The new strategic dimension of viability
A paradigm shift in strategic thinking

The Schließmann cube: three axes for strategic holism
The Schließmann cube adds a systemically based third axis to the classic strategy dimension. While the two horizontal axes "Relative market strength in SRM" and "Profitability in SRM" provide key information on competitiveness, the vertical axis captures the systemic viability of a company in its relevant environment.
Viability as an open, dynamic and contextual guiding category
The understanding of viability in the Schließmann model is explicitly not static or normative. Viability is not a state, but a strategic adaptability in the context of a relevant system. It results from a complex set of relationships between internal and external factors: complexity, agility, robustness, interdependencies and contextual factors such as culture, technology, regulation, etc.
Methodology for determining viability
The analysis is carried out using an integrative, multi-stage process:

Viability is the new center of strategic thinking -
Viability is replacing the classic strategy formula. It is not just an analytical concept, but the central transformation path into the future of corporate management. Viability is the emergent master discipline of strategic corporate management - it begins where traditional models end.

1. basic structure: space + 3 axes

1.1 The space: strategically relevant market (SRM)

The entire three-dimensional space of the cube is the strategically relevant market (SRM).

The SRM is defined by:

original customer needs (OKB),
Value creation structures,
System actors, roles, power relations,
Technologies, regulation, ecology,
temporal dynamics, scenarios, interdependencies.

The SRM is a system space, not a static "market".
Everything happens here - every company is a point and a trajectory in the SRM.

An SRM encompasses the entire process of fulfilling a specific original customer benefit. This approach goes far beyond industry boundaries defined by providers. Based on the original customer need, it includes all those factors in the analysis and consideration area that cannot be ignored as a conditio sine qua non without losing sight of decisive strategic aspects in the direction of a company's future viability by not focusing on disruptions, substitutions or fundamental changes to the playing field due to digitalization, climate change or the ageing of humanity. Anyone who still thinks in terms of sectors, sales or product markets has already lost.

The cube acts like a navigation system:
companies "move" in space along future paths.

1.2 The axes (the actual dimensions of strategic location determination)

X-axis - Importance of the company in SRM

The X-axis measures the importance, i.e. the qualitative and quantitative relevance of the company in the strategically relevant market.

Parameter examples:

Market share (quantitative)
Systemic relevance (qualitative)
Role in the value creation system (pacemaker, integrator, niche, innovator)
Customer access & customer loyalty
Technological influence
Network effects, platform significance

Y-axis - average profitability in SRM

The Y-axis measures the average profitability that can be achieved in this SRM with the respective business model.

Parameter examples:

Average profitability of the market segment
Profitability of the value-added stage
Intensity of competition
Regulatory influence on margins
Price/cost structure in SRM
Capital intensity & scalability

Important:
This is not the profitability of the company, but the structural profitability of the SRM for its business model.

Profitability can no longer be based on an industry or sales market, but on the relevant environment in the new attention competition. It is possible that the benchmark here is offers that at first glance do not provide the same services, but alternatively can satisfy the original customer need in a different way, equally or even better.

Z-axis - Viability

The Z-axis is the core innovation of the model.

It describes the viability of the company in the relevant system - i.e. the ability to survive in the long term , adapt, absorb crises, exploit opportunities and consistently create value.

The viability of a company as the decisive target figure in theory and practice

The less the possibility of clearly determining behavioral scenarios and their possible effects, the greater the risks of a relationship or system. Complexity and risk are therefore also closely linked.

Parameters are never fixed, but individual, dynamic and context-dependent.

Typical viability parameters (examples):

Complexity competence
Ability to understand and manage interdependencies and to think systemically.
Robustness / resilience
Financial stability, supply chain robustness, cyber resilience.
Adaptivity / innovative ability
Speed of adaptation, ability to transform.
Legitimacy & License to Operate
Compliance, sustainability, social acceptance.
Culture & leadership
Learning ability, error culture, leadership.
System fit
Fit with SRM, megatrends and stakeholders.

