My Business Analysis & Research Framework

Business Analysis & Research Framework

Generic

Industrial model

• 3Cs Model

  • Customer
  • Competition
  • Corporation

• Moore’s strategic triangle

  • legitimacy and support
  • Public Value
  • Operational capacity

Systematic problem-solving method

• McKinsey 7-step problem-solving process

  The approach has its foundation in the hypothesis-driven structure of the scientific method. This process is not just applicable to business but is useful in finding solutions for personal problems as well.

  (https://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/2019/10/7_steps_to_bulletproof_problem.html)

  • Define the Problem

    How do you define a problem in a precise way to meet the decision maker’s needs? The important first step is to describe the context and the boundaries of the problem that is agreed upon by those involved in making the decision. A weak problem statement is a common problem. “Rushing into analysis with a vague problem statement is a clear formula for long hours and frustrated clients.”

  • Disaggregate the Issues

    How do you disaggregate the issues and develop hypotheses to be explored? Every problem needs to be broken down into its basic issues. “We employ logic trees of various types to elegantly disassemble problems into parts for analysis, driving alternative hypotheses of the answer.”

  • Prioritize the Issues, Prune the Tree

    How do you prioritize what to do and what not to do? Once you have defined the issues, you need to decide which ones are the most important or have the greatest impact on the final outcome.

  • Build a Workplan and Timetable

    How do you develop a workplan and assign analytical tasks? “Once the component parts are defined and prioritized, you then have to link each part to a plan for fact gathering and analysis. The workplan and timetable assigns team members to analytic tasks with specific outputs and completion dates.”

  • Conduct Critical Analyses

    How do you decide on the fact gathering and analysis to resolve the issues, while avoiding cognitive biases? Some problems don’t need complex analysis, others require more complex tools. A structured approach will help to eliminate bias and a massaging of the facts. Having a diverse team allows for different viewpoints to be brought together.

  • Synthesize Findings from the Analysis

    How do you go about synthesizing the findings to highlight insights? “Findings have to be assembled into a logical structure to test validity and then synthesized in a way that convinces others that you have a good solution.”

  • Prepare a Powerful Communication

    How do you communicate them in a compelling way? Finally, a storyline needs to be developed that links your solution back to the original problem. Importantly, it needs to be told in a way your audience understands and is made relevant to them. In other words, tell a great story.

• MECE principle

  Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive

  • Issue Tree
  • Decision Tree
  • Hypothesis Tree

• 5W2H

  • why
  • What
  • Who
  • When
  • Where
  • How
  • How much

• de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats

  This is often used in a brainstorming session to generate and analyse ideas and options. It is useful to encourage specific types of thinking and can be a convenient and symbolic way to request someone to “switch gears”. It involves restricting the group to only thinking in specific ways – giving ideas & analysis in the “mood” of the time. Also known as the Six Thinking Hats.

  • White: Pure facts, logical.
  • Green: Creative.
  • Yellow: Bright, optimistic, positive.
  • Black: Negative, devil’s advocate.
  • Red: Emotional.
  • Blue: Cold, control. # Organizational analysis

In organizational theory, organizational analysis or industrial analysis is the process of reviewing the development, work environment, personnel, and operation of a business or another type of association.

Internal analysis

• MOST

  to perform an internal environmental analysis

  • Mission

    where the business intends to go

  • Objectives

    the key goals which will help achieve the mission

  • Strategies

    options for moving forward

  • Tactics

    how strategies are put into action

• McKinsey 7S Framework

  to assess and monitor changes in the internal situation of an organization

  • structure
  • strategy
  • systems
  • skills
  • style
  • staff
  • shared values

• VRIO

  • Value
  • Rarity
  • Inimitability
  • Organization

External analysis

• PEST

  PEST analysis is a scan of the external macro-environment in which an organisation exists.

  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Society
  • Technology

• Four corner’s analysis

  a useful tool for analyzing competitors. The model can be used to:

  develop a profile of the likely strategy changes a competitor might make and how successful they may be determine each competitor’s probable response to the range of feasible strategic moves other competitors might make determine each competitor’s probable reaction

  • Motivation

    • Drivers

      Analysing a competitor’s goals assists in understanding whether they are satisfied with their current performance and market position. This helps predict how they might react to external forces and how likely it is that they will change strategy.

