Page 166 - DNBI_A01.QXD

1434 : STEP TWO – GENERATING NEW IDEAS

inward transfer This searching for external analogies which you wish to
transfer into your operation is very similar to the concept of process
bench-marking. This involves seeking out best-in-class for a specific
process, irrespective of the sector in which this expertise resides.

South West Airlines, for example, looked outside the airline business in
order to perfect its refuelling processes. By adopting the turnaround
processes used in Formula One pit stops, the company reduced the
time required to refuel by 60 per cent.110

outward transfer Sometimes analogies work in the reverse direction
– you operate a particular business process which you wish to transfer
out and apply to other fields.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou is well known for his creation of easyJet, the low-
cost no-frills model for air travel. He then sought other markets which
were similar, but different, to the airline market and to which he could
apply the easyFormula. It is generally accepted that easyRentacar has
represented a satisfactorily analogous market. The jury is still out on
whether the cinema market is sufficiently similar to sustain the
easyCinema model, with its variable pricing and no-frills service –
exclusively online booking has replaced the traditional box office; no
food or drink is sold.

Providers of locum services in the UK medical market possess a
particular expertise in high-volume, rapid-response matching of
professionals to work opportunities. By identifying which other
markets presented similar, but different, underlying characteristics,
they have successfully moved into the supply of part-time teachers,
for example.

serving God and Mammon In similar vein, Suffolk-based printing
company Clays had developed over the years a specialism in printing
the very lightweight papers used to produce high-quality Bibles.
Seeking to expand the range of markets which it served, the printing
company looked for markets which presented analogies to the Bible
printing market. Clays succeeded in serving both God and Mammon
when it realised that the market for computer games manuals, where
high-pagination books had to be printed on very fine paper in order to
occupy the small physical space defined by standard CD-ROM
packaging, presented an analogous printing challenge to which it could
apply its specialist expertise.