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Workspace, always a headache for established companies and startups. Flex working is probably the most suited solution to solve the problems(costs) of owning physical workspace. Which lowers the risk for startups of owning a physical workspace and reduces the costs of physical workspace for establish firms.

The trend of flex working caused  15 percent unoccupied office premises across the Netherlands (Dynamis, 2015). Flex work seems like a blessing and it is, but there are some disadvantages, for example there is no interaction with colleagues and it causes social isolation by employees (Heathfield, 2016). But for both problems, workspace problem and disadvantages of flexworking, there is one solution: WeWork.

WeWork started in 2010 and was founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. WeWork is a company that provides workspace for a monthly membership. They rent unoccupied workspace and chop these places in smaller parcels and then charge their clients with a monthly membership.

Thereby WeWork equip their clients with free coffee/beer/wine/fruitwater, printing services and they take care of package deliveries (Konrad, 2016).

Furthermore they organize gatherings and events, this is a great opportunity for clients to work on their social network and to get inspired by others (Konrad, 2016). Next to providing flexible workplaces WeWork also added an app to their service, to create a digital network. So WeWork offers a solution to both unoccupied workspace and to the disadvantages of flex work.
Over 6 years WeWork expand to 12 countries with 100 locations worldwide (Bogle, 2016).The company is currently worth 16 billion dollars and is still growing, But there are some concerns about the financial position of WeWork (Konrad, 2016).

First of all, WeWork is expanding rapidly, with plans to expand to Germany and North Korea, further they want to introduce WeLive (furnished living space) (WeWork, 2016). To execute these plans WeWork must cut some cost in their existing locations, for example costs of additional services like breakfast, coffee and beer. Second, the profit margins of WeWork will be reduced in the future, due to new entrance of competitors  in the market. Finally, more and more members were cancelling their membership by WeWork (Bogle, 2016), The churn rate almost reached 6%. Thereby the app launched by WeWork isn’t very popular by customers of WeWork (Bogle, 2016).

Although WeWork is a quick expanding company with a bright future, there will be some obstacles to overcome. Stuart Brown, CEO of blackwall, a concurrent of WeWork, said that communities grow not by force but by focusing on location, fit-out and the right services (Bogle, 2016).

Do you think that WeWork will overcome these growing obstacles of diminishing profit margins and the growing competition? And what do you think of the expanding plans of WeWork?

Arthur Verburg-401176av

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Wework (2016) Mission. https://www.wework.com/mission, October 2 2016.

Bogle, A (2016) WeWork launches in Australia, but will the drama follow?. http://mashable.com/2016/10/03/wework-sydney-australia/#ArFVUYqc0mqu, October 2 2016.

Konrad, A. (2014). Inside The Phenomenal Rise Of WeWork. http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2014/11/05/the-rise-of-wework/#49289ff428c1, October 2 2016.

Heathfield, S.M. (2016). Advantages and Disadvantages of Flexible Work Schedules?. https://www.thebalance.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-flexible-work-schedules-1917964, 2 October 2 2016.

Dynamis (2015) Sprekende cijfers Kantorenmarkt. http://dynamis.nl/documents/DYN//2872_Dynamis-Sprekende-Cijfers-Kantorenmarkten-2015-DEFINITIEF.pdf, October 2 2016.

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Introduction

Traditionally, banks have attracted all kinds of consumers, and acted as consumer magnet, but remained the provider of these services themselves. An upcoming trend is the rise of the Banking-as-a-Platform (BaaP) business model (Hamerlinck, 2015). In this business model, participants can engage with each other in a ‘Plug-and-Play’ way and collectively create value. A variety of service providers can each fulfill differentiated needs of individual consumers.

Banks should change their business model because their traditional way of doing business is eroding (Shevlin, 2016). Interest rates are historically low, consumer confidence in banks has declined and banks have been forced to fire employees and close physical banks, which also has its effect on customer satisfaction.

We compared ‘traditional’ business models of banks with Banking-as-a-Platform in four sections; 1) two-sided markets, 2) ‘network value versus privacy concerns dilemma’, 3) interoperability with established rival platforms and 4) how they deal with online banking.

‘Traditional’ banks

The bank industry is a two-sided market with deposited savings and issued loans. It has same-side effects, because when for instance the number of end-users, who are saving money grows, a higher amount will be available for other end-users to lend. The network value grows with the bank as an intermediary with the presence of a cross-sided market. The growing network does not distress the users with privacy concerns.

