Sensemaking rituals: Developing a business vision for a new venture

Sensemaking rituals: Developing a business vision for a new venture

Batou, C.

Smulders, F.E.H.M. (mentor)
Schifferstein, H.N.J. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Product Innovation Management

Master of Science Strategic Product Design

2011-11-28

The aim of this master thesis was to start a new venture in the shaving industry. It was concluded that the new venture creation process consists of three main phases; (1) exploration, (2) realisation, and (3) exploitation. The focus of this graduation project is on the first phase. The exploration phase is all about creating a vision for the new business. The main research question of this graduation project therefore is: "What is the business vision for the new venture?" A visioning process was carried out on three distinct levels; market, product, and business. Developing a market vision and a product vision served as the building blocks in drafting the business vision. A market vision was developed by conducting both desk research as field research. The field research was conducted in the form of twenty-five interviews with experts from different industries. This analysis led to a set of interesting developments of which two were selected to focus on; (1) men's growing concern for their identity, and (2) the need for moments of freedom. The motive for taking this position is twofold; Firstly, these two meta-developments were selected since there are basically no players in this specific field yet. Secondly, it was hypothesized that by focusing on these two developments, a new venture could have a higher added value for the user than with the other developments. The concern for identity and the need for moments of freedom are issues that can have an effect on people’s wellbeing. The market vision is presented as follows: “The future of shaving is all about the unconscious significance of the process of shaving.” The market vision served as a starting point for developing the product vision. To come to a sound vision, the Vision in Product design method was used. Based on this method the following design statement has been developed: “I want to offer men a shaving ritual which facilitates in gaining a higher sense of self-agency“ Self-agency in this case means that one has control over his actions, thoughts, surroundings, and emotions. Based on a thorough analysis of both interaction qualities as product qualities, a concept was developed. This concept is inspired from the activity of ‘keeping a journal’ and focuses on self-agency. Keeping a journal fits very well within the market vision. Having a sense of self-agency is important in dealing with your identity. Keeping a journal also allows one to take a moment for himself to reflect. Despite of the advantages of keeping a journal, it is a product that is difficult to maintain as it asks for regular engagement. This is where the link with shaving is made. After having developed the market vision and the product vision, the research question of this project could be answered. The following vision was drafted for the business: “To become a highly respected brand known for facilitating men in their pursuit of a successful life” A successful life in this case means that one does what he loves and realizes his dreams. In a world where the concern for identity is increasing and where moments of freedom are becoming a luxury, this is a big opportunity. Mindfulness activities like meditation and yoga are becoming increasingly popular. Men however feel a burden to engage in these types of activities. This is where the opportunity lies. Offering men rituals that are aimed at helping them in their pursuit to a successful life. The threshold for engaging in these rituals is very low and could thus be interesting for them. Furthermore, making the link with shaving has two main advantages; Firstly, it is something they can easily incorporate in their daily lives. Secondly, shaving is a very masculine act which makes this topic of identity more accessible. This business vision will be communicated to the target audience in the form of a story. The story is about a man named Mr Maroosh. Mr Maroosh is a man who finds himself at a crossroad in his life. He is left wondering whether he is living the life he wants to live. In an attempt to find an answer he decides to go on a journey. During this journey he meets the most brilliant and visionary men that have ever lived. He spends time with Plato, Darwin, Shakespeare, etc. He spends time with them to learn about their lives, their activities, about their rituals. Whenever he encounters something that helps him towards a more successful life he will make sure that he shares this with the world. The first thing he notices is that men like Charles Darwin, Theodore Roosenvelt and Andrew Carnegie all kept a journal. He decides that he also wants to make this ritual part of his life. He does this in a way that he can easily incorporate it in his daily activities. He presents this in the form of a shaving ritual.

New Venture
Visioning
Shaving
Self-agency
Experience

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5f973112-3e5d-4177-b5a8-f5d3f5e2c79a

2012-11-28

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2011 Batou, C.