Competition is the essence of market economy and the driving force of enterprise development. In the increasingly competitive market environment, if enterprises want to survive and develop, they must understand their own benchmarking enterprises, master the laws and strategies of competition, and formulate reasonable strategies and marketing strategies in order to gain advantages and victory in the competition. Therefore, enterprise research is a compulsory course for enterprise management and an important part of enterprise strategic management.

What is Corporate Research

Enterprise research refers to the process of collecting, analyzing and evaluating the information of benchmarking enterprises to understand the strategies, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, dynamics and expectations of benchmarking enterprises, so as to provide the basis and reference for enterprises to formulate their own strategies and marketing strategies. The purpose of enterprise research is to find out the advantages and disadvantages of benchmarking enterprises, find the strategic weaknesses and loopholes of benchmarking enterprises, predict the future trends and reactions of benchmarking enterprises, so as to formulate effective competitive strategies and action plans, and enhance their competitiveness and core competitiveness.

The objects of firm-level research are other firms that operate in the same market or industry, offer identical or similar products or services, satisfy the same or similar customer needs, and compete for the same or similar market share. Benchmarking enterprises can be divided into direct benchmarking enterprises and indirect benchmarking enterprises. Direct benchmarking enterprises are other enterprises that provide identical or very similar products or services in the same market segment, meet identical or very similar customer needs, and compete for identical or very similar market share. For example, the direct benchmarking companies of Shangpu Consulting are Huasheng Consulting, Analysys Consulting, Boehner Consulting, etc. Indirect benchmarking enterprises refer to other enterprises that provide some of the same or similar products or services in different market segments, meet some of the same or similar customer needs, and compete for some of the same or similar market share. For example, Champ Consulting's indirect benchmarking companies include Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and McKinsey.

For what to do business research

Enterprise research is a required course in business because it can help companies:

(1) Understand the market environment and industry trends, grasp the opportunities and challenges. Through enterprise research, enterprises can understand the scale, structure, growth rate, demand characteristics, consumption habits, consumption psychology, etc. of the market, as well as the development stage, life cycle, technical level, policies and regulations, industry barriers, etc. of the industry, so as to judge the attractiveness of the market and the competitiveness of the industry, find the opportunities and challenges of the market, and provide reference for the strategic positioning and goal setting of enterprises.

(2) Identify their own strengths and weaknesses, enhance competitiveness and core competitiveness. Through enterprise research, enterprises can understand the benchmarking enterprise's product, price, channel, promotion, service, brand, quality, innovation, cost, efficiency, profit and other aspects, as well as the benchmarking enterprise's resources, capabilities, advantages, disadvantages, strategies, goals, culture and other aspects of the characteristics, so as to compare with themselves, find out their own advantages and disadvantages, and determine their own competitiveness and core competitiveness, it provides the basis for the strategic choice and resource allocation of the enterprise.

(3) Find the strategic weaknesses and loopholes of benchmarking enterprises, and formulate effective competitive strategies and action plans. Through enterprise research, enterprises can understand the strategic intention, strategic direction, strategic focus, strategic implementation and other aspects of benchmarking enterprises, as well as the strategic weaknesses and loopholes of benchmarking enterprises, so as to formulate targeted competitive strategies and action plans, take advantage of the shortcomings of benchmarking enterprises, seize the mistakes of benchmarking enterprises, and achieve competitive advantage and market advantage.

(4) Predict the future trends and reactions of benchmarking enterprises, and take countermeasures and preventive measures. Through enterprise research, enterprises can understand the historical performance, current situation analysis, future planning and other aspects of benchmarking enterprises, as well as the dynamic changes and reaction patterns of benchmarking enterprises, so as to predict the future trends and reactions of benchmarking enterprises, and take countermeasures and preventive measures. Through enterprise research, enterprises can understand the historical performance, current situation analysis, future planning and other aspects of benchmarking enterprises, as well as the dynamic changes and reaction patterns of benchmarking enterprises, so as to predict the future behavior and possible measures of benchmarking enterprises, prepare for response and prevention, avoid being disrupted by sudden attacks or changes of benchmarking enterprises, and maintain their own strategic initiative and market stability.

How to do business research

Enterprise research is a systematic work, which needs to follow certain methods and steps to ensure the effectiveness and accuracy of the research. Generally speaking, the methods and steps of enterprise research include the following aspects:

(1) Define the purpose and scope of the research. The purpose and scope of the research refers to what problems to solve, what information to obtain, what needs to meet, which benchmark enterprises to investigate, what aspects to investigate, and how deep the research is. Defining the purpose and scope of a research study can help companies clarify the key priorities and direction of the investigation, thereby avoiding aimlessness and arbitrariness, and enhancing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the research.

(2) Collect information about benchmarking enterprises. Collecting the information of benchmarking enterprises refers to obtaining the relevant data and information of benchmarking enterprises through various channels and means, including the basic situation of benchmarking enterprises, product situation, market situation, financial situation, strategic situation, etc. The information of benchmarking enterprises can be collected in two ways: active collection and passive collection. Active collection refers to the initiative of enterprises to benchmark enterprises or related parties to seek information, such as through questionnaires, research, observation, field visits, Internet search and other ways. Passive collection refers to the use of information actively provided by benchmarking enterprises or related parties, such as through the analysis of benchmarking enterprises' advertisements, publicity, reports, announcements, news, comments, etc. To collect the information of benchmarking enterprises, we should pay attention to the source, quality, timeliness and legitimacy of the information to ensure the authenticity and reliability of the information.

