Reverse Engineering

The method involves analysing an existing solution to understand the logic behind its development. Students examine a finished outcome, such as a product, service, process, or business model, and identify, step by step, the decisions, assumptions, and constraints that shaped its final form. They explore the needs addressed, the resources used, the compromises made, and the risks accepted. The work is based on developing hypotheses and justifying conclusions using the available information. The lecturer moderates the discussion and ensures the logical coherence of students’ reasoning. The method helps students recognise the deliberate design decisions behind seemingly simple products or business models. This approach makes it easier to understand that effective solutions result from a thoughtful process. It works best when analysing products, digital services, and business structures.

Course: Strategic Management
Topic: Analysing the Business Model of a Subscription-Based Platform

Students analyse the business model of a platform offering subscription-based digital education services in the EU. The platform is growing rapidly but operates in a highly competitive environment. Students work in small groups.

Warm-Up (10 min)
The lecturer asks: Why do customers choose to pay for this service rather than a similar one? Students write down their initial hypotheses.

Reverse Analysis (25–30 min)
Teams receive a description of how the platform operates, including its offer, monetisation model, customer acquisition channels, key features, and marketing communication. Students then work backwards from the final outcome to the underlying causes. They identify key design decisions, such as the choice of a subscription model, content personalisation, and customer service automation.

Organising Conclusions (15–20 min)
Teams organise their conclusions into five areas: customer, value, technology, costs, and risk. Each conclusion must be supported with evidence. Students then consider which decisions would be critical if they were designing a similar solution from scratch.

Reflection (10 min)
Students identify one element of the model that proved less obvious than it seemed at first.

• When students work with real and recognisable examples.
• When analysing business models, processes, and products.
• When the aim is to understand the underlying mechanism rather than replicate the solution.

• When students lack basic contextual knowledge.
• In tasks that require rapid idea generation.

• Overinterpreting design decisions → require students to justify their hypotheses.
• Focusing on outcomes rather than the process → guide the analysis step by step.

Easier → Provide a list of areas for analysis.
More Challenging → Ask students to identify alternative decisions and their possible consequences.

• Start with a well-known example.
• Require a logical chain of cause and effect.
• Compare conclusions across teams.
• Link the analysis to design-related conclusions.

Formative Assessment

Collect brief outputs from each team, such as an initial hypothesis, a cause-and-effect chain, or a list of key design decisions together with their justification. Based on these, provide feedback by indicating which conclusions are well supported by evidence, where the reasoning is overly speculative, and what additional data or alternative explanations should be considered. Teams then revise their analysis before preparing the final version.

Summative Assessment
Students prepare a written reverse-engineering analysis of a selected product, service, pro- cess, or business model. The assignment should identify the key design decisions, explain the assumptions and constraints underlying those decisions, and demonstrate the logical connection between evidence, conclusions, and any resulting recommendations. Assessment focuses on the quality of the evidence used, the coherence of cause-and-effect reasoning, the ability to distinguish between facts and hypotheses, and the clarity of the final conclusions.