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Hello Domains, Goodbye Industries

We argue that companies need to shift to organizing around fulfillment of customer needs—or what we call domains—in this audio podcast of the January 2021 research briefing.
By Peter Weill, Stephanie L. Woerner, and Andrea Patricia Diaz Baquero

LISTEN TO THE RESEARCH

For decades, companies have thought of themselves as operating in industries such as banking, retail, and energy. In contrast, most customers seek to fulfill specific needs—business customers might aim to manage their energy consumption, and consumers might navigate getting an education. We call these different customer problems and opportunities domains. Digital technologies, and new business models such as ecosystems, provide an opportunity to rethink how to solve your customers’ needs in each of their important domains. In this briefing, we share our first efforts at identifying the key domains, scope the size of the opportunity, and provide examples.

See the print version of the briefing.

The January 2021 research briefing is read by co-author Stephanie Woerner.

DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPT

Follow the research briefing podcast series on SoundCloud.

About the Authors

MIT CISR Researcher

Andrea Patricia Diaz Baquero, Research Assistant, MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR)

MIT CENTER FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH (CISR)

Founded in 1974 and grounded in MIT's tradition of combining academic knowledge and practical purpose, MIT CISR helps executives meet the challenge of leading increasingly digital and data-driven organizations. We work directly with digital leaders, executives, and boards to develop our insights. Our consortium forms a global community that comprises more than seventy-five organizations.

MIT CISR Patrons
AlixPartners
Avanade
Axway, Inc.
Collibra
IFS
Pegasystems Inc.
The Ogilvy Group
MIT CISR Sponsors
Alcon Vision
Allstate Insurance Company
Amcor
ANZ Banking Group (Australia)
AustralianSuper
Banco Bradesco S.A. (Brazil)
Banco do Brasil S.A.
Bank of Queensland (Australia)
Barclays (UK)
BlueScope Steel (Australia)
BNP Paribas (France)
Bupa
CarMax
Caterpillar, Inc.
Cemex (Mexico)
Cencora
Cochlear Limited (Australia)
Commonwealth Superannuation Corp. (Australia)
Cuscal Limited (Australia)
CVS Health
Dawn Foods
DBS Bank Ltd. (Singapore)
Doosan Corporation (Korea)
Fidelity Investments
Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B., de C.V.
Fortum (Finland)
Genentech
Gilbane Building Co.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J)
Kaiser Permanente
King & Wood Mallesons (Australia)
Koç Holding (Turkey)
Mercer
Nasdaq, Inc.
NN Insurance Eurasia NV
Nomura Holdings, Inc. (Japan)
Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. Systems Consulting Division (Japan)
Novo Nordisk A/S (Denmark)
OCP Group
Pacific Life Insurance Company
Posten Bring AS (Norway)
Principal Life Insurance Company
QBE
Ramsay Health Care (Australia)
Raytheon Technologies
Scentre Group Limited (Australia)
Schneider Electric Industries SAS (France)
Stockland (Australia)
Tabcorp Holdings (Australia)
Telstra Limited (Australia)
Terumo Corporation (Japan)
Tetra Pak (Sweden)
Truist Financial Corporation
UniSuper Management Pty Ltd (Australia)
Uniting (Australia)
USAA
Webster Bank, N.A.
Westpac Banking Corporation (Australia)
WestRock Company
Wolters Kluwer
Xenco Medical
Zoetis Services LLC

MIT CISR Associate Members

MIT CISR wishes to thank all of our associate members for their support and contributions.

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