    • Management assumptions

      The perceptions and assumptions that a competitor has about itself, the industry and other companies will influence its strategic decisions. Analysing these assumptions can help identify the competitor’s biases and blind spots.

  • Actions

    • Strategy

      A company’s strategy determines how a competitor competes in the market. However, there can be a difference between ‘intended strategy’ (the strategy as stated in annual reports, interviews and public statements) and the ‘realised strategy’ (the strategy that the company is following in practice, as evidenced by acquisitions, capital expenditure and new product development). Where the current strategy is yielding satisfactory results, it is reasonable to assume that an organisation will continue to compete in the same way as it currently does.

    • Capabilities

      The drivers, assumptions and strategy of an organisation will determine the nature, likelihood and timing of a competitor’s actions. However, an organisation’s capabilities will determine its ability to initiate or respond to external forces.

Situation analysis

Situation analysis is basically the process of critically evaluating the internal and external conditions that affect an organization, which is done prior to a new initiative or project. It provides the knowledge to identify the current opportunities and challenges to your organization, service or product

• SWOT Analysis

  identifies the internal and external factors that are important to achieving that objective. strengths and weaknesses are usually internal to the organization, while opportunities and threats are usually external.

  • Internal

    • Strengths
    • Weaknesses

  • External

    • Opportunities
    • Threats

• Porter’s five forces analysis

  assessing and evaluating the competitive strength and position of a business organisation

  • Supplier power

    An assessment of how easy it is for suppliers to drive up prices. This is driven by: the number of suppliers of each essential input the uniqueness of their product or service the relative size and strength of the supplier the cost of switching from one supplier to another.

  • Buyer power

    An assessment of how easy it is for buyers to drive prices down. This is driven by: the number of buyers in the market the importance of each individual buyer to the organisation the cost to the buyer of switching from one supplier to another.

  • Competitive rivalry

    The key driver is the number and capability of competitors in the market. Many competitors, offering undifferentiated products and services, will reduce market attractiveness.

  • Threat of substitution

    Where close substitute products exist in a market, it increases the likelihood of customers switching to alternatives in response to price increases. This reduces both the power of suppliers and the attractiveness of the market.

  • Threat of new entry

    Profitable markets attract new entrants, which erodes profitability. Unless incumbents have strong and durable barriers to entry, for example, patents, economies of scale, capital requirements or government policies, then profitability will decline to a competitive rate.

• Value chain analysis

  to understand how activities within the organisation create value for customers

  • Separate the organisation’s operations into primary and support activities.

    Primary activities are those that physically create a product, as well as market the product, deliver the product to the customer and provide after-sales support. Support activities are those that facilitate the primary activities.

  • Allocate cost to each activity

    Activity cost information provides managers with valuable insight into the internal capabilities of an organisation.

  • Identify the activities that are critical to customer’s satisfaction and market success.

    There are three important considerations in evaluating the role of each activity in the value chain.

    Company mission. This influences the choice of activities an organisation undertakes. Industry type. The nature of the industry influences the relative importance of activities. Value system. This includes the value chains of an organisation’s upstream and downstream partners in providing products to end customers.

• GE-McKinsey Matrix

  GE-McKinsey nine-box matrix is a strategy tool that offers a systematic approach for the multi business corporation to prioritize its investments among its business units

  • Industry attractiveness

    Industry attractiveness indicates how hard or easy it will be for a company to compete in the market and earn profits. The more profitable the industry is the more attractive it becomes. When evaluating the industry attractiveness, analysts should look how an industry will change in the long run rather than in the near future, because the investments needed for the product usually require long lasting commitment. Industry attractiveness consists of many factors that collectively determine the competition level:

    Long run growth rate Industry size Industry profitability: entry barriers, exit barriers, supplier power, buyer power, threat of substitutes and available complements (use Porter’s Five Forces analysis to determine this) Industry structure (use Structure-Conduct-Performance framework to determine this) Product life cycle changes Changes in demand Trend of prices Macro environment factors (use PEST or PESTEL for this) Seasonality Availability of labor Market segmentation

  • Competitive strength of a unit

    Along the X axis, the matrix measures how strong, in terms of competition, a particular business unit is against its rivals. In other words, managers try to determine whether a business unit has a sustainable competitive advantage (or at least temporary competitive advantage) or not. If the company has a sustainable competitive advantage, the next question is: “For how long it will be sustained?”

