had at that time, while planning the adaptation to the environment. term.The companies that adapted did so in 3 phases, the first being improvised adaptation, in which they had to respond to the emergency with the technical, human and knowledge assets they had at that time, while planning the adaptation to the environment. term.

either their managers had the perception that adaptation was impossible and they prepared to resist or they dedicated themselves to other jobs

To better understand the adaptation of the business models of cultural companies, it is necessary to analyze their ability to improvise in an emergency, their relationship with institutions and organizations that bring their peers together, and their ability to detect the changing needs of their clients and create a medium-term plan to cover them.

To better understand the adaptation of the business models of cultural companies, it is necessary to analyze their ability to improvise in an emergency, their relationship with institutions and organizations that bring their peers together, and their ability to detect the changing needs of their clients and create a medium-term plan to cover them. The “Journal of Open Innovation” magazine has published my article on how Spanish cultural companies have adapted their business models during and after the crisis caused by COVID-19

New research on adapting business models

The research that I am currently carrying out is still on cultural companies, but I am analyzing whether, when an emergency like COVID-19 arises and it is necessary to adapt business models, the sustainability of these models continues to be taken into account… OR on the contrary, the survival of the company comes before any consideration.

The research that I am currently carrying out is still on cultural companies, but I am analyzing whether, when an emergency like COVID-19 arises and it is necessary to adapt business models, the sustainability of these models continues to be taken into account… OR on the contrary, the survival of the company comes before any consideration.

We talk to each other!

Soft Skills essential for Tourism professionals

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This week from Innova Institute de La Salle - URL we have been working on creating a list with the soft skills (or soft skills) necessary for professionals in the tourism industry.

This research is part of a whole series of articles that we are writing about how Covid-19 has affected companies and society.

Last week we mentioned the hard skills that tourism professionals need to overcome the crisis caused by the Covid-19. In this post I presented this article and my participation in a round table organized by UNWTO to help the tourism sector: Hard Skills essential for Tourism professionals.

Let's go to soft skills ...

soft-skills

The original article is not yet published on our blog, but some magazines and newspapers have echoed it and have published it in whole or in part. Here I include some of these publications:

In the magazine El Economista: The key soft skills of tourism professionals for PostCOVID-19

In News and Diaries, they cite the article in The Economist: The key soft skills of tourism professionals for PostCOVID-19

In Today's Economy they have also published the article: The key soft skills of tourism professionals for PostCOVID-19

I hope the article is also of interest to you.

Keep in touch

A hug

Montse.

Hard Skills that tourism professionals need

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A couple of weeks ago, from the Innova Institute de La Salle - URL We were analyzing what were the hard skills (or hard skills) in English, that tourism professionals needed to get out of the crisis caused by the Covid-19.

This is the infographic with which we illustrate the article that you can find on the blog of the Innova Institute.

Hard skills tourism

You can read the full article here:

Hard skills for the tourism industry

Following our research, we also participated in a round table organized by the World Tourism Organization.

You can watch the video here:

And several online publications are citing the research and the article.

Economy Today: The key hard skills of tourism professionals for PostCOVID-19

We are now working on an article on soft skills. I share it with the one that has it.

ICT engineers are also the heroes in this crisis

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Last week from Innova Institute From La Salle-URL we were collecting “adventures” of ICT engineers in which it is shown as part of the well-deserved recognition of health personnel, there is another group that also deserves special recognition, the group made up of all those who are making it possible for us to work from home, to maintain telecommunications infrastructures and to ensure that networks are fast and secure.

In the article we have interviewed 9 people who explain their particular way of the cross to keep the infrastructure of their companies or organizations running.

On our blog at the moment, we have only published the article in English, but some digital newspapers and magazines have already echoed it.

Full article in English: Nine adventures

I attach here the first to publish it and as the week progresses I will publish the rest links.

In Today's Economy: Nine adventures in which ICT engineers have been essential during the COVID-19 crisis

Keep in touch

A hug

Montse.

COVID-19: Digital adaptation or digital transformation?

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From the Innova Institute de La Salle - URL we continue, as every week, analyzing different aspects with which COVID-19 is transforming companies and their environment. This week we reflect on whether it is really leading to the digital transformation of companies or if they are simply adapting to circumstances and everything will return to normal when the pandemic passes.

