Definition and significance of benchmarking enterprise analysis

Benchmarking enterprise analysis is a market research method, which refers to the systematic identification, collection, analysis and evaluation of competitors in the competitive environment to understand their strengths, weaknesses, strategies, dynamics, threats and opportunities, so as to formulate effective competitive advantages and differentiation strategies. The purpose of benchmarking analysis is:

Understand the benchmarking company's products, services, prices, channels, promotions, brands, positioning, target markets, customer needs, satisfaction and loyalty, etc., in order to discover their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the benchmarking company.

Understand the strategic intent, strategic objectives, strategic choices, strategic execution and strategic effects of the benchmarking enterprise in order to reveal the characteristics of the benchmarking enterprise's strategic logic, strategic model, strategic priority and strategic change.

Understand the dynamic changes of benchmarking enterprises, market behavior, competitive reactions, competitive means and competitive results, in order to predict the future actions, competitive situation and competitive trends of benchmarking enterprises, as well as their own impact and threats.

Based on the results of benchmarking enterprise analysis, formulate their own competitive strategies, competitive actions and competitive measures to improve their competitiveness, competitive advantage and market share, as well as reduce competitive risks and competitive costs.

Steps and techniques for benchmarking enterprise analysis

Benchmarking enterprise analysis is a circular process, which needs to continuously collect, analyze, evaluate and update the information of benchmarking enterprises to adapt to the changes of the market. Generally speaking, benchmarking enterprise analysis can be divided into the following eight steps and techniques:

Identify Benchmarking Enterprises

Benchmarking companies are other companies that provide the same or similar products or services in the same market or market segment, meet the same or similar customer needs, or affect their own interests and goals. Benchmarking enterprises can be divided into the following types:

Direct benchmarking enterprise: refers to an enterprise that provides the same or very similar products or services in the same market segment, meets the same or very similar customer needs, or has a direct competitive relationship with itself. For example, the direct benchmarking companies of Shangpu Consulting include other consulting agencies that provide services such as market research, investment consulting and IPO consulting, such as Analysys Consulting, Huasheng Consulting, and CIC Consulting.

Indirect benchmarking enterprises: refers to enterprises that provide different or slightly different products or services in different market segments, meet different or slightly different customer needs, or have indirect competition with themselves. For example, Champ Consulting's indirect benchmarking companies include other companies that provide data analysis, financial auditing, legal services, etc. related to or complementary to consulting services, such as Efonda, Deloitte, and King & Wood Mallesons.

Potential benchmarking enterprises: refers to enterprises that have not entered the same market or market segment at present, but have the ability, willingness and possibility to enter in the future and pose a threat to themselves. For example, potential benchmarking companies for Champ Consulting include other consulting agencies with strength and resources, such as McKinsey, Bain, Boston, etc.

Alternative benchmarking enterprise: refers to an enterprise that provides products or services that can replace or meet the same or similar customer needs in different markets or market segments, or influence the customer's purchasing decisions and behaviors. For example, alternative benchmarking companies for Shangpu Consulting include other products or services that provide market information, investment advice and listing guidance, such as Baidu Index, Snowball, and Sina Finance.

There are several techniques for identifying benchmarking companies:

Through industry associations, chambers of commerce, exhibitions, forums, media and other industry channels, understand the development status of the industry, market size, market share, market trends, market opportunities and other information, identify the main participants and leaders of the industry, and analyze whether they are their own benchmarking enterprises.

Through third-party channels such as customers, suppliers, distributors, partners, competitors, industry experts, etc., understand their views, evaluations, feedback and suggestions on themselves and benchmarking companies, and analyze whether they are their own benchmarking companies.

Through their own experience, judgment, intuition and creativity, speculate and imagine the possible existence or emergence of benchmark enterprises, and analyze whether they are their own benchmark enterprises.

After identifying the benchmarking enterprises, the benchmarking enterprises need to be classified and ranked to determine the focus and priority of the analysis. A common approach is to classify benchmarking firms into four categories: leaders, challengers, followers and newcomers, based on their market share, growth rate, competitiveness and threat level, and to adopt different analytical and coping strategies.

Collect Benchmarking Enterprise Information

The collection of benchmarking enterprise information is the basis of benchmarking enterprise analysis. It is necessary to obtain as much, complete, new and accurate benchmarking enterprise information as possible through various channels, methods and tools, including the basic situation, product or service situation, market situation, financial situation, strategic situation, dynamic situation and other aspects of the benchmarking enterprise.

There are several techniques for collecting benchmarking enterprise information:

Use public information sources, such as the official website, annual report, prospectus, press release, advertisement, recruitment information, social media, customer evaluation, etc., to obtain the official information of benchmarking enterprises, such as the history, vision, mission, values, organizational structure, management team, product or service introduction, market positioning, brand image, partners, customer groups, performance data, development planning, etc.

Use non-public information sources, such as internal personnel, customers, suppliers, distributors, partners, industry experts, consulting institutions, research institutions, government agencies, etc., to obtain non-official information of benchmarking enterprises, such as corporate culture, atmosphere, values, strategic intentions, strategic goals, strategic choices, strategic implementation, strategic effects, advantages and disadvantages of products or services, prices, channels, promotions, brands, positioning, target markets, customer needs, satisfaction and Loyalty, market share, growth rate, profit margin, cost structure, risk factors, innovation capabilities, competitive response, competitive means, competitive results, etc.

