Homework
Playing Field, Competition, and Our Organization
TO: Insert 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.
a. Company Name and
Organization within
the company
Example “Motel Six”
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)
b. Industry Example “Hospitality Industry”
c. Market Size Provide a market size estimate for the Industry or the Playing Field (Note: This
should be the global market and not the size of your current company. The size of
your current company goes into the fourth table)
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.)
e. Rationale for Selection
Brief explanation of why you selected this segment. (Note: We usually determine
target segments based on factors like revenue potential, growth rates, financial
attractiveness, conformance with our key capabilities and competencies, our ability
to meet this segment’s customer needs, etc.)
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2. Competitive Analysis
Competitor 1: Company Name
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.
b. Most Significant
Strength and
Weakness
Describe the competitor’s biggest strength.
Describe the competitor’s biggest weakness.
c. Competitive
Impact of
Strength and
Weakness.
Briefly explain how this strength and weakness impacts the competitor’s ability to
compete effectively.
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)
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
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.
b. Most Significant
Strength and
Weakness
Describe the competitor’s biggest strength.
Describe the competitor’s biggest weakness.
c. Competitive
Impact of
Strength and
Weakness.
Briefly explain how this strength and weakness impacts the competitor’s ability to
compete effectively.
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)
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
a. Size Provide information on our relative size in the Playing Field – qualitative perspective is
acceptable if data is not available
b. Most Significant
Strength and
Weakness
Highlight our biggest strength.
Highlight our biggest weakness.
c. Competitive Impact
of Strength and
Weakness.
Briefly explain how these strengths and weaknesses impact our ability to compete
effectively.
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.
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.
