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Case Study

Disruptive change at Bossard with smartfactorylogistics.com?

By Stefan Michel, Maria Kokontseva, Mikhail Efimov and Céline Relecom

14 pages

November 2017

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Reference: IMD-7-1933

The case describes how Bossard Group, a Swiss family company, originally active in reselling of fastening products, achieved an effective digital transformation through a successful step-by-step evolution of its business model, acquiring valuable knowledge about its clients’ behaviors and needs and implementing new technologies. This real-life example shows how an incumbent company can reinvent itself, not by a one-shot radical transformation, but rather by well-thought-out and ambitious, yet coherent, strategic moves, each building up to effectively leverage the key capabilities created by the previous stages of the company’s evolution. The case also provides an opportunity to discuss the fascinating and real issues Bossard encountered when leveraging IoT and big data to create and capture value. The discussion shows that the use of IoT in Bossard’s supply chain would not be considered a disruption according to Clayton Christensen’s definition. However, if Bossard successfully enters the market for hospital logistics, disruption may occur.

Learning Objective

Describe the strategic trajectory of a company over several decades through the business model canvas lens
Identify how a new set of technologies (Internet-of-Things) can be adopted and leveraged by a company
Explore how these new capabilities offer new avenues for growth
Assess different strategic options based on market and company data
Elaborate whether disruption occurs or not

Keywords

Strategy, Digital Disruption, Business Model, Internet of Things

Settings

World/global
Bossard Holding, Manufacturing, Industrial Goods, Manufacturing, Fasteners, Logistics and Supply Chain
2015-2016

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Teaching note

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Case reference: IMD-2663 ©2025

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Reference IMD-2663

Organization Medacta Group

Industry Healthcare, Medical Device

Available Languages English

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