Significance and Limitations of 1. Enterprise Research

Enterprise research refers to the process of collecting, sorting, analyzing and evaluating the existing or potential benchmarking enterprises in their industry or market, so as to understand the basic situation, strategic intention, advantages and disadvantages, behavior mode and response ability of benchmarking enterprises, so as to provide basis and guidance for the formulation and implementation of enterprise strategy. The significance of enterprise research is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

Help companies understand the market environment. Through enterprise research, enterprises can grasp the scale, structure, trend, demand, change, etc. of the market, as well as the number, type, distribution, characteristics, behavior, etc. of benchmarking enterprises, so as to have a clear understanding of market opportunities and threats, and provide a basis for market positioning and target selection.

Help companies find competitive advantage. Through enterprise research, enterprises can compare the differences and advantages and disadvantages of their products, services, brands, channels, costs, quality, technology, innovation and other aspects of their own and benchmarking enterprises, so as to find out their own core competitiveness and competitive advantages and provide support for the formulation and implementation of differentiation strategies.

Help companies develop effective competitive strategies. Through enterprise research, enterprises can predict the strategic intention and action plan of benchmarking enterprises, analyze the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises, and evaluate the threats and opportunities of benchmarking enterprises, so as to formulate targeted competitive strategies, such as attack, defense, cooperation, avoidance, etc., in order to deal with different competitive situations and improve the competitive effect.

Helping businesses foster innovation and learning. Through enterprise research, enterprises can learn from the successful experience and lessons of benchmarking enterprises, find the innovation points and highlights of benchmarking enterprises, stimulate their own innovative thinking and innovative actions, so as to enhance their own innovation ability and learning ability, and enhance their competitiveness and sustainable development ability.

However, there are some limitations and challenges in corporate research, mainly in the following areas:

Access to data and information is difficult. The data and information of benchmarking enterprises are often sensitive and confidential, and benchmarking enterprises are usually unwilling or inconvenient to disclose or disclose. Therefore, it is often difficult for enterprises to obtain complete, accurate, timely and effective data and information when conducting enterprise research, or they need to pay higher costs and risks, which will affect the quality and effect of enterprise research.

The analysis of data and information is complex. The data and information of benchmarking enterprises are often complex and diverse, involving multiple dimensions and levels, such as market, product, technology, finance, organization, culture, strategy, etc. Therefore, when conducting enterprise research, enterprises need to use a variety of methods and tools, such as Porter's Five Forces Model, SWOT analysis, value chain analysis, strategic map, etc., to conduct comprehensive, in-depth, systematic and dynamic analysis, this will increase the difficulty and complexity of enterprise research.

Limited access to data and information. The data and information of benchmarking enterprises are often static and historical, reflecting the past and present of benchmarking enterprises, rather than the future and potential. Therefore, when enterprises conduct enterprise research, it is often difficult to capture the changes and trends of benchmarking enterprises, predict the trends and behaviors of benchmarking enterprises, and discover the opportunities and threats of benchmarking enterprises, thus reducing the value and significance of enterprise research.

Innovative Thinking of 2. Enterprise Research

In order to overcome the limitations and challenges of enterprise research and improve the effect and level of enterprise research, this paper puts forward an innovative enterprise research thinking, that is, from the benchmarking enterprise's value proposition, business model, core competence and innovation ability four dimensions of in-depth analysis, in order to reveal the real advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises, predict the future trend of benchmarking enterprises, and find the blind spots and loopholes of benchmarking enterprises, so as to provide valuable reference and enlightenment for the strategic decision-making of enterprises. Specifically, the meanings and methods of analysis of these four dimensions are as follows:

Value proposition. Value proposition refers to the value provided by an enterprise to its target customers, including the function, quality, price, convenience, experience and emotion of the product or service. Analyzing the value proposition of benchmarking enterprises can help enterprises understand the way of value creation and value transmission of benchmarking enterprises, evaluate the value advantage and value gap of benchmarking enterprises, and discover the possibility of value innovation and value enhancement of benchmarking enterprises. To analyze the value proposition of a benchmarking company, you can use the value proposition canvas approach, which is to sort out and compare four aspects: customer segmentation, customer needs, customer benefits, customer pain points, products or services, value-added services, pain point mitigation, and revenue creation to form a clear value proposition map.

Business model. Business model refers to a series of activities and arrangements adopted by enterprises to realize their value proposition, including customer relationships, channels, revenue sources, cost structure, resources, partners, key activities, etc. Analyzing the business model of benchmarking enterprises can help enterprises understand the operation mode and profit mode of benchmarking enterprises, evaluate the efficiency and effect of benchmarking enterprises, and discover the potential of business innovation and business optimization of benchmarking enterprises. Analyzing the business model of a benchmarking company can be done using the business model canvas approach, which is to sort out and compare nine aspects: value proposition, customer segmentation, customer relationship, channels, revenue sources, key resources, key activities, key partners, and cost structure to form a complete business model map.

core competencies. Core competence refers to the unique, difficult to imitate, sustainable and able to create value for customers in the industry or field in which an enterprise is located, including technical ability, management ability, innovation ability, learning ability and so on. Analyzing the core competence of benchmarking enterprises can help enterprises understand the core advantages and core competitiveness of benchmarking enterprises, evaluate the sustainable development ability and market leadership ability of benchmarking enterprises, and find the path and law of the formation and development of the core competence of benchmarking enterprises. The VRIO framework can be used to analyze the core competencies of benchmarking enterprises, I .e., to determine the level and type of core competencies of benchmarking enterprises by judging and comparing them from four aspects: value, scarcity, irreplaceability, and organizational support.

