Playing Field, Competition, and Our Organization
TO: I
nsert name of CEO of selected Company
FROM:
Your name
DATE:
Today’s date
RE: Playing Field, Competition & Our Organization
(Student to update all sections color-coded in RED and change color to BLACK)
1. Introduction and Playing Field Description
Provide an opening paragraph that explains the intended purpose of this Executive Briefing and the topics you intend to cover.
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a. Company Name and Organization within the company |
Example “Motel Six” |
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Example “Motel Division. (Note: If your company is diverse like Apple, it is advised to analyze a specific segment/business unit/product because competitors in the iPhone segment (Samsung/Google) are very different than competitors in their Music division (Spotify, Pandora) |
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b. Industry |
Example “Hospitality Industry” |
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c. Market Size |
Provide a market size estimate for the Industry |
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d. Playing Field |
Example: “Two-star motels in the US and Canada serving road travelers.” (Note: this is the specific description of the segment of the industry in which you will compete. These often have geographic boundaries and descriptors of the key product attributes. See Week 2 of the DQ forum.) |
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e. Rationale for Selection |
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2. Competitive Analysis
Competitor 1:
Company Name
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a. Size |
Provide information on the relative size of this competitor in the Playing Field. if specific data is not available, a qualitative description is acceptable like “Company X is believed to be the market leader” or “Company Y is relatively small and focused only in the U.S. and doesn’t have a presence in Canada.” Try and use the same metric and year for each of the three entities contrasted in this report. |
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b. Most Significant Strength and Weakness |
Describe the competitor’s biggest strength. |
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Describe the competitor’s biggest weakness. |
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c. Competitive Impact of Strength and Weakness. |
Briefly explain how this strength and weakness impacts the competitor’s ability to compete effectively. |
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d. Recent Performance |
Describe the competitor’s recent performance. Explain whether the company is generally winning or losing in this Playing Field based on this recent performance. (Note: You would be well-served to support your conclusions with data) |
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e. Major Developments |
Has the competitor introduced any game-changing new products, technologies, capabilities, etc. (focus on revolutionary and not evolutionary). Have they developed (or lost) a key competitive advantage? |
Competitor 2:
Company Name
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a. Size |
Provide information on the relative size of this competitor in the Playing Field. if specific data is not available, a qualitative description is acceptable like “Company X is believed to be the market leader” or “Company Y is relatively small and focused only in the U.S. and doesn’t have a presence in Canada.” Try and use the same metric and year for each of the three entities contrasted in this report. |
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b. Most Significant Strength and Weakness |
Describe the competitor’s biggest strength. |
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Describe the competitor’s biggest weakness. |
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c. Competitive Impact of Strength and Weakness. |
Briefly explain how this strength and weakness impacts the competitor’s ability to compete effectively. |
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d. Recent Performance |
Describe the competitor’s recent performance. Explain whether the company is generally winning or losing in this Playing Field based on this recent performance. (Note: You would be well-served to support your conclusions with data) |
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e. Major Developments |
Has the competitor introduced any game-changing new products, technologies, capabilities, etc. (focus on revolutionary and not evolutionary). Have they developed (or lost) a key competitive advantage? |
3. Organizational Assessment
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a. Size |
Provide information on our relative size in the Playing Field – qualitative perspective is acceptable if data is not available |
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b. Most Significant Strength and Weakness |
Highlight our biggest strength. |
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Highlight our biggest weakness. |
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c. Competitive Impact of Strength and Weakness. |
Briefly explain how these strengths and weaknesses impact our ability to compete effectively. |
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d. Recent Performance |
Describe our company’s recent performance Explain whether we are generally winning or losing in this Playing Field. (Note: You would be well-served to support your conclusions with data. |
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e. Major Developments |
Have we introduced any game-changing new products, technologies, capabilities, etc. (focus on revolutionary and not evolutionary)? Have we developed (or lost) a key competitive advantage? |
4. Key Conclusions
Provide a succinct conclusion that captures your critical insights about the target segment and the relative competitive balance of the three companies you analyzed. Define where you think your company is poised in terms of its competitive position against the two competitors you identified.
5. References
Include in-text citations for all data, assertions, and facts, and a corresponding reference list. Appendices are allowable if additional supplemental information is needed for the brief.
