Course Documents -> COMPETITION & INDUSTRY
Chapters 2-4 of LW Text.......................
FEATURED.......
COMPETEITION
STEPS OF COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
  PERCEPTUAL MAPPING
INDUSTRY ATTRACTIVENESS-FACTORS
 AGGREGATE MARKET
 INDUSTRY
 ENVIRONMENT
LW CHAPTER TWO
In this chapter, LW argued that the set of competitors that pose a threat to a product can be highly varied and can come from a variety of what have traditionally been referred to as industries. Therefore, a “market� or an “industry� is often dynamic and difficult to define; often the labels are used more for convenience than to accurately describe the underlying patterns of competition. We presented a framework to conceptualize competition and methods to help form ideas about the competitive set. Finally, we discussed approaches to selecting competitors by choosing the relevant levels and specific brands. Essentially, we suggest that competitors are those companies whose products or services compete for the same customers directly through offering similar products or services (product form or category competition), indirectly through satisfying similar basic needs (generic competition), or in terms of budget. The product manager in charge of an existing product in an established category would generally be most interested in product form or category competition, since those are the products that immediately threaten his or her “livelihood.� However, for new product plans, a generic perspective is very important since the new product is substituting for another category satisfying similar customer needs.
LW CHAPTER THREE
As LW went through the three major groups of factors for assessing category attractiveness, we stressed the importance of qualitative assessment: indicating whether the factor had a positive or negative (or possibly neutral) impact on product management in that category of analysis. Clearly, certain factors have the potential to affect some products in a category more than others. For example, a product with a strong brand name is better able than one without strong brand identification to create a barrier to entry as a potential limit to brand switching. Thus, the purpose of this analysis is to develop a general perspective on the effects of the major factors on a firm competing in the category.
LW CHAPTER FOUR
Competitive analysis is an important component of strategy development. Many approaches have been followed and this chapter provides a framework (Figures 4.8, 4.13, 4.14, and 4.15) that integrates several of these. Like most other analyses, however, the key ingredient is not clever devices, unethical behavior, or elegant presentation. Rather, the quality of competitor analysis depends heavily on the effort devoted to it.
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FEATURED.......
COMPETEITION
STEPS OF COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
  PERCEPTUAL MAPPING
INDUSTRY ATTRACTIVENESS-FACTORS
 AGGREGATE MARKET
 INDUSTRY
 ENVIRONMENT
LW CHAPTER TWO
In this chapter, LW argued that the set of competitors that pose a threat to a product can be highly varied and can come from a variety of what have traditionally been referred to as industries. Therefore, a “market� or an “industry� is often dynamic and difficult to define; often the labels are used more for convenience than to accurately describe the underlying patterns of competition. We presented a framework to conceptualize competition and methods to help form ideas about the competitive set. Finally, we discussed approaches to selecting competitors by choosing the relevant levels and specific brands. Essentially, we suggest that competitors are those companies whose products or services compete for the same customers directly through offering similar products or services (product form or category competition), indirectly through satisfying similar basic needs (generic competition), or in terms of budget. The product manager in charge of an existing product in an established category would generally be most interested in product form or category competition, since those are the products that immediately threaten his or her “livelihood.� However, for new product plans, a generic perspective is very important since the new product is substituting for another category satisfying similar customer needs.
LW CHAPTER THREE
As LW went through the three major groups of factors for assessing category attractiveness, we stressed the importance of qualitative assessment: indicating whether the factor had a positive or negative (or possibly neutral) impact on product management in that category of analysis. Clearly, certain factors have the potential to affect some products in a category more than others. For example, a product with a strong brand name is better able than one without strong brand identification to create a barrier to entry as a potential limit to brand switching. Thus, the purpose of this analysis is to develop a general perspective on the effects of the major factors on a firm competing in the category.
LW CHAPTER FOUR
Competitive analysis is an important component of strategy development. Many approaches have been followed and this chapter provides a framework (Figures 4.8, 4.13, 4.14, and 4.15) that integrates several of these. Like most other analyses, however, the key ingredient is not clever devices, unethical behavior, or elegant presentation. Rather, the quality of competitor analysis depends heavily on the effort devoted to it.
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