(3) Analysis of benchmarking enterprise information. Analyzing the information of benchmarking enterprises refers to the collation, induction, comparison, evaluation and interpretation of the collected information of benchmarking enterprises through the use of various analytical tools and techniques, so as to reveal the characteristics, laws, trends and problems of benchmarking enterprises. To analyze the information of benchmarking enterprises, qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis can be used. Qualitative analysis refers to the subjective judgment and evaluation of the information of benchmarking enterprises by using logical reasoning, attribution analysis, hypothesis testing and other methods. Quantitative analysis refers to the objective calculation and measurement of the information of benchmarking enterprises by using mathematical statistics, econometrics, data mining and other methods. When analyzing the information of benchmarking enterprises, we should pay attention to the purpose, method, process and results of the analysis to ensure the validity and accuracy of the analysis.

(4) Evaluate the situation of benchmarking enterprises. Evaluating the situation of a benchmarking enterprise refers to the comprehensive judgment and evaluation of the strategy, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, dynamics and expectations of the benchmarking enterprise through the comprehensive application of the information obtained from the analysis to determine the competitiveness and competitive situation of the benchmarking enterprise. The situation of benchmarking enterprises can be evaluated in two ways: multi-dimensional evaluation and single-dimensional evaluation. Multi-dimensional evaluation refers to the comprehensive evaluation of many aspects of benchmarking enterprises by using tools such as balanced scorecard, SWOT analysis and five-force model. One-dimensional evaluation refers to a single evaluation of a benchmarking enterprise by using indicators such as market share, cost advantage, and innovation ability. To evaluate the situation of benchmarking enterprises, we should pay attention to the criteria, basis, methods and results of the evaluation, so as to ensure the rationality and comparability of the evaluation.

(5) Formulate the coping strategies of benchmarking enterprises. Formulating the coping strategy of the benchmarking enterprise refers to formulating the strategy and marketing strategy for the benchmarking enterprise according to the situation of the benchmarking enterprise obtained by the evaluation, combined with its own situation, in order to achieve its own goals and advantages. The strategy of benchmarking enterprises can be formulated in two ways: active strategy and passive strategy. Active strategy refers to the enterprise actively attack or defend the benchmark enterprise, for example, through price reduction, promotion, innovation, differentiation, alliance and so on. A passive strategy is one in which a firm passively adapts to or avoids a benchmarking firm, for example, by following, imitating, retreating, or shifting. In order to ensure the effectiveness and feasibility of the strategy, we should pay attention to the objectives, contents, implementation and evaluation of the strategy.

Considerations for Enterprise Research

Enterprise research is a complex task that requires attention to the following aspects:

(1) Enterprise research should be planned and regular, not random and occasional. Enterprise research should formulate reasonable research plans and arrangements according to the strategic needs of the enterprise and market changes, and clarify the purpose, scope, objects, methods, steps, time, personnel, budget, etc. of the research to ensure the systematicness and continuity of the research.

(2) Corporate research should be focused and selective; it should not attempt to cover every aspect equally. Enterprise research should determine the focus and priority of research according to the importance and influence of benchmarking enterprises, concentrate energy and resources, conduct in-depth and comprehensive research on important benchmarking enterprises, and conduct simple and general research on unimportant benchmarking enterprises, so as to ensure the pertinence and effectiveness of the research.

(3) Innovation and breakthrough in enterprise research should not be rigid and static. According to the changes in the market and the competitive situation, enterprise research should constantly update and improve the methods and tools of research, develop and use new information sources and channels, and find and excavate new information points and angles, so as to ensure the innovation and foresight of research.

(4) Corporate research should be collaborative and shared, not isolated and exclusive. Enterprise research should be based on the strategic needs and organizational structure of the enterprise, establish and improve the organization and mechanism of research, clarify the responsibilities and authority of the research, and the coordination and cooperation of the research, as well as the communication and transmission of the research, so as to ensure the coordination and sharing of the research.

(5) Corporate research must be conducted ethically and in compliance with the law; it should not employ any means necessary or violate laws and regulations. Enterprise research should abide by the rules and ethics of the market, respect the legitimate rights and interests of benchmarking enterprises, avoid the use of improper means and methods, such as theft, deception, threat, bribery, etc., to obtain the information of benchmarking enterprises, so as to ensure the morality and legitimacy of the research.

Enterprise Research Practice of Shangpu Consulting

Shangpu Consulting is a professional consulting service company, providing customers with strategic consulting, market consulting, management consulting, technical consulting and other consulting services and solutions. Shangpu Consulting has rich experience and achievements in enterprise research. The following are some specific cases of Shangpu Consulting's enterprise research:

Providing corporate research services for an automotive manufacturer. By collecting and analyzing the information of benchmarking enterprises in terms of products, prices, channels, promotions, services, brands, quality and innovation, Shangpu Consulting evaluated the strategies, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, dynamics and expectations of benchmarking enterprises, and formulated coping strategies and action plans for benchmarking enterprises to help customers enhance their competitiveness and market share.

Providing corporate research services for an e-commerce platform. By collecting and analyzing information on users, traffic, transactions, revenue, profits, costs, efficiency, innovation and other aspects of benchmarking enterprises, Shangpu Consulting has evaluated the strategy, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, dynamics and expectations of benchmarking enterprises, and formulated coping strategies and action plans for benchmarking enterprises to help customers improve their competitiveness and profitability.

Corporate research services for a medical device company. By collecting and analyzing the technology, product, market, channel, service, brand, quality, innovation and other information of benchmarking enterprises, Shangpu Consulting evaluated the strategy, ability, advantages, disadvantages, dynamics and expectations of benchmarking enterprises, and formulated coping strategies and action plans for benchmarking enterprises to help customers improve their competitiveness and market share.