Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Strategy teams are routinely asked how large a market is, who will win in it and how competitors will respond, yet many answers rest on a single desk-research slide or an unchecked third-party estimate. Weak market and competitor analysis leads to overstated business plans, mispriced entries and competitor moves that were visible in advance. This Core Concept course builds the analytical toolkit strategy teams use every day, from market definition and sizing to competitor response analysis. Participants apply each method to multi-sector cases and leave with a Competitive Landscape and Market Assessment Pack for a market their organisation competes in.
Course Objectives
- Define the relevant market and segment it using demand-side and supply-side criteria
- Estimate market size and growth with top-down and bottom-up TAM, SAM and SOM models
- Analyse industry structure and profit drivers using Five Forces, value chain and concentration measures
- Profile competitors' strategies, capabilities and likely moves with the Four Corners model and war gaming
- Gather and validate market and competitor intelligence through ethical, documented research methods
- Produce a Competitive Landscape and Market Assessment Pack that supports a specific strategic decision
Target Audience
- Strategy and corporate planning professionals preparing analysis for leadership decisions
- Business development and market entry managers assessing new markets and segments
- Marketing and product managers responsible for positioning against competitors
- Market and competitive intelligence specialists supplying insight to strategy teams
- Corporate development and investment analysts evaluating growth options
- Pricing and commercial excellence managers monitoring competitor behaviour
Course Outline
Day 1: Market Definition and the Competitive Landscape
- Relevant Market Definition Using the SSNIP Test
- Macro-Environment Scan With PESTEL Analysis
- Market Segmentation by Customer Needs and Jobs-to-Be-Done
- Industry Life Cycle Positioning and Growth Driver Mapping
- Market and Competitor Data Source Inventory and Gap Assessment
Day 2: Industry and Competitive Analysis Frameworks
- Porter's Five Forces Analysis With Force Intensity Scoring
- Porter's Value Chain and Cost Driver Analysis
- Strategic Group Mapping and Mobility Barriers
- Market Concentration Measures: CR4 and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index
- Blue Ocean Strategy Canvas and the Four Actions Framework
Day 3: Market Sizing and Competitor Profiling
- Top-Down and Bottom-Up Market Sizing: TAM, SAM and SOM
- Driver-Based Demand Forecast Model
- Competitor Profiling With Porter's Four Corners Model
- Price-Value Mapping and Relative Market Share Analysis
- Primary Research Design: Expert Interviews and Customer Surveys to ISO 20252
Day 4: Intelligence Quality, Bias and Competitive Response
- Competitive Intelligence Cycle and the SCIP Code of Ethics
- Source Reliability and Information Credibility Grading With the Admiralty Code
- Analysis of Competing Hypotheses to Counter Confirmation Bias
- Business War Gaming: Red Team Competitor Response Exercise
- New Entrant and Disruptor Threat Assessment Using Christensen's Disruption Model
Day 5: Case Work and the Market Assessment Pack
- Retail Banking Market Entry Case Study: Sizing and Segment Choice
- Industrial Services Case Study: Competitor Response to a Price Move
- Competitive Landscape Map Build for an Own Market
- Market Assessment Pack Drafting and Executive Summary
- Peer Review Panel and Recommendation Defence
Skills You Will Gain
- Market Segmentation
- Market Sizing and Forecasting
- Industry Structure Analysis
- Competitor Response Modelling
- Competitive Intelligence Ethics
- Structured Analytic Techniques
- Primary Research Design
- Strategic Insight Synthesis
Why Attend This Course
- Take back a Competitive Landscape and Market Assessment Pack for a market your organisation competes in
- Defend market size figures in front of finance and leadership, with every assumption laid out line by line
- Anticipate how rivals are likely to respond before a pricing, entry or investment move is made
- Benchmark your team's analytical practice against strategy professionals from other sectors and countries
Conclusion
Good strategy depends on an accurate view of the market and of the rivals in it. This course moves from defining and segmenting the market, through the principal industry and competitor frameworks, to sizing, profiling and the intelligence quality checks that keep analysis honest. The final day turns that toolkit into a Competitive Landscape and Market Assessment Pack that participants take back to their leadership team, giving them a repeatable and defensible method for the next market question they are asked to answer.