The areas that we have analyzed are the following:

  1. Education: The digital transformation in education responds to a process of media literacy adapting to the ways of learning and accessing the knowledge of new generations.
  2. Financial services: Financial services as they are known today are going to change, adapting to more digital models.
  3. Telecommuting for companies and workers: There is a clear difference between what telework is and what thousands of companies around the world have put into emergency practice to continue operating during the COVID-19 period.
  4. Ergonomics in teleworking: It is still unknown when the alarm state will end for COVID-19. For this reason, companies must propose to their workers to adapt their temporary work offices at home, in order to be able to work ergonomically in search of business results.
  5. Government online: Being the ultimate goal of a Government to ensure the general welfare of its entire population, it is difficult to imagine this task without real contact between its protagonists.
  6. Culture and tourism: Both tourism and culture have taken advantage of COVID-19 to maintain contact with users through the networks. Many institutions have understood that their value proposition at this time should be to entertain people in confinement, especially children, and a large part have offered online services aimed at entertaining and entertaining.
  7. SMEs - Commerce: Business development sees digital transformation as a way to improve its results by optimizing its processes and facilitating its management, which is reflected in profits, growth and advantages over those that do not make these investments.

The original article with each section well explained and reflected on whether it is adaptation or transformation has not yet been published on our blog, but some magazines have already echoed it. You can find it in the following publications:

Tic and SMEs: COVID-19: Digital adaptation or digital transformation?

Granada Companies: COVID-19: Digital adaptation or digital transformation?

Today's Economy: What will be the organizations response to COVID-19: Digital adaptation or digital transformation?

In the digital publication Contact Center Hub, they have made a summary with the section dedicated to telework: Teleworking before COVID-19: Digital adaptation or digital transformation? and they also quote us in another article Is teleworking here to stay?.

I hope this information is useful to you and that you also reflect on whether the changes they have implemented in your working life during these weeks have transformed you or you will return to your normal life when all this has happened.

If you want to leave your opinion, do not be shy ... under these lines you have the comments section, I will be happy to have a conversation about it.

A hug

Montse.

10 ideas to undertake in sustainable sectors

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Continuing with the publications that we carry out from the Entrepreneurship Research group of the Innova Institute de La Salle-URL, this week we have been working to discover areas related to sustainability, in which there are possibilities of successful entrepreneurship. We have addressed this issue because we think that after the Covid-19 (what is already called the PostCovid-19) sustainability will be a much more considered feature in business models than it has been until now.

The areas in which we think there are opportunities are the following:

1. Agriculture and food industry: The world hiatus caused by Covid-19 is supplying a small truce that is allowing a regeneration of the planet. Environmental awareness has grown, consumption of resources is more responsible, there has been a notable improvement in environmental quality, and people have realized that protecting the environment contributes to a healthier and more balanced life.

2. Sustainable urban mobility: The high concentration of people in the means of transport and its improvable health conditions have made urban mobility one of the main sources of infection, increasing the risk of contracting the virus by between 4% and 6%. Consequently, the authorities and administrations of many countries have been forced to minimize its use and consider developing sustainable ventures in this sector.

3. The circular economy: The European Commission has just published the Action Plan for the Circular Economy. Proposed policies include increased product durability, the right to repair electronic devices, reduced use of plastics, and more accurate eco-labeling, among others. Following this path, the Innova Institute predicts that undertaking on issues related to the circular economy is a good opportunity for the PostCovid-19 scenario.

4. Integrated and efficient water management: Water scarcity already affects globally. What was once a problem for developing countries is now also a problem for developed countries. Water is not an infinite resource, but it is used as if it were. For this reason, the need for a comprehensive water treatment has been evident throughout its generation, use and recovery cycle. Despite everything, in 2030 there will still be 60% of the countries in the world that will not carry out this necessary comprehensive treatment system.

5. Logistics and supply chain: The companies that have provided a fast, safe and reliable service during Covid-19, and are also committed to sustainability, are those that will be strengthened after the pandemic and will generate confidence in customers in the PostCovid-19 era. These companies focus on innovation and quality, acting locally, but under collaborative logistics management models with other companies in the network. Thus, they meet the needs of small batches, with fast service and ensuring quality and traceability in the process.

6. Fashion, the second most polluting industry: The coronavirus has caused a huge general stoppage in the fashion industry, either due to the closure of stores or factories to protect their workers, by voluntarily turning to the production of garments for medical use or because its production depended mainly on China or Italy. Fashion, which produces more than 10% of the total CO² emissions on the planet, is the second industry that consumes the most water. Plastics have replaced natural fibers and polyester is used in 60% of production, generating two to three times more carbon than cotton without degrading in the ocean. Greenpeace indicates that the washing of garments throws the equivalent of 50 billion microfiber fragments into the sea.

