Purpose of 1. Enterprise Research

The purpose of enterprise research is to understand the competitive environment, evaluate competitiveness, formulate competitive strategies, and enhance competitive advantage. Specifically, corporate research can help enterprises achieve the following objectives:

(1) Identify and define benchmarking enterprises. Benchmarking enterprises include not only direct benchmarking enterprises, that is, enterprises that provide the same or similar products or services, but also indirect benchmarking enterprises, that is, enterprises that provide substitutes or potential entrants. Through enterprise research, enterprises can determine the scope and type of benchmarking enterprises they face, as well as their size, status, characteristics and other basic information.

(2) Analyze and evaluate the strategies and capabilities of benchmarking companies. The strategy and ability of benchmarking enterprises are the key factors affecting the competitiveness of enterprises. Through enterprise research, enterprises can understand the mission, vision, goals, values, culture, organizational structure, management mode, innovation ability, financial status, market share, customer satisfaction, brand image, product characteristics, price strategy, channel strategy, promotion strategy and other information of benchmarking enterprises, so as to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises and predict the behavior and trend of benchmarking enterprises, determine the threats and opportunities of benchmarking enterprises.

(3) Develop and implement competitive strategies. Competitive strategy is the action plan taken by an enterprise to achieve its goals in a competitive environment. Through enterprise research, enterprises can choose appropriate competitive strategies according to their own resources and capabilities, as well as the situation of benchmarking enterprises, such as cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, concentration strategy, etc., as well as corresponding tactical measures, such as attack, defense, cooperation, evasion, etc., so as to improve their competitive advantage and realize the promotion of market share and profitability.

Content of 2. Enterprise Research

The content of enterprise research refers to the scope and dimensions of information involved in enterprise research. The content of enterprise research should be determined according to the specific objectives and needs of the enterprise, which generally include the following aspects:

(1) Basic information of benchmarking enterprises. This is the basis of enterprise research, including the name, address, contact information, legal representative, registered capital, establishment time, business scope, organizational form, shareholder structure, affiliated enterprises and other information of the benchmark enterprise, as well as the development history, important events, honorary awards and other information of the benchmark enterprise.

(2) Strategic information of benchmarking enterprises. This is the core of enterprise research, including the benchmark enterprise's mission, vision, goals, values, culture, strategic direction, strategic objectives, strategic measures and other information, as well as the benchmark enterprise's competitive advantages, competitive disadvantages, competitive style, competitive attitude and other information.

(3) Capability information of benchmarking enterprises. This is the focus of enterprise research, including the innovation ability, financial ability, market ability, product ability, price ability, channel ability, promotion ability, service ability, human resource ability, technical ability, management ability and other information of benchmarking enterprises, as well as the resource allocation, efficiency level, quality level, satisfaction level, loyalty level and other information of benchmarking enterprises.

(4) Dynamic information of benchmarking enterprises. This is the difficulty of enterprise research, including the market dynamics, product dynamics, price dynamics, channel dynamics, promotion dynamics, service dynamics, personnel dynamics, technology dynamics, management dynamics and other information, as well as the change trend, development direction, future plans, potential risks and other information of benchmarking enterprises.

Methods of 3. Enterprise Research

The method of enterprise research refers to the technical means of information collection and analysis used by enterprise research. The method of enterprise research should be selected according to the characteristics of the benchmarking enterprise and the availability of information, which generally includes the following:

(1) Desktop research method. This is a common method of enterprise research, which refers to obtaining relevant information about benchmarking enterprises by consulting and analyzing existing public or semi-public sources of information, such as official websites, social media, news media, industry reports, market research reports, financial statements, patent literature, legal documents, etc. The advantages of this method are low cost, fast speed, and wide range, but the disadvantage is that the information may be incomplete, inaccurate, and untimely.

(2) Field visit method. This is a supplementary method of enterprise research, which refers to observing and collecting relevant information of benchmarking enterprises by personally or entrusting a third party to the business premises, production bases, sales outlets, exhibition activities, etc. The advantage of this method is that the information is more intuitive, more real, and more in-depth, but the disadvantage is high cost, long time, and difficult.

(3) Questionnaire survey method. This is an auxiliary method of enterprise research, which refers to the design and distribution of questionnaires for benchmarking enterprises, and the investigation of employees, customers, suppliers, partners, industry experts and other relevant personnel of benchmarking enterprises to obtain relevant information of benchmarking enterprises. The advantage of this method is that the information is more systematic, objective and diverse, but the disadvantage is that the information may be untrue, unreliable and inconsistent.

