What is the Delta Model?

A working definition from MIT Sloan

Delta Model (noun)

A customer-centric approach to competition that connects strategy and execution through adaptive processes.

Three decades ago, MIT Sloan’s Arnoldo Hax introduced an alternative to the strategy field’s dominant competitive framework. It was called the Delta Model, and instead of putting competition at the center of corporate strategy, Hax’s model prioritized the customer.

It is “fundamental” for a company to get to know the customer and provide a unique value proposition that differentiates it from its competitors, Hax said in a 2010 interview.

The Delta Model describes four actions that are important when setting a strategy: 

  1. Defining the three strategic positionings (best product, total customer solution, and system lock-in)
  2. Aligning a firm’s competencies with the desired strategic position
  3. Seeking a coherent integration across business processes to produce unifying action
  4. Incorporating supplier and complementor companies to ensure fulfillment of the customer value proposition.

Professor Hax died April 20, 2023, at the age of 87.

The Delta Model: How Arnoldo Hax reprioritized corporate strategy

Working Definitions: Strategy

MIT Sloan's Working Definitions explore the words and phrases behind emerging management ideas.

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