The Business Research Company
Target Competitors
Case Study – Competitive Threat Analysis for a
Global Tire Company
The Business
Research Company
Solution
Requirement
A leading global tire manufacturer was expecting
competition from a Chinese tire manufacturer and wanted
to understand it better.
•The scope of our research included the understanding of:
 Operations
 Summarization of financial information
 Research and Development information
 Products launched and upcoming products
 New Announcements and Events
• A detailed presentation in PowerPoint on the Chinese
Tire Manufacturer included:
 Industry Overview
 Competitor’s manufacturing capacities and
capabilities
 Finances - global and regional
 Products - current and proposed
 Market expansion strategies
 Research & Development – spend (global and
regional) and activities
 New announcements
 Historic and forecast data (five years)
 Detailed sourcing and interview highlights
Methodology
Client Benefits and Feedback
• We conducted research on the competitor through: Primary research (9 interviews with senior
employees of the competitor; 2 interviews with other
tire manufacturers)
 Secondary research (largely from Chinese-only sites)
 Social Media monitoring – monitoring comments on
consumer discussion forums and professional
networking sites
 Delivery of a comprehensive report on the
competitor and the threat it posed to the client
• The report on the operations of the competitor helped
the client to shape its response.
• Primary research revealed a range of important strategic
information the client had not been aware of, including:
 The competitor company’s ambitious plans to
increase capacity and output in the short term
 Plans for first manufacturing sites in the US and UK
 Insights into the company’s M&A strategy
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2
Case Study -Database of Companies for a
Leading Research Publisher
The Business
Research Company
Requirement
Solution
• A UK client wanted us to create company profiles for
45,000 companies (public and private) across 25
industries and 60 countries.
• The scope of our research included:
 Collect key information from company websites.
Data collected included:
 Company corporate information
 A brief overview of company’s business
 Sector and geographic indexing
 List and information on key executives
 List of major products
 Company locations
 Historical events of the company
• The client was provided with an efficient and reliable
service that included:
 Error free data collection and input
 Thoroughly proof-read content
 Comprehensive coverage of data points specified
by the client
 Online tool so the client could constantly monitor
progress and input
 Delivery in multiple formats including XML and PDF
Methodology
Client Benefits and Feedback
•
•
•
•
•
•
Research on company websites
Data collection from third party credible sources
Validation of data collected from all sources
Data entry into a purpose designed authoring tool
Proof-reading of written content
Multi-layer quality check process
•
•
The content is used in some of the world’s leading
business information portals.
Client was able to save on costs due to the low US$ /
hour service that we gave. We estimate the cost
savings to be around 55% compared to the company’s
captive center in India.
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3
Case Study - Optoelectronics Competitor
Benchmarking
Requirement
A leading Optoelectronics manufacturer wanted a detailed
competitor benchmarking study in order to:



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Identify its key competitors
Evaluate them according to standard parameters
Assess competitor strength
Develop strategies based on a better understanding
of its competitive position
Methodology
• We conducted thorough research of the specific industry in
Opto Electronics through:

Secondary research: Company websites, annual
reports, social networks, IEEE, FDA, US Patent Office,
European Patent Office.
Primary research: Interviewing top level management,
Decision makers, Sales Head, R&D Head, University
Professors.
The Business
Research Company
Solution
• The in-depth research and findings was delivered to the
client as:
Overview and findings
Competitor peer group with justification
Competitor assessment by parameters including:
product pipeline, patents, brand share, revenues,
social media presence.
Weighted competitor ranking based on parameter
scores
Assessment of the client’s competitive position
based on its benchmarked strengths and
weaknesses
Competitive strategy action points
Benefits and Feedback
• Based on the study the client was able to:
• Identify its strengths and weaknesses and develop
improvement strategies.
• Understand which competitors posed the greatest
threat.
• Target competitor weaknesses.
• Gain competitive advantage, helping to improve the
Our Analysts (industry experts) used the information
clients’ competitive ranking over the next year.
gathered from the above sources, analyzed the data
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and offered a two-format solution to the client.
Copyright TBRC Business Research. All Rights Reserved.
The Business
Research Company
Case Study- Due Diligence on a Chinese Partner
Requirement
Solution
A commodities company wanted to know more information on
a potential partner company in China. It wanted to know:
The research and findings were delivered to the client as a:





Overview of the Chinese commodities trading market
and trading practices.
What was the financial and trading history of the
Chinese company?
Did the company have the connections and existing
contracts it claimed?
Were there any regulatory or reputational issues
facing the company?
Methodology
• We conducted thorough investigation through:

Face-to-face research (conducted by Chinese agent): 10
Interviews with the Chinese company’s employees, ex
employees, customers and competitors.

Investigation of regulatory filings of the company (by a
Chinese Agent) and the history of the leading sponsors
and executives.

Checking of social media and newspaper comment on
the company.
Our Analysts (industry experts) used the information
gathered from the above sources, analyzed the data
and offered a two-format solution to the client.

China Market profile of the Commodities Trading
market
Company profile including:
 Company overview
 Financials
 Key personnel
 Company reputation
 Regulatory issues
Benefits and Feedback
• Based on the study the client was able to establish the
following about the Chinese company.
• It did indeed have the contacts and connections it
claimed.
• The company had long and steady history of
profitable trading.
• While there had been some complaints against the
company there were no law suits.
• On the basis of this the commodities trader was able to
confidently go into partnership.
Copyright TBRC Business Research. All Rights Reserved.
5
Case Study – Competitive Analysis for an
Healthcare IT Company
Requirement
A leading software technology company offering
Healthcare Information Systems (HIS) wanted to
understand why it was losing market share to a number of
smaller competitors.
Specifically it wanted to know the following for three HIS
providers
 Operations set up
 Sales by product
 Research and Development spend and focus
 Products launched and upgraded, technical
specifications
 End user feedback/ market attitude
 Pricing benchmarks
The Business
Research Company
Solution
A detailed presentation in PowerPoint on each provider
included:
 Operations centers, geographies, staff
 Revenues split by geography and service line
(estimated)
 Products and services on offer and in pipeline
 Research & Development – spend (global and
regional) and focus areas (estimated)
 Customer feedback on products
 Social media response
 Approximate pricing benchmarks,
 Price/value perception of clients
Methodology
Client Benefits and Feedback
TBRC conducted research on each provider through: Primary research (5+ interviews with senior
employees; 5+ interviews with customer hospitals)
 Secondary research (company websites, journals and
presentations)
 Social Media monitoring – monitoring comments on
consumer discussion forums and professional
networking sites
 Delivery of a comprehensive report on the
competitor and the threat it posed to the client
• The report on the operations of the providers helped the
client to shape its strategic response.
• Primary research revealed a range of important strategic
information the client had not been aware of, including:
 Lower than expected price points and higher
discounts
 Customer perceptions that the smaller companies
were more responsive
 Technology development focus areas of the
providers
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6
The Business
Research Company
Disclaimer
All Rights Reserved.
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in writing of TBRC Business Research. Any unauthorized use, disclosure or public dissemination of
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presentation. The facts of this report are believed to be correct at the time of publication but
cannot be guaranteed. Please note that the findings, conclusions and recommendations that
TBRC Business Research delivers will be based on information gathered in good faith from both
primary and secondary sources, whose accuracy we are not always in a position to guarantee. As
such TBRC Business Research can accept no liability whatever for actions taken based on any
information that may subsequently prove to be incorrect.
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