Critical Questions

What actions can we take given an analysis of the following?

The competitive landscape:

• How are customers' needs shifting over time? What new segments are emerging?
• What new competitors are emerging and how will they deliver value to customers?
• How are current competitors positioned in their value chain and what changes might we expect?
• What new initiatives are evident among suppliers?
• What assumptions about the marketplace do our key competitors hold?
• What are our rivals' strategic weaknesses and organizational vulnerabilities?

Scenarios about the future marketplace:

• What does our company need to do now in order to shape a future competitive landscape that gives us the best chance to outperform your rivals?
• What are our company's opportunities and vulnerabilities across a set of scenarios?

Current strategic performance:

• How effective is the current strategy in outperforming rivals across market segments?
• How effective are these core processes in facilitating the creation and delivery of customer value?

  Product development management Supply chain management Customer relationship management

• What enablers/barriers exist across these processes?
• How do changes in operating processes require specific tangible and intangible assets?
• How do desired changes in specific marketplace parameters (e.g. greater share of individual customers) suggest changes in specific operating processes (e.g. greater variation in products emanating from R&D) and development of specific assets (e.g. broader networks around R&D required knowledge stocks)
• How does reducing volatility and vulnerability of cash flows require specific changes to marketplace strategy along with operating processes and assets?