FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT, COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN BRATISLAVA
Competitive strategies and analyses (6 ECTS)
Mgr. Ján Rehák
Aims and objectives of the course:
Clarify the nature, importance and process of competitive analyses and strategies, exploration of an industry or sector
environment, assessment of the position in of a company and the development of effective competitive strategies. The aim
of the course is to develop the ability to create competitive analysis using adequate methods and approaches, as an
important basis for the development of competitive strategies in today's dynamically changing competitive environment.
COURSE EVALUATION:
1) Project assignment (analysis of an industry): 50%
2) Presentation of a topic: 20%
3) Final exam: 30%
Project requirements:
The first step in the analysis is to map the particular companies established in the industry, outline their operations,
competitive factors, types of generic strategies and identify the existence of competitive advantages of firms. Analysis of
the business should be supported by specific strategic analysis.
When analyzing the sector, student should also identify critical economic characteristics of the industry, such as name key
industry drivers, their impact and expectations, outline which businesses are in a strong and which are in a weak position,
name an characterize what are the main factors of competitive success and what is the attractiveness of the industry in
depending on the life cycle of the industry.
It is necessary to analyze the strategic groups in the industry and make Porter's five forces model and deal with all its
factors. It is desirable to identify the impact of globalization trends in the industry.
In conclusion, it is necessary to formulate conclusions resulting from the analysis and to identify future trends in the
industry.
PROJECT OUTLINE:
-
Introduction
Definition of the industry
Economic characteristics of the industry
Key industry driving forces and recent development of the industry
Industry analysis (PESTLE)
Main competitors in the industry
Main factors of competitive success in the industry
Porter 5 forces model and its factors
Strategic group analysis and positioning
Generic competitive strategies of the main players
Core competencies analysis of the main players (top 3)
Internal analysis of the main competitor
Trends in the industry
Conclusions
Course content:
1) The status and importance of strategy in the management of a company
a) The essence of strategy, tactics, the Strategy
b) Strategy as a critical success factor
c) Basic approaches to creating strategies
2) Competitive strategy as an organic part of the strategic management of companies
a) Strategic Business Units (SBU)
b) Focus and aim of competitive strategies
3) Competitive environment analysis
a) The competitive environment of the company and its structuring, PESTLE
b) External and internal analysis, EFE, IFE,
c) Strategic customer and competitor analysis
4) Porter's model of "Five Forces"
a) Theoretical bases of Porter's model
b) Characteristics of the fundamental forces operating in the
c) Requirements and possibilities of Porter's model in the current period
5) Generic competitive strategies
a) Cost leadership strategy
b) The strategy of differentiation
c) The strategy of focusing
6) Strategic groups analysis
a) The essence of the theory of strategic groups in the industry
b) identification of strategic groups
c) Barriers to mobility in the groups
7) Blue Ocean Strategy
a) The nature of blue ocean strategy
b) Comparison of strategy concepts of red and blue oceans
c) Examples of the possibilities of a blue ocean strategy
8) Core competencies
9) Comparative analyses
a) Balance score card
b) PIMS
c) Benchmarking