Misunderstandings in 1. Enterprise Research

The main misconceptions of corporate research are as follows:

1. Focus only on direct benchmarking companies, ignoring potential benchmarking companies and substitutes

When conducting enterprise research, many enterprises only focus on those enterprises that directly compete with their own products or services, ignoring potential benchmarking enterprises that may enter the market from other fields or channels, and those substitutes that can meet the same or similar user needs. This will lead to an incomplete understanding of the competitive environment, miss some important competitive information and opportunities, and increase the risk of being overtaken or replaced by benchmarking enterprises.

Solution: When conducting business research, companies should collect and analyze competitive information extensively at both the macro and micro levels. At the macro level, we should pay attention to the development trend of the industry, policies and regulations, technological innovation, changes in user demand and other factors, and identify potential benchmark enterprises and substitutes that may have an impact on themselves. At the micro level, it is necessary to conduct in-depth research on direct benchmarking companies to understand their product or service characteristics, price strategy, market share, marketing methods, customer satisfaction, brand image, financial status, development planning, etc., to find out their own Competitive advantages and disadvantages, formulate corresponding competitive strategies.

2. Only focus on the advantages of benchmarking enterprises, ignoring the shortcomings of benchmarking enterprises

When conducting enterprise research, many enterprises only pay attention to the advantages of benchmarking enterprises, such as the innovation, quality, performance and function of products or services, and ignore the shortcomings of benchmarking enterprises, such as the cost, risk, reliability, safety and after-sales service of products or services. This will lead to the enterprise's evaluation of benchmarking enterprises is not objective, exaggerate the advantages of benchmarking enterprises, underestimate their own advantages, but also miss some opportunities to use the shortcomings of benchmarking enterprises to enhance their competitiveness.

Solution: When conducting enterprise research, enterprises should comprehensively evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises from multiple dimensions, and should not look at benchmarking enterprises one-sidedly. Enterprises should determine the degree of influence of the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises on themselves according to their own goals and positioning, and take targeted countermeasures. For example, if the advantage of a benchmarking company is the innovation of its products or services, and its own advantage is the cost of its products or services, then the company can attract users who are price-sensitive by improving its cost-effectiveness, or by strengthening its R & D capabilities, Improve your own innovation, and form differentiated competition with benchmarking companies. If the disadvantage of the benchmarking enterprise is the reliability of the product or service, and its own advantage is the quality of the product or service, then the enterprise can improve the trust of users by emphasizing its own quality assurance, or by providing better after-sales service, increase the loyalty of users, and form an advantage competition with the benchmarking enterprise.

3. Focus only on the status quo of benchmarking enterprises, ignoring the dynamics of benchmarking enterprises

When conducting enterprise research, many enterprises only pay attention to the current situation of benchmarking enterprises, such as the characteristics of products or services, prices, market share, etc., and ignore the dynamics of benchmarking enterprises, such as product or service updates, price changes, market expansion, etc. This will lead to a lag in the understanding of benchmarking companies, losing the opportunity to seize competitive opportunities and respond to competitive threats, and reducing their competitive sensitivity and responsiveness.

Solution: When conducting enterprise research, enterprises should continuously track and monitor the dynamics of benchmarking enterprises, obtain and analyze competitive information in a timely manner, predict the behavior and intentions of benchmarking enterprises, and formulate corresponding coping strategies. Enterprises can collect dynamic information of benchmarking enterprises through a variety of channels, such as the Internet, media, industry associations, exhibitions, customers, suppliers, employees, etc., such as product or service updates, price changes, market expansion, changes in cooperation, investment plans, personnel adjustments, etc. Enterprises can organize, analyze, evaluate, store and disseminate competitive information by establishing a competitive intelligence system to support decision-making. Enterprises can provide protection for response by developing a competition early warning mechanism to classify, rate, report and process competition information.

Frequently Asked Questions 2. Corporate Research

The common problems of enterprise research are mainly the following:

1. The research objectives are not clear and the research content is not focused.

Many enterprises do not have clear research objectives when conducting enterprise research, but only collect competitive information, and do not determine the focus and scope of research according to their actual needs and problems. This will lead to the research content is too general, not targeted, but also a waste of time and resources, reducing the effectiveness and value of the research.

Solution: when conducting enterprise research, enterprises should first clarify the objectives of the research, that is, what problems to solve, what effects to achieve, and what decisions to support. Then, according to the research objectives, determine the focus and scope of the research, that is, what information to collect, what problems to analyze, what suggestions to provide. Finally, according to the focus and scope of the research, formulate the research plan and method, that is, what channels to use, what tools to use, what resources to allocate, what processes to follow, and what risks to avoid.

2. The research data is inaccurate and the research analysis is not objective.

Many enterprises do not strictly test the source, quality and validity of the research data when conducting enterprise research, which leads to inaccurate, unreliable and inconsistent research data, which affects the correctness and validity of research and analysis. In addition, many enterprises do not adopt scientific analysis methods and tools, do not consider a variety of factors and scenarios, and do not compare a variety of programs and results when conducting benchmarking enterprise analysis, resulting in unobjective, incomplete and in-depth research and analysis, which affects the feasibility and practicability of research recommendations.

Solution: When conducting enterprise research, enterprises should strictly screen and verify the research data to ensure that the source of the research data is credible, the quality is high, the effectiveness is long, and the consistency is strong. Companies can improve the accuracy and reliability of research data in a variety of ways, such as comparison, cross-over, validation, and update. When analyzing benchmarking enterprises, enterprises should adopt scientific analysis methods and tools, such as SWOT analysis, Porter's five forces analysis, value chain analysis, strategic map, etc., to carry out systematic, structural and logical analysis of benchmarking enterprises, consider various factors and scenarios, compare various schemes and results, and improve the objectivity and comprehensiveness of research and analysis.

3. The research results are not timely and the research feedback is not effective.

When many enterprises conduct enterprise research, they do not present the research results to decision makers and relevant personnel in a timely manner, resulting in the loss of timeliness and value of the research results, and cannot provide timely support and guidance for decision-making. In addition, many companies do not effectively obtain and process research feedback when conducting corporate research, resulting in research results that cannot be verified and improved, and cannot provide continuous optimization and improvement for research.

Solution: when conducting enterprise research, enterprises should present the research results to decision makers and relevant personnel in a timely manner, adopt appropriate forms and methods, such as reports, reports, discussions, presentations, etc., highlight the focus and suggestions of the research, and improve the influence and persuasiveness of the research. When conducting enterprise research, enterprises should effectively obtain and deal with research feedback, actively solicit and listen to the opinions and suggestions of decision makers and relevant personnel, timely revise and improve the research results, and constantly improve the quality and level of research.

3. epilogue

Enterprise research is an important market research activity, which can help enterprises understand the competitive environment, find competitive advantages and disadvantages, and formulate effective competitive strategies. However, there are also some misunderstandings and common problems in enterprise research, which need to be recognized and avoided by enterprises to improve the effect and value of enterprise research. Based on many years of business research experience of Shangpu Consulting, this paper summarizes the misunderstandings and common problems of enterprise research, as well as the corresponding solutions and suggestions, hoping to provide reference and guidance for enterprises and help enterprises to carry out better enterprise research.