    The following factors determine the competitive strength of a business unit:

    Total market share Market share growth compared to rivals Brand strength (use brand value for this) Profitability of the company Customer loyalty VRIO resources or capabilities (use VRIO framework to determine this) Your business unit strength in meeting industry’s critical success factors (use Competitive Profile Matrix to determine this) Strength of a value chain (use Value Chain Analysis and Benchmarking to determine this) Level of product differentiation Production flexibility

• Internal-External Matrix

  The IE Matrix is a strategic management tool which is used to analyze the current position of the divisions and suggest the strategies for the future

  • Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix

    An Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix is a strategy formulation tool that summarizes and evaluates the major strengths and weaknesses in the functional areas of a business, and it also provides a basis for identifying and evaluating relationships among those areas.

  • External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix

    An External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix allows strategists to summarize and evaluate economic, social, cultural, demographic, environmental, political, governmental, legal, technological, and competitive information

• Strategic Position and Action Evaluation Matrix (SPACE)

  The analysis allows to create an idea of the appropriate business strategy for the enterprise. The analysis assesses the internal and external environment and allows to design an appropriate strategy, including:

  Conservative Posture indicating a company having a limited competitive advantage, in a not so attractive industry but enjoying financial strength and operating in a relatively stable environment. Such a company should endeavor to cut down non-performing products, control costs, improve productivity, introduce new products and enhance sales by profitable market expansion. This posture can be compared with Michael Porter’s generic strategy of focus. Aggressive Posture indicating that the company can fully exploit available opportunities and enhance its market share. As the company has high financial strength, high industry strength, enjoys competitive advantage and belongs to an attractive industry and operates in a relatively stable environmental conditions. This posture is akin to Michael Porter’s generic strategy of overall cost leadership. Defensive Posture indicates a company that lacks both competitive advantage and financial strength and belongs to a not-so-attractive industry and operates in an unstable environment. All four dimensions are weak and work against the company. It is advisable for a such a company to initiate measures like discontinue nonviable products, tightly control costs, and monitor cash flows strictly, cutting down/reducing capacity and postponing or limiting investments.

  Competitive Posture indicating limited financial strength, medium competitive advantage in an attractive industry and operating in a relatively volatile or unstable environment, necessitating the company to maintain and enhance competitive advantage by improving/differentiating product; widening the product line, improving marketing effectiveness and mobilizing, augmenting financial resources. This posture is considered to be quite similar to Michael Porter’s generic strategy of product differentiation. (https://hmhub.me/strategic-position-and-action-evaluation-matrix-space/)

  • External environment

    • Environmental Stability

      it is influenced by the following sub-factors: technological change, inflation rate, demand volatility, price range of competitive products, price elasticity of demand, pressure from the substitutes: Technological changes Rate if inflation Demand variability Prices of competing products Barriers to entry into market Competitive pressure Price elasticity of demand

    • Industry Attractiveness

      it is influenced by the following subfactors: growth potential, profit potential, financial stability, resource utilization, complexity of entering the industry, labor productivity, capacity utilization, bargaining power of manufacturers: Growth potential Profit potential Financial Stability Technological know-how Resource utilization Capital intensity Ease of entry into market Productivity Capacity Utilization

  • Internal environment

    • Competitive advantage

      it is influenced by the following factors: market share, product quality, product lifecycle, innovation cycle, customer loyalty, vertical integration: Market Share Product Quality Product life cycle Product Replacement cycle Customer Loyalty Competitor’s Capacity Utilization Technological know-how Vertical integration

    • Financial strength

      it is influenced by the following indicators: return on investment, liquidity, debt ratio, available versus required capital, cash flow, inventory turnover: Return on investment Leverage liquidity Capital Required/Available Cash Flow Ease of exit from market Risk involved in business

• SCP framework

  illustrates the influence of an industry’s structure on the conduct and performance of industry players, and the effects of external shocks on all three.

