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There are seven structured questions in carrying out an industry analysis and practitioners have come to the conclusion that strategically, industry analysis entails using some well-defined concepts and analytical tools to get clear answers to these seven questions:

a. What are the dominant economic features of the industry in which the company operates? – An industry’s dominant economic features are defined by such factors as: Overall size and market growth rate, number and sizes of buyers and sellers, Geographic boundaries of the market, the degree to which sellers’ products are differentiated and the pace of product innovation

b. What kinds of competitive forces (must use Porter’s five forces) are industry members facing and how strong is each force? – Competitive pressures associated with the market maneuvering and jockeying for buyer patronage that goes on among rival sellers in the industry. Competitive pressures associated with the threat of new entrants into the market. Competitive pressures coming from the attempts of companies in other industries to win buyers over to their own substitute products. Competitive pressures stemming from supplier bargaining power and supplier-seller collaboration and competitive pressures stemming from buyer bargaining power and seller-buyer collaboration

c. What forces are driving changes (discuss 4-6 key driving forces of change) in the industry and what impact will these changes have on competitive intensity and industry profitability? – Driving-forces analysis has three steps: Identifying what the driving forces are. Assessing the impact they will have on the industry and determining what strategy changes are needed to prepare for the impacts of the driving forces

d. What market positions do industry rivals occupy (requires the use of strategic group mapping)— to illustrate who is strongly positioned and who is not? – Understanding which companies are strongly positioned and which are weakly positioned is an integral part of analyzing an industry’s competitive structure. The best technique for revealing the market position of industry competitors is strategic group mapping. This analytical tool is useful for comparing the market positions of each firm separately or for grouping them into like positions when an industry has so many competitors that it is not practical to examine each one in depth.

e. What Strategic Moves Are Rivals Likely to Make Next? -Unless a company pays attention to what competitors are doing and knows their strengths and weaknesses, it ends up flying blind into competitive battle. Competitive intelligence about rivals’ strategies, their latest actions and announcements, their resource strengths and weaknesses, the efforts being made to improve their situation, and the thinking and leadership styles of their executives is valuable for predicting or anticipating the strategic moves competitors are likely to make next in the marketplace.

f. What are the Key Factors (5-6 key factors of success must be discussed) for Future Competitive Success? -An industry’s key success factors (KSF) are those competitive factors that most affect industry members’ ability to prosper in the marketplace. Key success factors are the product attributes; organizational competencies, competitive capabilities, and market achievements with the greatest impact on future competitive success in the marketplace. How well a company’s product offering, resources, and capabilities measure up against the competition and the industry’s KSFs has a direct bearing on company profitability and determines just how financially and competitively successful that company will be.

g. Does the Outlook for the Industry Present the Company with an Attractive Opportunity? -The final step in evaluating the external environment is to use the preceding analysis to decide whether the outlook for the industry presents the company with sufficiently attractive prospects for profitability and growth.

In conclusion, I would proffer that all 7 Questions are equally important to the strategic planning process in allowing a company to determine whether it is strongly or weakly positioned in its industry. The seven questions also provide information that is essential for the organization to build from the outside in because no organization can survive today by building from the inside out. Organizations must ensure an operational fit between what they do well and what its external market place wants. A company that is unable to respond quickly and strategically to the major driving force of change in its industry would become obsolete. For example, Dell Inc failed to adapt to the disruptive innovation/ revolution of smartphones, social networking and mobile applications technology; and today finds itself as a private company, although its recent acquisition of EMC for $67 billion may be successful in the near future. The deal completes Dell’s transformation from a consumer PC business to an IT solutions provider for companies.

 
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