Innovation ability. Innovation ability refers to the ability of enterprises to constantly put forward new value propositions, business models, products or services, technologies or methods in the face of market changes and competitive pressures. in order to meet the new needs of customers, solve new problems of customers, and create new value of customers, including innovative thinking, innovative culture, innovative process, innovative resources and so on. Analyzing the innovation ability of benchmarking enterprises can help enterprises understand the innovation power and innovation achievements of benchmarking enterprises, evaluate the innovation advantages and innovation potential of benchmarking enterprises, and discover the innovation opportunities and innovation threats of benchmarking enterprises. To analyze the innovation ability of benchmarking enterprises, we can use the method of innovation ability evaluation model, that is, from the innovation strategy, innovation organization, innovation process, innovation resources, innovation atmosphere, innovation performance six aspects of evaluation and comparison, in order to obtain the level and characteristics of the innovation ability of benchmarking enterprises.

Examples and Effects of 3. Enterprise Research

In order to illustrate the practical application and effect of innovative thinking in enterprise research, this paper takes Shangpu Consulting Company as an example to introduce how the company uses this thinking to help its customers carry out enterprise research and enhance their competitiveness and innovation. Shangpu Consulting Company is a company specializing in strategic consulting, management consulting, and innovation consulting. It has many years of industry experience and professional knowledge, and has served many well-known domestic and foreign companies, such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, Huawei, Apple, Microsoft Wait. One of Shangpu Consulting's clients is a company engaged in smart home products and services. The company is facing fierce market competition and needs to conduct in-depth research on its main benchmark companies to formulate effective competitive strategies. Champ Consulting provided the following corporate research services to this client:

First of all, Shangpu Consulting Company helped the client to determine its main benchmark enterprises, including Xiaomi, Haier, BOE, Philips and so on. It made a detailed analysis from four dimensions of value proposition, business model, core competence and innovation ability respectively. It used the methods of value proposition canvas, business model canvas, VRIO framework and innovation ability evaluation model to form a comprehensive research report of benchmark enterprises, it reveals the advantages and disadvantages, trends, opportunities and threats of benchmarking enterprises.

Secondly, Shangpu Consulting Company helps the client to compare the value proposition, business model, core competence and innovation ability of itself and benchmarking enterprises, and finds its own differentiation advantages and competitiveness, as well as its own improvement space and promotion potential. It formulates targeted competition strategies for the client, including how to consolidate and expand its own market share, and how to deal with and resist the attacks of benchmarking enterprises, how to cooperate and win-win with benchmarking enterprises, how to avoid and avoid conflicts with benchmarking enterprises, etc.

Finally, Shangpu Consulting Company helps the customer learn from and learn from the innovation experience and innovation highlights of benchmarking enterprises, stimulates the customer's innovative thinking and innovative actions, and provides a series of innovative solutions for the customer. including how to improve their own innovation ability, how to develop new value propositions and business models, how to create new products or services, how to adopt new technologies or methods, and so on.

Through the enterprise research service of Shangpu consulting company, the customer not only has a deeper understanding and understanding of its benchmark enterprises, but also improves its competitiveness and innovation, and achieves better performance and reputation in the smart home market.

4. conclusions and recommendations

Corporate research is an essential component of corporate strategic analysis. It enables firms to gain insights into the market environment, identify competitive advantages, and develop effective competitive strategies. However, traditional enterprise research methods tend to rely too much on superficial data and information, ignoring the internal logic and motivation of benchmarking enterprises, as well as potential opportunities and threats. This paper puts forward an innovative enterprise research thinking, that is, from the benchmarking enterprise value proposition, business model, core competence and innovation ability of four dimensions of in-depth analysis, to reveal the real advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises, to predict the future trend of benchmarking enterprises, to find the blind spots and loopholes of benchmarking enterprises, so as to provide valuable reference and enlightenment for the strategic decision-making of enterprises. Taking Shangpu Consulting Company as an example, this paper introduces the steps and effects of this thinking in practical application, and shows how Shangpu Consulting Company can help customers look at benchmarking enterprises from the perspective of innovation and enhance their competitiveness and innovation.

According to the analysis and examples of this paper, this paper puts forward the following suggestions to help enterprises better conduct enterprise research:

Select the right benchmarking enterprise. The selection of benchmarking enterprises should be based on the goals and strategies of the enterprise, as well as the actual situation of the market, and select those benchmarking enterprises that have an important impact on the development of the enterprise, instead of blindly pursuing quantity and scope to avoid waste and dispersion of resources.

Get valid data and information. The acquisition of data and information of benchmarking enterprises should follow the principles of legality, reasonableness and compliance, and use a variety of channels and methods, such as public reports, websites, social media, professional databases, third-party institutions, industry activities, etc., in order to obtain complete, accurate, timely and effective data and information, in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of enterprise research.

Use innovative thinking and methods. The analysis of benchmarking enterprises should use innovative thinking and methods, such as the four dimensions of value proposition, business model, core competence and innovation ability proposed in this paper, in order to deeply understand the real advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises, predict the future trend of benchmarking enterprises, and find the opportunities and threats of benchmarking enterprises, so as to provide valuable reference and enlightenment for the strategic decision-making of enterprises.

Develop effective competitive strategies. The use of benchmarking enterprises should formulate effective competitive strategies, according to their own and benchmarking enterprise's differentiated advantages and competitiveness, choose appropriate competitive strategies, such as attack, defense, cooperation, circumvention, etc., in order to deal with different competitive situations and improve the competitive effect.

Promote innovation and learning. The research of benchmarking enterprises should promote innovation and learning, learn from and learn from the successful experience and lessons of benchmarking enterprises, discover the innovation points and highlights of benchmarking enterprises, stimulate their own innovative thinking and innovative actions, so as to enhance their own innovation ability and learning ability, and enhance their own competitiveness and sustainable development ability.