  • Structure
  • Conduct
  • Performance

Viability study

• Heptalysis

  used to analyze early stage businesses/ventures

  (http://paperworknightmare.com/use-heptalysis-to-evaluate-your-new-business-venture/)

  • Market opportunity

    You need to analyze the market before launching any new product or service. You need this market research to determine whether or not there is interest in your product or service and to figure out the varying needs and characteristics of your target demographic. For your product or service to be successful, you need a ready and willing market.

    Once you have determined that there is a need for your product or service, it’s time to check out the competition. Your market share will depend on how many and how large your competitors’ brands are. Your best bet is to find a gap in a sustainable market before going forth with any plans.

  • Product/solution

    You need to figure out the top of mind problem of your target market. Work on your product or service until you know its definite purpose. Don’t worry about resolving problems that aren’t required by your target market.

    You’re much better off marketing and selling a clearly defined product or service that solves a real problem of your target market. What does your market urgently want? Give them that or else they’re going elsewhere. Spend time and budget clarifying your product or service until it definitely solves a relevant issue.

  • Execution plan

    Now is the time to build a solid plan of action for your young business. You need to set out your strategy in order to manage a succinct and consistent company-wide roll out. Determine the structure of your business and the roles of the individual people who will fill them. Include your colleagues in the creation process as their specialized input could be valuable.

    You want your team working cohesively towards the same goal, so having a good plan of execution will ensure that. Cover as much detail as you can, however, be ready to evolve and adapt as time goes on, and variations occur.

  • Financial engine

    Your business’ health is dependent on financial planning and is very important to young ones with limited cashflows and narrower profit margins. Construct a thorough outline of your anticipated fiscal situation including payments and money generating strategies.

    For the best detailed plan, include even the smallest financial commitments in your calculations. You won’t be able to think of every eventuality but having an extensive estimate of your potential cash flow will help in your decision-making. You will also need to provide future creditors you negotiate with such financial information.

  • Human capital

    This will be your employees and partners. Of course, the most important asset of a business are the people who run it. Come up with an organizational structure for your business and who will be doing what. You can identify any significant discrepancies or inefficiencies.

    Any partners should be taken on with extreme caution, do they fit in with your goals and way of thinking. For staff your best to hire slow and fire fast. Having the right people in their most suitable roles can be the best decision a young business can make so invest your time and money in getting it right the first time. The specific knowledge and expertise of the individuals in your organization also comes under the umbrella of human capital. Tap into the resources available to you by heeding the advice of anyone who can offer an informed opinion.

  • Potential return

    What is your potential return you expect over time, looking at your market, structure, and product or service? Predicting your possible return on investment allows you to map out how you’re reinvest or otherwise use your proceeds.

    Designate a time limit within which you will see a return and implement methods for plotting your growth. Think ahead to track any changes in crucial areas of your business that you’ve identified as performance indicators.

  • Margin of safety

    Starting a new business always has some level of risk. Determine your key areas of risk and create a plan to minimize the threat and to deal with any issues that might arise. You’ll never avoid risk altogether, however, you can lower the impact of adverse events through careful planning.

    When assessing potential problems, take internal and external factors into consideration. Legislative changes are something that happens frequently and can have a massive impact on your entrepreneurial ambitions. Recently in Canada, the federal government decided to change how corporation compensation works, and got lots of flack for it. The business owner had to adapt the way he compensated other owners and family members. You need to keep informed and give yourself a healthy margin for error in all your calculations.

Customer analysis

Persona analysis

Persona analysis is a way to get to know the target audience and explore their needs and goals so we can make sure that the product we build will be useful, enjoyable, and indispensable for our intended users.

Persona analysis is an important step in the Product Inception process that allows us to begin creating and prioritizing user stories that will result in a effective product.

(https://sophilabs.com/blog/product-inception-persona-analysis)

• Skills

  The Skills category refers to a user persona’s backstory and general education level as well as their skills and hobbies. How do they spend their time? We need to understand the user’s level of literacy, what kind of information they are familiar with, and what their interests are in order to understand what is important to our users and thus cater to their needs.

