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Introduction stage Managing a high-tech product according to its

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for a vast number of patents, even on spin-off products. Then these compa- nies inundate the market with continuously improved products that aim to
provide products “tailor-made” for the customer’s needs. These companies will lead a fierce struggle to increase their market share by offering lower
prices.
Finally, a competitor’s management style and organization must also be studied. For example, a large electronics company analyzed in detail the
average time period spent by executives in the industry on certain jobs, so that it could determine if it was moving its own managers at the same rate
as the majority of companies in the industry.
Ultimately, all these analyses, as well as the evaluation of technology, form a competitor’s profile by identifying strengths to be avoided and
weaknesses of which to take advantage. This will help companies identify their various competitive advantages, keeping in mind that the relevance of
the analysis depends in large part on the quality and the reliability of the information sources.

4.3 Finding information about competitors


Table 4.2 lists the most important available information sources that are used to evaluate a competitor. More than 20 sources are listed. Without
going into detail, let us examine them by distinguishing between a compa- ny’s external and internal sources.

4.3.1 External sources


Clients, of course, are the sources of privileged information. This is particu- larly true for industrial goods and services, where customers are usually few
in number and always ready to talk if the right questions are asked. Every good marketing manager should regularly visit customers to determine their
needs; this visit is the perfect opportunity to learn more about recent offers or propositions from competitors.
Competitors also provide a great deal of information. If analyzed suffi- ciently, their annual reports are a good source of financial information. The
information sent to stockholders and speeches given by their executives also provide good ideas regarding the company’s strategy and key success
factors.
Their advertising literature, especially catalogs and descriptive product information, supplies useful information for the technical specialists familiar
with decoding these types of documents. Company newsletters and press releases also mention new product launches and sales data that have yet to
become public knowledge.
Becoming a supplier for a competitor is another way to obtain practical information. Supplying supplementary products to its product line, neces-
sary components for the manufacturing of certain products, or spare parts for after-sales service is a good way to become familiar with a company.
Case Study: The Coopetition Between Microsoft Versus AOL
Microsoft and AOL have been bitter rivals for years. In the mid-1990s, AOL, the on-line service provider was worried about being marginalized
on the desktop by Microsoft with its new service MSN Explorer, which had been launched in August 1995. In November 1998, AOL bought
Netscape Communications, the leading Internet browser at that time and teamed with Sun Microsystems in order to create an alternate stan-
dard for servers and software for consumer-electronics devices to chal- lenge Microsoft. In fact the alliance failed. Netscape’s share of the
browser market plummeted, while iPlanet, the software alliance between AOL and Sun gradually dissolved.
In October 1999, AOL came up with another plan to undermine Microsoft by investing 800 million in PC maker Gateway. AOL became
the default ISP on Gateway PCs and the two companies announced the launching of a string of consumer-electronics devices. The first one was
the Touch Pad, a Linux based home Internet terminal launched in November 2000, but 3 months later Gateway fired its CEO and killed its
line of consumer electronics.
In the meantime, Microsoft had not managed to overcome AOL. In 2002, its MSN service had only 9 million subscribers, far behind the 32
million global AOL subscribers, and was losing money. In May 2003, the two firms decided to make peace. Microsoft agreed
to pay 750 million to AOL Time Warner to settle an antitrust lawsuit filed by AOL on behalf of its subsidiary Netscape. They also set a 7-year
licensing agreement that allows AOL to use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browsing technology in its Internet service provider service without hav-
ing to pay royalties. They also decided to make their AOL and MSN instant messaging services more interoperable, which will help allow the
technology to increase. They also agreed to cooperate in digital music, developing new ways for Internet users to download copyrighted con-
tent legally. This new alliance seems to match the needs of both compa- nies. Microsoft is extremely good at selling products to intermediaries
such as PC makers, but less savvy when selling directly to consumers, a key strength of AOL. On the other hand, AOL won’t have to worry
about the back-end software, Microsoft’s core competence.
How long the alliance will last is an open question. In 1996, AOL and Microsoft decided to team up together on the desktop. It worked well
since AOL subscriptions increased while Internet Explorer began to catch up with Netscape’s market share, but the cooperation died within
less than 2 years.
Question 1: What are the internal and external forces at work in the competitioncooperation between AOL and Microsoft?
Question 2: Do the two companies belong to the same strategic group?
Fujitsu, a Japanese company, was a long-term supplier to British ICL before finally buying out the company in 1990.
Understanding a competitor’s products is obviously an essential step. It can be realized through reverse engineering, which means tearing down the
machines of a competitor and then trying to rebuild them. Reverse engi- neering has been used for a very long time as a source of innovation notably
by the Germans during World War I, and by the Japanese during World War II [19]. More recently, a low-cost Chinese company, Huawei, has reverse-
engineered some Cisco routers and has put similar products at roughly 40 of the price on the American market, much to Cisco’s dismay.
Table 4.2 Information Sources Used for Competitive Purposes
Type of Information Information Source
Sales Finance
Industry Politics
Technology Customers
x x
x Competitors
x x
x x
x Reverse engineering
x x
Benchmarking x
x Patents
x x
Licenses x
x x
x x
Trade shows x
x x
International conventions and
conferences x
x Partnerships
x x
x Standardization
committees x
x x
Study trips x
x x
Consulting firms x
x x
Governmental competitive intelligence
organizations x
x x
x x
Data banks x
x x
x x
Specialized press books, other media types
x x
x x
x Internet sites
x x
x x
x Supplierssubcontractors
x x
x x
x Distributors
x x
x x
Sales force x
x Maintenance service
x Employees who used to
work for the competition x
x x
x x
Employment applicants x
x x
Former employees x
x x
x x
Alumni networks x
x x
x x

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