Competitive analysis

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Under competitive analysis (Engl. Competitor analysis ) means, the preparation and evaluation of methods, practices and products with the competitors in a defined market operate. The aim of competitive analysis is to predict the behavior of those competitors with whom the competition is most intense.

Importance of competitive analysis

Depending on the markets and industries , the competitive analysis has a significant influence on decisions. In industries in which investments in means of production are significant and at the same time exert significant influences on the supply side (see overcapacities in the industry structure analysis), careful consideration of the effect of an investment on the overall market is just as important as the consideration of financing ; typical examples can be found at petroleum refineries, automobile companies, shipyards and many others. In all of these industries, companies incur losses early on when the workload is falling, because the proportion of fixed costs is very high and cannot be quickly adapted to the new situation. However, adapting capacities to increasing demand sometimes requires very expensive investments and often causes an oversupply within the industry. If two companies in such industries carry out similar measures at the same time, this quickly leads to a price war that can damage the entire industry.

Approaches and models

There are different approaches to competitive analysis.

Basic questions after Heinen

The German university professor Edmund Heinen describes three basic questions that seek to determine the strategic direction of a business field in competition . The model is strongly based on Michael E. Porter's market structure considerations , such as the competition matrix and the industry structure analysis .

  • Place of competition : It has to be clarified in which area of ​​the market the business field is to be established. There are the following alternatives:
    • Core market : The business area should encompass the entire market in this area.
    • Niche : A special market segment or a sub-market of the core market.
  • Rules of competition : Before it is launched on the market, it must be decided which rules of competition are to be used to establish the business area in the market. There are two ways to do this:
    • Adaptation : Adaptation is understood to mean the acceptance and consolidation of the existing product definitions, the distribution channels and the pricing policy .
    • Change : Reversal or redefinition of the rules of the market
  • Focus of the competition :
    • Cost orientation : cost and market leadership e.g. B. through standard goods and orientation on the experience curve
    • Differentiation : Striving for success by coordinating the goods and services with the particular characteristics of the customer.

Grant's resource approach

Robert M. Grant advocates the analysis in a resource-oriented approach. He identifies four subject areas that are described for analysis:

  • Identification of the current strategy : An analysis of the strategy is made, which is currently being implemented by the competitors under consideration. Unless there are compelling reasons to change the current strategy, it is reasonable to assume that a company will stick to the current strategy. This results in a clear emphasis on the implemented strategy (as opposed to strategic plans).
  • Identification of the competitor's goals : It is not possible to determine from the current strategy alone which goals the competitor is pursuing and what he wants to achieve with them. Therefore, in the analysis you have to be clear about the long-term goal a company is striving for.
  • Competitor's ideas about the industry : The "industry recipes", opinions, beliefs and ideas that the competitor has about the industry determine his world of thought. Since decisions are made by the limited rationality of the decision maker, knowledge of this world of thought is extremely important for predicting his behavior. In addition, there are previous successes and failures that strengthen or weaken tendencies for certain actions.
  • Determination of the Competitor's Abilities : Under this point, Grant summarizes a competitor's resources and options for action. Just as a Formula 1 racing car can only achieve victory with the skills of a driver, a company can only be successful from a sensible combination of material and human resources. Knowing a competitor's skills directly indicates their ability to take a particular action.

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  1. ^ A b Robert M. Grant (2000) Contemporary Strategy Analysis , 3rd ed., Blackwell Business, Malden (Massachusetts), ISBN 0-631-20780-5
  2. ↑ Edmund Heinen (1991) Industrial Management: Decisions in industrial operations . Gabler, Wiesbaden, ISBN 3-409-33152-2
  3. ↑ JC Spender (1989) Industry Recipes ( Memento of the original from September 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jcspender.com archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.0 MB) Blackwell Publishers, Online

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