• Concerns

  Here, we need to define the user personas’ concerns related to the product. Every user has a need they are trying to fulfill when using the product. What is that need, and what do they worry about in relation to that need?

• Goals

  The Goals category is related to Concerns, but it’s not the same. Here, we look at what the user persona is trying to achieve with the product. What value do they receive by using it?

• Technology

  For the technology category, we need to evaluate the user persona’s level of technological literacy and what kinds of technology they interact with on a regular basis. Are they comfortable with technology? Which do they use most often: a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop, or a desktop computer? How do they engage with technology in their daily life? Looking into these questions will tell us a lot about the UI/UX we need to develop for our software product in order to engage the users.

RFM model

Analyzing RFM Segmentation:

Champions are your best customers, who bought most recently, most often, and are heavy spenders. Reward these customers. They can become early adopters for new products and will help promote your brand. Potential Loyalists are your recent customers with average frequency and who spent a good amount. Offer membership or loyalty programs or recommend related products to upsell them and help them become your Loyalists or Champions. New Customers are your customers who have a high overall RFM score but are not frequent shoppers. Start building relationships with these customers by providing onboarding support and special offers to increase their visits. At Risk Customers are your customers who purchased often and spent big amounts, but haven’t purchased recently. Send them personalized reactivation campaigns to reconnect, and offer renewals and helpful products to encourage another purchase. Can’t Lose Them are customers who used to visit and purchase quite often, but haven’t been visiting recently. Bring them back with relevant promotions, and run surveys to find out what went wrong and avoid losing them to a competitor.

• Recency
• Frequency
• Monetary

Purchase funnel

• Awareness

  – the customer is aware of the existence of a product or service

• Interest

  – actively expressing an interest in a product group

• Desire

  – aspiring to a particular brand or product

• Action

  – taking the next step towards purchasing the chosen product

Basket analysis

• Support
• Confidence
• Lift

Stakeholder interaction

Stakeholder analysis

• Power
• Interest/Need
• Influence
• Support/Attitude

VPEC-T

This technique is used when analyzing the expectations of multiple parties having different views of a system in which they all have an interest in common, but have different priorities and different responsibilities

• Values

  constitute the objectives, beliefs and concerns of all parties participating. They may be financial, social, tangible and intangible

• Policies

  constraints that govern what may be done and the manner in which it may be done

• Events

  real-world proceedings that stimulate activity

• Content

  the meaningful portion of the documents, conversations, messages, etc. that are produced and used by all aspects of business activity

• Trust

  between users of the system and their right to access and change information within it

CATWOE analysis

to understand a stakeholders perspective and the impact that this view will have on the direction of the business change

• Customers

  Who are the beneficiaries of the highest level business process and how does the issue affect them?

• Actors

  Who is involved in the situation, who will be involved in implementing solutions and what will impact their success?

• Transformation Process

  What processes or systems are affected by the issue?

• World View

  What is the big picture and what are the wider impacts of the issue?

• Owner

  Who owns the process or situation being investigated and what role will they play in the solution?

• Environmental Constraints

  What are the constraints and limitations that will impact the solution and its success?

Marketing

Marketing Plan

Introduction Situation analysis (internal & external analysis) Objectives Budgeting Strategy Execution Evaluation

Market Research

Market size Market trends Market growth rate Market opportunity Market profitability Industry cost structure Distribution channels Success factors

Marketing Strategy Theory

• 4P

  • Product
  • Price
  • Place
  • Promotion

• 4C

  • Consumer
  • Cost
  • Convenience
  • Communication

Marketing Strategy Selection

• STP marketing

  • Segmentation
  • Targeting
  • Positioning

• Pareto Analysis (80/20 rule)

  • category
  • frequency

• Grand Strategy Matrix

  Strong Market Position + Strong Market Growth Strategies: Market Development Product Development Market Penetration Backward Integration Forward Integration Concentric Diversification

  Weak Market Position + Strong Market Growth Strategies: Market Development Product Development Market Penetration Horizontal/Vertical Integration Liquidation Divestiture

  Weak Market Positioning + Weak Market Growth Strategies: Related / Unrelated Diversification Conglomerate Diversification Retrenchment Liquidation

  Strong Market Positing + Weak Market Growth Strategies: Related / Unrelated Diversification Horizontal / Vertical Diversification Joint Ventures Conglomerate Diversification

  • Market Position
  • Market Growth

• ROS/RMS matrix

  • Return Of Sales
  • Relative Market Share

• Strategic Clock Model

  There are eight positions across the clock, each highlighting a different strategy to success within a marketplace.

