138 desIgn IdeatIon Epicenters of Business Model Innovation resource-driven resource-driven innovations originate from an organization’s existing infrastructure or partnerships to expand or transform the business model. Example: Amazon Web Services was built on top of Amazon.com’s retail infrastructure to offer server capacity and data storage space to other companies. offer-driven offer-driven innovations create new value propositions that affect other business model building blocks. Example: When Cemex, a Mexican cement maker, promised to deliver poured cement to job sites within four hours rather than the 48 hour industry standard, it had to transform its business model. This innovation helped change Cemex from a regional Mexican player into the world’s second largest cement producer. Ideas for business model innovation can come from anywhere, and each of the nine business model building blocks can be a starting point. Transformative business model innovations affect multiple building blocks. We can distinguish four epicenters of business model innovation: resource-driven, offer-driven, customer-driven, and fi nance-driven. Each of the four epicenters can serve as the starting point for a major business model change, and each can have a powerful impact on the other eight building blocks. Sometimes, business model innovation can emerge from several epicenters. Also, change often originates in areas identifi ed through a SWOT analysis: an investigation of a business model’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (see p. 216). 138 bmgen_final.indd 138 6/15/10 5:40 PM