The Z-axis is not a scale - it is a systemic aggregation of many variable parameters.

2. why the Schließmann cube is a paradigm shift

2.1 Break with all two-dimensional models

Classic models (Porter, BCG, McKinsey, SWOT etc.) are:

static,
linear,
reductionist,
mostly two-dimensional.

You are looking at:

competitive position,
Cost/differentiation logic,
Market attractiveness.

However, they ignore systemic, complexity-related and dynamic factors.

2.2 The third dimension: viability

This axis makes the model realistic in complex, networked, unstable environments.

Key idea:

A company can be highly significant (X) and profitable (Y) -
and still not viable (Z).

Examples:

Digital disruption
ESG/legitimacy losses
geopolitical ruptures
Technological leaps
cultural dysfunction
Supply chain risks
Cyber risks

The Z-axis captures precisely this systemic reality.

2.3 The cube is completely dynamic

All three axes have no static parameter catalogs.

The X parameters (meaning) are defined individually.
The Y parameters (profitability) depend on the SRM.
The Z-parameters (viability) are always context- and future-specific.

It follows from this:

The Schließmann cube is an open, growth-capable, systemic model - not a grid.

It does not age because it grows with every new SRM and every new dimension of complexity.

3. dynamic system logic: companies move in a cube

3.1 Each point in time = one point in space

P(t) = (X(t), Y(t), Z(t))
= Importance, profitability, viability.

3.2 Future = a trajectory in space

Companies draw movement paths in the SRM:

Rise in importance (X↑)
Profitability pressure (Y↓)
stronger viability (Z↑)
Loss of viability despite growth (X↑, Z↓)
Strategic collapse (Y↓, Z strong↓)

4. comparison: 2D vs. Schließmann 3D cube

Point	2D models	Schließmann cube
Dimensions	2	3
Room	Market as a variable	SRM as a three-dimensional space
X	Market share, competitive strength	Meaning in SRM
Y	Profitability of the company	Average profitability in SRM
Z	missing	Viability
Time view	Static	dynamic
System environment	hidden	central
Complexity	Disruptive factor	Viability factor
Customizability	low	unlimited (open system)
Goal	Positioning	Survival + development

5. viability (Z): Methodical determination

The viability of a company is triangulated via:

1. system map

Parameter definition according to Schließmann (chromosome model):

internal chromosomes (culture, skills, leadership ...)
external chromosomes (market forces, politics, technology ...)
dynamic chromosomes (interdependencies, time behavior ...)

2. subjective role analysis

Stakeholder roles
Areas of consensus & conflict
Systemic role behavior (Vester)

3. interdependency analysis

Influence matrix
Stability analysis
Tipping points
OntoSpace® dynamics
fuzzy-logical links

4. viability formula (situational)

e.g. V(t)=f(K(t),R(t),A(t),L(t),S(t),...)V(t) = f(K(t), R(t), A(t), L(t), S(t), ...)V(t)=f(K(t),R(t),A(t),L(t),S(t),...)

with:

K = Complexity competence
R = Resilience
A = Adaptivity
L = Legitimacy
S = System-Fit

All parameters are operationalized, weighted and dynamized individually for each case.

6. what is special about the model

Three-dimensional instead of two-dimensional
- X + Y + Z = relevant strategic reality.
Systemic instead of linear
- the SRM as a space is the stage for all forces, relationships and dynamics.
Individual instead of standardized
- all axes are flexibly parameterized, case-related.
Dynamic instead of static
- strategy = movement, not position.
Viability as a guiding category
- without the Z-axis, X and Y are purely past considerations.
Infinitely expandable
- grows with complexity, technology, politics, ecology - without ever becoming obsolete.

Conclusion

The Schließmann cube is not an extended 2D model,
but a completely new strategy architecture:

strategic
systemic
dynamic
individual
sustainable
methodically open
Scientifically sound
practically applicable

It is the first model that fully reflects the complex reality of modern markets.

The Schließmann Strategy Cube©