  Position 1: Low Price & Low Value Added: This strategy is about quantity selling. The products or services are low in value and the price point is the lowest possible. The combination makes it the least competitive area on the Strategy Clock. Position 2: Low Price: Low Price, as the name suggests, is a strategy about becoming the lowest cost option for buyers in the marketplace. It’s a strategy that can have low margins, so process efficiency and cost reduction is key for it to be successful. With this strategy, you’re aiming for high quantity levels, otherwise you can end up with low sales, low price – a fatal combination. Position 3: Hybrid: The Hybrid position sits between low price and differentiation. It’s around ensuring the price is competitive, ideally with a low perceived price from buyers, while promoting the added value aspects of the product. The success of the hybrid strategy comes down to the balance between cost and differentiation, attempting to maximise each while maintaining good margins. Position 4: Differentiation: The Differentiation strategy is where a business focuses on differentiating their products or services from competitors by adding high perceived value. This strategy has a wide spectrum from full product diversity through to unique features within a core product. If you’re looking at the Differentiation Strategy then it’s helpful to also look at the Ansoff Matrix and the 4Ps of Innovation. For more on this strategy take a read of Porter’s Generic Strategies. Position 5: Focused Differentiation: Focused Differentiation is about providing high value at a high price (not to be confused with Porter’s Generic Strategy of the same name, which talks about going to a niche market). When successfully done, this strategy provides high profits but can be difficult to maintain – the iPhone launch and subsequent early growth is an example of this strategy. Position 6: Risky High Margins: Any strategy that has the name Risky in it should mean you completely understand your options before you embark on it, of course! The main thrust of this strategy is to go in with a high price point without any perceived added value. You’re banking on a good brand in order to pull this strategy off, as often buyers will pay more for a known brand, one that has emotions associated to it, than one which is cheaper. Position 7: Monopoly Pricing: In monopoly markets a single company controls the product and pricing, so other factors such as price points, value or competitors play less of a factor. Of course, all monopolies can come to an end – so these companies still need to keep an eye on their external factors. Position 8: Loss of Market Share: This is generally the worst position to be in and suggests that the company is exiting the market or is in decline. It may be that they have chosen this strategy as part of a move to newer markets, or it may be forced upon them due to getting their price or market fit incorrect.

  • perceived value to customer
  • price

• BCG Matrix

  To use the chart, analysts plot a scatter graph to rank the business units (or products) on the basis of their relative market shares and growth rates.

  Cash cows is where a company has high market share in a slow-growing industry. These units typically generate cash in excess of the amount of cash needed to maintain the business. They are regarded as staid and boring, in a “mature” market, yet corporations value owning them due to their cash-generating qualities. They are to be “milked” continuously with as little investment as possible, since such investment would be wasted in an industry with low growth. Cash “milked” is used to fund stars and question marks, that are expected to become cash cows some time in the future.[3] Dogs, more charitably called pets, are units with low market share in a mature, slow-growing industry. These units typically “break even”, generating barely enough cash to maintain the business’s market share. Though owning a break-even unit provides the social benefit of providing jobs and possible synergies that assist other business units, from an accounting point of view such a unit is worthless, not generating cash for the company. They depress a profitable company’s return on assets ratio, used by many investors to judge how well a company is being managed. Dogs, it is thought, should be sold off once short-time harvesting has been maximized.[3] Question marks (also known as a problem child or Wild dogs) are businesses operating with a low market share in a high-growth market. They are a starting point for most businesses. Question marks have a potential to gain market share and become stars, and eventually cash cows when market growth slows. If question marks do not succeed in becoming a market leader, then after perhaps years of cash consumption, they will degenerate into dogs when market growth declines. When shift from question mark to star is unlikely, the BCG matrix suggests divesting the question mark and repositioning its resources more effectively in the remainder of the corporate portfolio.[3] Question marks must be analyzed carefully in order to determine whether they are worth the investment required to grow market share. Stars are units with a high market share in a fast-growing industry. They are graduated question marks with a market- or niche-leading trajectory, for example: amongst market share front-runners in a high-growth sector, and/or having a monopolistic or increasingly dominant unique selling proposition with burgeoning/fortuitous proposition drive(s) from: novelty, fashion/promotion (e.g. newly prestigious celebrity-branded fragrances), customer loyalty (e.g. greenfield or military/gang enforcement backed, and/or innovative, grey-market/illicit retail of addictive drugs, for instance the British East India Company’s, late-1700s opium-based Qianlong Emperor embargo-busting, Canton System), goodwill (e.g. monopsonies) and/or gearing (e.g. oligopolies, for instance Portland cement producers near boomtowns),[citation needed] etc. The hope is that stars become next cash cows. Stars require high funding to fight competitors and maintain their growth rate. When industry growth slows, if they remain a niche leader or are amongst the market leaders, stars become cash cows; otherwise, they become dogs due to low relative market share.

