[http://cisr.mit.edu/resresearch/research-overview/ CISR], a research group at the MIT Sloan School of Management has defined Operating Model in terms of this lightweight method to capture the business needs for degree of Business Process Standardization and Data Integration. CISR suggests that this type of Operating Model is useful to establish requirements for reusable Core Capabilities and to guide IT Investment decisions governance. The Operating Model can be used to drive architecture and infrastructure development ensuring that business needs are met with the right IT foundation. The resulting IT systems enable the company to grow its business, without having to do deep surgery on the IT systems each time the business grows either organically or through acquisitions. The implementation of integrated business processes and IT systems is the realization of the Operating Model.
The team of Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill and David C. Robertson summarized their research in Enterprise Architecture as Strategy.<ref>[http://www.architectureasstrategy.com/book/eas/about.htm.]</ref> They found that an organization with an explicitly defined operating model report 31% higher operational efficiency, 33% higher customer satisfaction, and a 34% advantage in new product development.