Traditional banks in the Dutch market are interoperable with each other and most business models before 2015 have chosen not to develop a cooperative structure within their business model.

Currently, most users are dissatisfied about the way banks deals with online banking. User friendliness is low because of the costliness of the use of internet banking (Consumentenbond, 2015).

Banking-as-a-Platform (BaaP)

Banking-as-a-platform is a two-sided market with cross-side benefits for end-users and supply-side users. When there are more end-users there will be a greater incentive for supply-side users to create applications. BaaP should set up a safe environment where privacy will be protected before they can create value as a platform, this is a costly operation.

Another weakness of BaaP’s is the need for an infrastructure to other BaaP’s so the end-user can transfer money. All services from a BaaP are provided through the internet, which makes a BaaP more flexible and agile. Another strength of a BaaP are the low operational costs, because there is almost no need for a physical location.

Analysis

When comparing these two banking business models, we notice three important things.

First, a traditional banking model has a high networking value versus low privacy concerns. BaaP model had both high networking value and high privacy concerns. BaaPs have to create a low cost privacy network to turn their weakness into a strength. Second, traditional banks have problems with user friendliness and customer satisfaction. To cover the gap with BaaP’s they have to invest in internet banking. Finally, BaaP’s don’t bear the cost of a physical location and therefore the operational costs are significantly lower than the costs of a traditional bank.

Group 61- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GWOiobDpZY 

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References

• Brear & Bouvier (2016) ‘Exploring Banking as a Platform (BaaP) Model’ The Financial Brand, 4 March 2016
• Consumentenbond (2015) ‘Bankenmonitor’ Retrieved on 19 September 2016 from https://www.consumentenbond.nl/betaalrekening/bankenmonitor
• Hamerlinck, L. (2015) ‘Bank as a Platform: voorbij PSD2’ ABN AMRO, 22 October 2015
• Shevlin, R. (2016) ‘The Platformification of Banking’ The Financial Brand, 19 July 2016

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Can you imagine? A device that not only provides solar energy, but also purifies dirty water and provides connectivity to the local population, sounds amazing right? The Watly is this device. The Watly provides not only solar energy but also supplies the local community with clean drinking water and connectivity.

The Centre for Disease Control estimates that almost 9% of the global disease can be prevented by clean water and improved sanitation, therefore Watly is a great help(Mora, 2016). One Watly unit can sanitize up to 5000 liters of water each day, that is enough to provide 2500 people with clean drinking water. While purifying water, the Watly can generate energy to charge external devices. These external devices can be used to connect with the internet through the connection set up by the Watly unit(3G/4G/Wi-Fi).

All These benefits helps to  improve global living standards for the most in-need people of the world. Besides improving the global living standards Watly also tries to improve people happiness and wellbeing, this by providing connectivity(Watly, 2016). You can ask why exactly connectivity, well because people in third world countries mostly do not have the external devices to make use of the connectivity. On the contrary, in 2015 almost 2/3 of the African population had mobile devices(IPS, 2015).

Therefore providing connectivity has several benefits, first of all the connectivity  can help them develop education and healthcare systems in their own country by using the information available on the internet. Second, it can help third world countries to develop their economy by using the internet for selling their products. The internet provides them with a larger market and more potential buyers. And last but not least, the global information in combination with the development of education, healthcare and the economy can help third world countries to develop their society, to provide a better future for all citizens.

The Watly sounds as an amazing  device that can help to improve global living standards, but before it can really improve living standards it needs to raise funds to build a Watly unit worth $75000. Watly started a crowd funding campaign to raise the amount to start building the Watly unit, currently they have raised about $18.000(Indiegogo, 2016). What do you think? Is Watly really the game changer for third world countries?

401176av

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IPS (2015), ‘Aantal mobiele telefoons in Afrika stijgt razendsnel’, Retrieved October 2, 2016, from  http://www.mo.be/nieuws/aantal-mobiele-telefoons-afrika-stijgt-razendsnel.

Mora, M. (2016) ‘This massive solar-powered computer can provide water for an entire village’, retrieved Ocotber 2, 2016, from http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/watly-solar-powered-water-purifier/.

Indiegogo (2016) Retrieved 2 October, 2016, from https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-biggest-solar-powered-computer-in-the-world-africa-water#/.

Watly (2016) Retrieved October 2, 2016, from http://watly.co/.