7. Replacing oil derivatives: The Ellena MacArthur Foundation points out in a study that 40% of plastic packaging ends up in landfills, a third in the ocean and only 14% is recycled. This draws a critical scenario. Therefore, the search for replacement of biopolymers and the implementation of 100% functional strategies for recycling is a necessity for the industry. The startup Oimo, located in La Salle Technova, the La Salle-URL innovation park, is dedicated to the design of new ecological materials in Spain and the United Kingdom. With the aim of reducing the 14 million tons of plastic that ends up in the ocean, it has developed a water-soluble material as an alternative to plastic packaging. In this sense, the Innova Institute considers that sustainable entrepreneurship in alternative packaging to plastic will be reinforced in PostCovid-19.

8. Energy efficiency: The Covid-19 crisis has revealed that transformative changes are possible overnight. In terms of energy, it is demonstrated that there is no reason not to phase out fossil fuels and deploy renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. It is in line with this concept that the European Union has developed a series of proposals to lead the economy towards energy savings.

9. Telecommunications technology: During the confinement of the Covid-19, the traffic on online platforms that allow the organization of meetings, the development of virtual classes and the establishment of communications and conversations has increased considerably. Some of them were already known —such as Zoom, Hangout and Whereby— and others have taken the opportunity to make themselves known or to implement complementary services.

10. The built space: The Covid-19 has promoted the development of teleworking, but it has also shown that this option has minimum conditions for its development. Previous experience makes it possible to recognize the collaborative economy models associated with these proposals such as shared offices, shared garages and coworking spaces. The strength of these movements has led communication companies such as ETB, Movistar and Mapfre Seguros to present their users with coworking spaces. However, minimum conditions must be ensured to optimize results, both the separation of environments between family and work, facilitating innovation when interacting with companies in the same sector, knowledge transfer or generating alliances and complements when spaces are given. with companies from different sectors.

The original article with all the sections well explained you can read it here: The Innova Institute analyzes how sustainable entrepreneurship could be for the PostCovid-19 era

I hope this information is helpful to you and allows you to reflect on the need for sustainability in future ventures.

Keep in touch.

Montse.

Changes in the business models of Cultural companies

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From the Innova Institute de La Salle - URL this week we have been working on the analysis of how companies in the Cultural sector are adapting different components of their business models because of the Covid-19.

We have found adaptations of their models in the value proposition, in the ways of distributing their products or services, in the selection of their target audience and other more components. Unfortunately we have not found many changes and adaptations in the income section. Even so, the research carried out is interesting and I think it will give of itself for a not so informative and more scientific article.

The article has been well received by the press and it has been published directly in several magazines, and it has been referenced in others.

You can read it here:

Audiovisual panorama: Nine keys on the adaptation of business models of cultural companies by COVID-19

Entrepreneurs Magazine: How to adapt your business model if you are a cultural company

Today's Economy: Nine keys on the adaptation of business models of cultural companies by COVID-19

Senior Manager: Nine keys to adapting the business models of cultural companies due to the coronavirus

If you are interested in Marketing for Cultural Industries, you may also be interested in an article that I wrote on February 18, 2020 about growth strategies and about the help to create strategic plans of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat.

You will find the article here: Cultural Marketing - Digital Marketing for Cultural companies in 2020

I hope this information from you is useful.

The next article that we will prepare from the Research Institute is about the forced digitization of companies ... it is titled something like "Adaptation or digitization", when we have it finished, I share it through the blog and social networks.

Keep in touch.

Hope it all goes well for you

A hug

Montse.

How to move from selling products to selling solutions

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In the changing environment in which we live today, companies need to innovate with all the resources available to them. One of these resources is the Business Model (the system by which a company creates value, offers that value to a specific target audience and collects the value in the form of income). Innovating in the Business Model is a capacity of companies called Business Model Innovation (BMI). The objective of the BMI is to disrupt the market by creating a model that gives the company a competitive advantage.

When what the company wants is not to disrupt, but to survive a disruption from a competitor, that process is called Business Model Adaptation (BMA) and consists of changing the current model to adapt to the new environment.