Use your own information sources, such as your own insiders, customers, suppliers, distributors, partners, industry experts, consulting agencies, research institutions, government agencies, etc., to obtain your own information, such as your own strengths, weaknesses, strategies, Dynamics, threats and opportunities, etc., in order to compare and analyze with the information of benchmarking companies.

After collecting the benchmarking enterprise information, it is necessary to organize and summarize the benchmarking enterprise information for easy analysis and evaluation. A common method is to use the benchmarking enterprise analysis matrix to classify and display the information of the benchmarking enterprise according to different dimensions and indicators.

Analyze benchmarking corporate strategy

The analysis of benchmarking enterprise strategy is the core of benchmarking enterprise analysis. It is necessary to deeply understand the characteristics of benchmarking enterprise's strategic logic, strategic mode, strategic priority and strategic change through various methods and tools, so as to reveal the strategic intention, strategic goal, strategic choice, strategic implementation and strategic effect of benchmarking enterprise.

There are several techniques for analyzing benchmarking corporate strategies:

Use SWOT analysis to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of benchmarking enterprises in order to understand the internal conditions and external environment of benchmarking enterprises, as well as the strategic choices and coping strategies of benchmarking enterprises.

Using Porter's five forces model, the degree of competition, profitability, attractiveness and development potential of the industry in which the benchmarking enterprise is located are analyzed to understand the competitive advantages and disadvantages of the benchmarking enterprise, as well as the competitive pressure and competitive opportunities of the benchmarking enterprise.

Using value chain analysis, analyze the main business activities and support activities of the benchmarking enterprise to understand the value creation process and value delivery methods of the benchmarking enterprise, as well as the cost structure and profit sources of the benchmarking enterprise.

Using VRIO analysis, the resources and capabilities of benchmarking enterprises are analyzed to understand the value, scarcity, difficulty in replication and organization of benchmarking enterprises, as well as the core competitiveness and sustainable competitive advantage of benchmarking enterprises.

Using the strategic group analysis method, the strategic group of benchmarking enterprises is analyzed, that is, according to the strategic similarity of benchmarking enterprises, the benchmarking enterprises are divided into different groups to understand the strategic differences and strategic changes of benchmarking enterprises, as well as the strategic competition and strategic cooperation of benchmarking enterprises.

Using the strategic map analysis method, the causal relationship between the strategic objectives, strategic measures and strategic results of the benchmarking enterprise is analyzed to understand the strategic logic and strategic efficiency of the benchmarking enterprise, as well as the strategic advantages and strategic disadvantages of the benchmarking enterprise.

Using the strategic balanced scorecard analysis method, the strategic objectives, strategic indicators and strategic measures of the four dimensions of finance, customers, internal processes and learning and growth of the benchmarking enterprise are analyzed to understand the strategic balance and strategic performance of the benchmarking enterprise, as well as the strategic strengths and weaknesses of the benchmarking enterprise.

After analyzing the benchmarking enterprise strategy, it is necessary to evaluate and compare the benchmarking enterprise strategy to determine the advantages, disadvantages and threat opportunities of the benchmarking enterprise strategy. A common approach is to use a benchmarking enterprise strategy evaluation matrix to evaluate and compare the strategies of benchmarking enterprises according to different dimensions and indicators.

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises

Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of benchmarking enterprises is an important part of benchmarking enterprise analysis. It is necessary to objectively measure and compare the strengths and weaknesses of benchmarking enterprises through various methods and tools to understand the competitiveness and competitive situation of benchmarking enterprises, as well as the competitive threats and opportunities of benchmarking enterprises.

There are several techniques for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of benchmarking companies:

Use the advantages and disadvantages analysis method to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises in terms of products or services, prices, channels, promotions, brands, positioning, target markets, customer needs, satisfaction and loyalty, so as to understand the market competitiveness and market attractiveness of benchmarking enterprises.

Using the profitability analysis method, analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the benchmark enterprise's operating income, operating cost, operating profit, net profit, profit margin, cost structure, profit source, etc., in order to understand the financial competitiveness and financial soundness of the benchmark enterprise.

Use innovation capability analysis to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises in terms of the launch of new products or services, the development of new markets, the establishment of new cooperation, the occurrence of new events, and the display of new trends, so as to understand the innovation competitiveness and innovation vitality of benchmarking enterprises.

Using the core competitiveness analysis method, the resources and capabilities of the benchmarking enterprise are analyzed to understand the core competitiveness and sustainable competitive advantage of the benchmarking enterprise, as well as the value, scarcity, difficulty of replication and organization of the benchmarking enterprise.

After evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises, it is necessary to summarize and compare the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises in order to determine the competitive advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises. A common method is to use a summary table of the strengths and weaknesses of benchmarking enterprises to summarize and compare the strengths and weaknesses of benchmarking enterprises according to different dimensions and indicators.

