A target operating model, often shortened to TOM, answers a single question: what does the business need to look like to deliver where it wants to go. It sits between strategy and execution, translating direction into the concrete arrangement of work.
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Most models describe several linked dimensions. Capabilities and processes define what gets done. Structure, roles, and governance define who decides and who acts. Technology and data define what supports the work. Together they form a coherent picture rather than a set of parts.
The value comes from coherence. A strategy that lacks a matching operating model tends to stall, because the organization is still built for the previous direction.