(4) Intelligence analysis. This is an advanced method of enterprise research, which refers to the collation, induction, analysis, evaluation and prediction of the information of the benchmarking enterprise by using the theories and methods of information science, so as to obtain the characteristics, laws, trends and future intelligence of the benchmarking enterprise. The advantage of this approach is that the information is more valuable, meaningful and instructive, but the disadvantage is that the information may be incomplete, uncertain and unstable.

Steps to 4. Enterprise Research

The steps of enterprise research refer to the specific operation process of enterprise research. The steps of enterprise research should be formulated according to the purpose, content, method and actual situation of enterprise research, which generally includes the following steps:

(1) Determine the objectives and scope of business research. This is the starting point of enterprise research, which needs to be clear about the main purpose and needs of enterprise research, as well as the object and scope of enterprise research, that is, which benchmarking enterprises to investigate, and which aspects of benchmarking enterprises to investigate.

（2）收集标杆企业的相关信息。这是企业研究的关键，需要根据企业研究的目标和范围，选择合适的企业研究的方法，如桌面研究法、实地考察法、问卷调查法、情报分析法等，从各种信息来源和渠道，获取标杆企业的相关信息。

(3) Analyze and evaluate the information of benchmarking enterprises. This is the focus of enterprise research. According to the objectives and scope of enterprise research, appropriate analysis tools of enterprise research, such as SWOT analysis, Porter's five forces analysis, value chain analysis, strategic group analysis, competition map analysis, etc., need to be used to organize, summarize, analyze, evaluate and predict the information of benchmarking enterprises, so as to obtain the characteristics, laws, trends and future of benchmarking enterprises.

(4) Develop and implement competitive strategies. This is the end of enterprise research. According to the results of enterprise research, combined with its own resources and capabilities, it is necessary to formulate appropriate competitive strategies, such as cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, concentration strategy, etc., as well as corresponding tactical measures, such as attack, defense, cooperation, avoidance, etc., so as to improve its competitive advantage and realize the improvement of market share and profitability.

5. the case of corporate research from Champ Consulting.

Shangpu Consulting is a consulting company that specializes in providing strategic consulting, management consulting, market consulting, technical consulting and other services. It has many years of industry experience and professional team, and has served many well-known enterprises and institutions. Shangpu Consulting also has rich practice and achievements in enterprise research. The following are some enterprise research cases of Shangpu Consulting:

(1) Corporate research services for an automotive manufacturer. Through desktop research, field investigation and questionnaire survey, Shangpu Consulting collected the basic information, strategic information, capability information and dynamic information of the main benchmark enterprises of the enterprise. Through SWOT analysis and Porter's five forces analysis, it analyzed and evaluated the advantages and disadvantages, threats and opportunities, competitiveness and competitive situation of the benchmark enterprises. Through value chain analysis and strategic group analysis, it determined the core competitiveness and competitive position of the benchmark enterprises, through competitive map analysis and intelligence analysis, the development trend and future trend of the benchmark enterprise are predicted, and finally the differentiation strategy and attack strategy are formulated for the enterprise, which helps the enterprise to improve the product quality and brand image, and increase the market share and profit margin.

(2) Provide enterprise research services for an e-commerce enterprise. Through desktop research, questionnaire and intelligence analysis, Shangpu Consulting collected the basic information, strategic information, capability information and dynamic information of the main benchmark enterprises of the enterprise. Through SWOT analysis and Porter's five forces analysis, it analyzed and evaluated the advantages and disadvantages, threats and opportunities, competitiveness and competitive situation of the benchmark enterprises. Through value chain analysis and strategic group analysis, it determined the core competitiveness and competitive position of the benchmark enterprises, through the competitive map analysis and intelligence analysis, the development trend and future trend of the benchmark enterprise are predicted, and finally the centralized strategy and cooperation strategy are formulated for the enterprise, which helps the enterprise to improve the user experience and user loyalty, and expand the market scale and market influence.

(3) Corporate research services for a medical device company. Through desktop research, field investigation and questionnaire survey, Shangpu Consulting collected the basic information, strategic information, capability information and dynamic information of the main benchmark enterprises of the enterprise. Through SWOT analysis and Porter's five forces analysis, it analyzed and evaluated the advantages and disadvantages, threats and opportunities, competitiveness and competitive situation of the benchmark enterprises. Through value chain analysis and strategic group analysis, it determined the core competitiveness and competitive position of the benchmark enterprises, through competitive map analysis and intelligence analysis, the development trend and future trend of the benchmark enterprise are predicted, and finally the cost leadership strategy and defense strategy are formulated for the enterprise, which helps the enterprise to improve its technical level and market competitiveness and reduce costs and risks.