  • Relative market share
  • Market growth rate

• ALD matrix

  • Industry life cycle stage
  • Competitive position

• Igor Ansoff’s Product/Market matrix

  • product
  • market

• the Rule of Three and Four

  A stable competitive market never has more than three significant competitors, the largest of which has no more than four times the market share of the smallest.

  The conditions which create this rule are:

  A ratio of 2 to 1 in market share between any two competitors seems to be the equilibrium point at which it is neither practical nor advantageous for either competitor to increase or decrease share. This is an empirical observation. Any competitor with less than one quarter the share of the largest competitor cannot be an effective competitor. This too is empirical but is predictable from experience curve relationships.

  • market share
  • competitiveness

• war gaming

• Competitive Profile Matrix

  Competitive profile matrix is an essential strategic management tool to compare the firm with the major players of the industry. Competitive profile matrix show the clear picture to the firm about their strong points and weak points relative to their competitors.

  • Critical Success Factors

    Critical success factors (CSF) are the key areas that determine a company’s success in the industry. To succeed in its industry, a company must perform at the highest possible level of excellence. These factors vary among industries or even strategic groups. CSF should include both internal and external factors for analysis. Therefore, if you want a more robust and accurate analysis, include more, relevant factors.

  • Weight

    Assign a weight ranging from 0.0 (low importance) to 1.0 (high importance) to each critical success factor. The weight indicates the importance of that factor in the company’s success. If you don’t assign weights, then all factors would be equally important. This is an impossible scenario in the real world. The sum of all the weights must equal 1.0. You should not emphasise separate factors too much by assigning a weight of 0.3 or more. This is because a company’s success is rarely determined by just one or few factors.

• Four Actions Framework (ERRC)

  Blue Ocean Strategy’s Four Actions Framework poses four central questions that let companies break the value-cost trade-off and create a blue ocean

  • Eliminate
  • Reduce
  • Raise
  • Create

Product prioritization

To use the chart, analysts plot a scatter graph to rank the business units (or products) on the basis of their relative market shares and growth rates.