One of these changes in the business model that many companies are carrying out in order to survive in the current environment is to move from selling products to selling solutions. This type of Business Models in English are called Outcome-Based Business Models... in Spanish it is difficult to give it a name that conveys what it really is ... so we call it Business Models Based on Selling Solutions instead of products. The ultimate goal is to increase turnover and maintain a closer relationship with your current customers (get captive customers).

Examples of "How to sell products to sell solutions"

B2B example (business to business): the example of a book is that of Xerox and how it goes from selling photocopiers to selling the service of charging for photocopies, from the machines that companies rent for a small price and install in their offices. But it is also the change that Amazon made in the early 2000s… it went from being a book store to a comprehensive solution for writers, and then for all kinds of companies.

Example B2C (from business to consumer): we are a veterinary clinic and we have gone from selling single consultations to a flat monthly fee for animals that require special treatments. Another example related to animals… we sell cat food and we know that every two months our customers will buy a 5 kg bag of feed. We offer them an annual flat rate and automatically send them every two months the feed for their cat so they don't have to worry about shopping. We can do it at a slight discount to motivate customers. In the tourism sector, the change has already taken place years ago… products are not sold, experiences are sold.

What exactly is the change from “selling products to selling solutions”:

Stopping selling products to sell solutions is not easy to do, so when a company succeeds, usually someone writes a case. Well, today I was reading one of these cases, and I found it interesting to share how they did it, in case it can serve as an inspiration to any of the readers of this blog. Here is a little summary:

From the supplier's point of view: This goes from a model based on making money selling a product, carrying out its maintenance and selling spare parts, to earning money depending on whether or not your product achieves the results that the client wants. The product, maintenance and spare parts become expenses. Revenue will depend on the feasibility of the solution.

From the customer's point of view: This one becomes dependent on a provider with whom you are going to have an almost dependent relationship, it will be very difficult to change providers. Your business model and that of the supplier must be aligned.

How the change is made

The change requires three phases:

Phase 1 of: "How to go from selling products to selling solutions"

Definition of the new value proposition: in this phase we must identify the opportunities in the creation of value with our clients. We must look for opportunities that are win-win (win-win) and evaluate the potential benefits that it could bring for our company. We also have to determine which products are going to become services and how this fits into our client's strategy. Being a good listener to customers and clearly understanding what they need to fix is ​​a key success factor. The feedback from our commercial department will be decisive in this phase. You have to listen carefully to the customer and to our commercials.

Phase 2 of: "How to go from selling products to selling solutions"

Description of how customer service will be provided. This phase has two well differentiated key processes:

  • The design of the service: design of the value architecture, design of all the processes and the adaptation of the products that are going to be converted into services.
  • Customer relationship design: risk analysis, design of performance measurement indicators (KPIs, by Key Performance Indicators) and the creation of the contracts that will govern the relationship with the client.

Phase 3 of: "How to go from selling products to selling solutions"

Execution of the service and control of the final result: This is the phase in which the solution is installed for the client and all processes are refined to explore opportunities for improvement. Also in this phase it is necessary to train our sales team to effectively sell solutions. Likewise, during this phase the control mechanisms are implemented and it is analyzed if the distribution of value between us and the client is fair (if the relationship with the client is really win-win).

I hope this summary was interesting and inspiring to you.
If you want more information about "How to move from selling products to selling solutionsHere are some links that may interest you:

Keep in touch!

A hug

Montse.

Download the Practical Guide to Twitter for Business

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Here is the second of the guides company in which we are working from the Research Institute 3isic.

This time, the guide is dedicated to Twitter and how to make the most of the enterprise level.

A primera vista las empresas pueden pensar que Twitter es una herramienta muy limitada para la comunicación corporativa debido a los 140 caracteres, pero precisament esta es una de sus ventajas, no da pié a escribir sin sentidos y la gente va directo al grano. También es cierto que el Twitter que teníamos hace 5 años prácticamente ha desaparecido y ahora es más un medio de comunicación que una red social… de hecho, Twitter solicitó a principios del 2016 que tanto Google Play com el Apple Store cambiaran la categoría de esta herramienta y estuviera junto a los otros medios de comunicación.

What sense then has Twitter and why so much talk about this tool? How we can utilitzar at company level? What are the key success factors for corporate communication in Twitter?

In this guide we answer some of these questions and certainly you will help to create the online strategy in this network.

Basic Guide for Business TWITTER

I hope you find it useful

We're going talking

Montse.