Marketing Strategy

Production Strategy

Strategy Formulation & Classification

Portfolio Analysis-B.C.G. Model or G.E. Model

Michael Porter-Value Chain Analysis in Firms

Michael Porter-Five Force Analysis

Industrial Value Chain Analysis

Macro Environment Analysis

A Template of the Strategic Planning Report

Creating the Business Model

The Art or The Sciense

I heared the issue -"Is Management the Sciense or the Art?" first time when I took the course of organization theory at college, it's hard to make the conclusion straight from heart. The Industry Analysis also face the same situation, there are so many security analysts in the world, but not everyone could become a millionaire on account of his expertise, maybe there exists the tricks to success, or insider trading is the determination factor to be rich, even they are all graduated from famous business school and disciplined by programs of business management or related fields. If the skill of Industry Analysis is the key to catch the money from security market, then we can conclude that the Industry Analysis to be a art, not sciense. For the art, not everyone could be the creator, and neither any security analyst could be rich.

On the contrary, the knowledge worker in the academies try to make the management, including Industry Analysis, to be systematic and transferable at classes. They build up theories from the cases/practices to explain the causes and effects, to predict the performance and the results, and make the management more like the sciense. They provide the principles of management to make profits for the people who owns, or manages the business.

Sometimes, it's the proficiency of people make the different outcome for the cases, senior analysts always make more money than the juniors, and so apples to the labor workers. If the conceptual frameworks, methodologies, and tools are helpful for the management/Industry Analysis, the key to the profit/money would be the capabilities of people to master the means to the goal, and try to be a rational person without private preference, just being a carrier of these management principles.

"The Art or the Sciense" is left to your choice. ^^

Find a Way to Go or Wait for Getting the Complete Information

Being trained by acdamic course, or being a beginner at the Industry Analysis, we always try to make a optimal solution for the planning, therefore we make so much efforts on gathering information as possible as we can. Then, we will be mired in difficulties of excavate the information buried in the old history, and so we are tied up ourselves movements to analyse the data. Just as in the Internet world, almost every webpage are linkage together, and so the information for doing a plan are always related, when will we stop the data collecting?! we must try to gather the key information and not to search and collect the whole information.

Just to find a way to go is logically acceptable by the practicain, maybe we could say that is a principle for running a business, especially on the constraint of resources, eg. time, money, human resources..etc. Maybe we could say that is the relative rationality to your competitor determine the champion, not the rationality versus behavior makes the winner, in this information ages.

Imagine that we are lost in a tropical rainforest, we are thirsty and hungry, the most important thing will not be to find out all the ways to leave the jungle, and make the best choice, but only to find a feasible way to leave the jungle and get survived.

Make sure the purpose of Industry Analysis

The content of the industry analysis report depend on the purpose you want to do it. If you want to make a market plan for profiling the market trend, maket share, and for product positioning, the report will focus on the need and want of consumers, both customers and potential users. If you want to evaluate the investment target, to buy the stocks and equities of the specific company, you will concern the growth of market, the capability of technologies own by the company, and the competitiveness of the company. If you want to make a company strategy, then you should pay attention on the business models of competitors, and find a good segmentation to penetrate....etc. There are many different kinds of conditions, you must ask yourself what you need to do the industry analysis first.

As I know, some business consultant service company, like Gartner Group, International Data Corporation, Market Intelligent Center in Taiwan.. etc, they are providing the market trend and growth prediction for the planner. Of course, there are companies providing the consultant service for business model analysis in specific industry and strategy formulation, like McKinsey&Company, Arthur D. Little, SRI consulting, ...etc. You can find the different support for your need. The most helpful information is that you could interview with the target customers and leaders in the industries if possible, you will collect the most update information and movement of the market, but it hard to be carried out.

Academic research can also provide some insights for your industry analysis, for example, Harvard business Review, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies..etc, they will release some concept creation/innovation on business management from industry cases.

If you have these supports, you will face the tasks to screen, explain, and make integration from the pieces of information. In the end, you must use your originality to creat a new market plan or business strategy to conquare your competitors, no one can help you to make it come true, maybe you could count on your domain know-how, but most of experts say that will depend on your talent God gave to you.

"Good Luck" to you, I wish.

For the beginner

I have some friends, who are not familiar with the skill of industry analysis, ask me how to acquire the knowledge concerning making corporate strategy or marketing plan? They are eager to get the short cut for playing a role of industry analyser, and it's hardly to learn from the text book. I think it's a bad sign for our industry development, it means that the social education system and on-job training can't culivate the appropriate abilities for the business.

In the begining, I always told my friend to read the following books, and they will realize the whole picture for making a industry analysis and marketing plan :
1."Competitive Strategy- Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors", By Michael E. Porter
2."Competitive Advantage- Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance", By Michael E. Porter
3."Marketing Management ",by Philip Kotler

If they have time to spend on studying these three books, they will find out what they need to know. But to read is one thing, to understand is another thing, maybe a practice or case study will make them deep impressed for the concept. Then, I recommand they to survey some industry analysis reports made by security analysts or consultanting firm to catch some idea for their task.

I think if there is a handbook for beginner or expert to do the industry analysis will be helpful for them, so I decide to write down articles concerning industry analysis, and try to make the framework clear to the potential user. This is Why I build up the blog: indanalysis.blogspot.com, and try to figure out what kind of content have been embeded in my mind map.