Identifying Benchmarking Enterprise Threats and Opportunities

Identifying the threats and opportunities of benchmarking enterprises is a key link in the analysis of benchmarking enterprises, which requires a variety of methods and tools to objectively judge and predict the future actions, competitive situation and competitive trends of benchmarking enterprises in order to understand the impact and threats of benchmarking enterprises on themselves, as well as their own impact and opportunities on benchmarking enterprises.

Techniques for identifying benchmarking corporate threats and opportunities include the following:

Using the benchmarking enterprise analysis method, the dynamic changes, market behavior, competitive reaction, competitive means and competitive results of the benchmarking enterprise are analyzed to understand the future actions and competitive situation of the benchmarking enterprise, as well as the competitive threats and competitive opportunities of the benchmarking enterprise.

Using scenario analysis, analyze the different scenarios and situations that the benchmarking firm may face to understand the future actions and competitive trends of the benchmarking firm, as well as the competitive threats and opportunities of the benchmarking firm.

Using the war exercise method, the possible actions and reactions of the benchmarking enterprise are simulated to understand the future actions and competitive results of the benchmarking enterprise, as well as the competitive threats and opportunities of the benchmarking enterprise.

Using the game theory method, the interests, preferences, choices and behaviors of benchmarking enterprises are analyzed to understand the future actions and competitive strategies of benchmarking enterprises, as well as the competitive threats and opportunities of benchmarking enterprises.

After identifying the threats and opportunities of benchmarking enterprises, it is necessary to summarize and compare the threats and opportunities of benchmarking enterprises to determine the competitive impact and potential of benchmarking enterprises. A common approach is to use a benchmarking enterprise threat and opportunity summary table to summarize and compare the threats and opportunities of benchmarking enterprises according to different dimensions and indicators.

预测标杆企业未来行动

预测标杆企业未来行动是标杆企业分析的重要环节，需要通过多种方法和工具，科学地预测和推测标杆企业的未来行动、竞争态势和竞争趋势，以了解标杆企业的未来发展和变化，以及对自身的影响和威胁。

预测标杆企业未来行动的技巧有以下几种：

使用趋势分析法，分析标杆企业的历史数据和现有数据，以了解标杆企业的发展规律和变化趋势，以及标杆企业的未来发展和变化。

使用因果分析法，分析标杆企业的内部因素和外部因素，以了解标杆企业的发展动因和变化原因，以及标杆企业的未来发展和变化。

使用假设分析法，分析标杆企业可能面临的不同的假设和情况，以了解标杆企业的发展可能性和变化可能性，以及标杆企业的未来发展和变化。

使用模拟分析法，分析标杆企业可能采取的不同的行动和反应，以了解标杆企业的发展选择和变化选择，以及标杆企业的未来发展和变化。

预测标杆企业未来行动后，需要对标杆企业未来行动进行总结和比较，以确定标杆企业的未来影响和未来潜力。一种常用的方法是使用标杆企业未来行动总结表，将标杆企业的未来行动按照不同的维度和指标进行总结和比较。

Develop coping strategies

制定应对策略是标杆企业分析的最终目的，需要根据标杆企业分析的结果，制定自身的竞争策略、竞争行动和竞争措施，以提高自身的竞争力、竞争优势和市场份额，以及降低竞争风险和竞争成本。

There are several techniques for developing coping strategies:

Use Porter's competitive strategy model to choose different competitive strategies, such as cost-leading, differentiation or centralization strategies, based on your competitive advantage and target market, in order to achieve leadership or dominance in the market.

Use the Ansoff matrix model to select different market strategies, such as market penetration strategies, market development strategies, product development strategies, or diversification strategies, based on your own products or services and markets, in order to achieve growth or expansion in the market.

Using the Boston matrix model, according to their own market share and market growth rate, choose different product strategies, such as harvest strategy, retention strategy, construction strategy or divestiture strategy, in order to achieve balance or optimization in the market.

Using the blue ocean strategy model, according to their own value innovation and market creation, choose different innovation strategies, such as elimination strategy, reduction strategy, promotion strategy or creation strategy, in order to achieve a breakthrough or disruption in the market.

After the coping strategy is formulated, the corresponding strategy needs to be implemented and monitored to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the coping strategy. A common method is to use the PDCA cycle method, namely plan (Plan), execute (Do), check (Check) and improve (Act), to achieve continuous improvement and optimization of coping strategies.

监测标杆企业变化

监测标杆企业变化是标杆企业分析的必要条件，需要通过多种渠道、方法和工具，持续地收集、分析、评估和更新标杆企业的信息，以适应市场的变化和竞争的变化。

监测标杆企业变化的技巧有以下几种：

建立标杆企业信息库，将标杆企业的信息按照不同的维度和指标进行存储和管理，以便于查询和使用。

建立标杆企业信息系统，将标杆企业的信息按照不同的频率和方式进行收集和更新，以便于监测和分析。

建立标杆企业信息报告，将标杆企业的信息按照不同的主题和内容进行整理和呈现，以便于评估和决策。

建立标杆企业信息反馈，将标杆企业的信息按照不同的需求和目标进行反馈和沟通，以便于改进和优化。