Cash cows is where a company has high market share in a slow-growing industry. These units typically generate cash in excess of the amount of cash needed to maintain the business. They are regarded as staid and boring, in a “mature” market, yet corporations value owning them due to their cash-generating qualities. They are to be “milked” continuously with as little investment as possible, since such investment would be wasted in an industry with low growth. Cash “milked” is used to fund stars and question marks, that are expected to become cash cows some time in the future.[3] Dogs, more charitably called pets, are units with low market share in a mature, slow-growing industry. These units typically “break even”, generating barely enough cash to maintain the business’s market share. Though owning a break-even unit provides the social benefit of providing jobs and possible synergies that assist other business units, from an accounting point of view such a unit is worthless, not generating cash for the company. They depress a profitable company’s return on assets ratio, used by many investors to judge how well a company is being managed. Dogs, it is thought, should be sold off once short-time harvesting has been maximized.[3] Question marks (also known as a problem child or Wild dogs) are businesses operating with a low market share in a high-growth market. They are a starting point for most businesses. Question marks have a potential to gain market share and become stars, and eventually cash cows when market growth slows. If question marks do not succeed in becoming a market leader, then after perhaps years of cash consumption, they will degenerate into dogs when market growth declines. When shift from question mark to star is unlikely, the BCG matrix suggests divesting the question mark and repositioning its resources more effectively in the remainder of the corporate portfolio.[3] Question marks must be analyzed carefully in order to determine whether they are worth the investment required to grow market share. Stars are units with a high market share in a fast-growing industry. They are graduated question marks with a market- or niche-leading trajectory, for example: amongst market share front-runners in a high-growth sector, and/or having a monopolistic or increasingly dominant unique selling proposition with burgeoning/fortuitous proposition drive(s) from: novelty, fashion/promotion (e.g. newly prestigious celebrity-branded fragrances), customer loyalty (e.g. greenfield or military/gang enforcement backed, and/or innovative, grey-market/illicit retail of addictive drugs, for instance the British East India Company’s, late-1700s opium-based Qianlong Emperor embargo-busting, Canton System), goodwill (e.g. monopsonies) and/or gearing (e.g. oligopolies, for instance Portland cement producers near boomtowns),[citation needed] etc. The hope is that stars become next cash cows. Stars require high funding to fight competitors and maintain their growth rate. When industry growth slows, if they remain a niche leader or are amongst the market leaders, stars become cash cows; otherwise, they become dogs due to low relative market share.

(https://www.productplan.com/learn/product-management-frameworks/)

• value vs. complexity framework

  • Value
  • Complexity

• Weighted Scoring

  • Benefit
  • Cost

• Opportunity Scoring

  • Features importance
  • satisfaction

• Affinity Grouping

• Story mapping

• Eisenhower Matrix

  • Urgency
  • Importance

• Moscow method

  to prioritize requirements by allocating an appropriate priority, gauging it against the validity of the requirement itself and its priority against other requirements

  • Must have

    or else delivery will be a failure

  • Should have

    otherwise will have to adopt a workaround

  • Could have

    to increase delivery satisfaction

  • Won’t have this time

    useful to the exclude requirements from this delivery timeframe

• RICE Scoring Model

  • reach
  • impact
  • confidence
  • effort

• Cost of delay

• PriX method

Risk management

Early warning systems

to detect or predict strategically important events as early as possible

• Market definition

  A clear definition of the scope of the arena to be scrutinised. For example, is the arena a particular geographical region, brandor market?

• Open systems

  An ability to capture a wide range of information on relevant competitors.

• Filtering

  Information that has been collected on the arena needs to be filtered according to significance. Expert interpretation is required in order to identify particular events that signify strategic moves or shifts.

• Predictive intelligence

  Using knowledge of the forces driving a competitor to predict which direction they are likely to take. One technique is to build likely scenarios and actively seek the signals that confirm the scenario. The predictions need to be assessed for their probability of occurring and potential impact.

• Communicating intelligence

  Ensuring that the right people in an organization receive regular briefing on key signals.

• Contingency planning

  Events that have a high potential impact or probability of occurring may merit contingency plans, for example, a change of strategy or mitigating actions.

• A cyclical process

  The process of scrutinising information for new warning signals should never stop. While the emphasis is on emerging threats and opportunities, the process should be flexible enough to tackle unexpected shorter term developments too.

Strategic implementation

Basic strategic process

vision statement objectives internal & external analysis strategic choices strategic implementation

Strategic Management

• Defining the levels of strategic intent of the business

  Establishing vision Designing mission Setting objectives

• Formulation of strategy

  Performing environmental and organizational appraisal Considering strategies Carrying out strategic analysis Making strategies Preparing strategic plan

• Implementation of strategy

  Putting strategies into practice Developing structures and systems Managing behavioural and functional implementation

• Strategic Evaluation and Control

  Performing evaluation Exercising control Recreating strategies

SCRS

The SCRS approach in business analysis claims that the analysis should flow from the high-level business strategy to the solution, through the current state and the requirements.

• Strategy
• Current State
• Requirements
• Solution

PDCA Cycle

• plan
• do
• check
• act

Benchmarking

• business processes
• performance metrics