Strategic Analysis and Competitive Positioning

Online Course on Strategic Analysis and Competitive Positioning

How does a business win customers, beat its competitors, make a profit and grow?

These questions are fundamental to business success. But can you – or your clients – answer them?

Strategic Analysis and Competitive Positioning gives you the tools you’ll need to build enduring competitive advantage and develop a solid strategic plan. When you’ve finished working through the course you’ll have the basis of your strategic plan.

This high level course covers the strategic planning process for a business from start to finish, including an understanding of business lifecycles and industry consolidation.

You’ll explore the external factors that matter when you’re putting together a business strategy, including sector attractiveness, sources of competitive advantage and differentiation.

Understanding Strategic Analysis and Competitive Positioning
enables the learner to:

• Understand external and internal factors when putting together your business strategy
• Determine your competitive position
• Recognise where you’d like to move your business and how to get there
• Assess the impact of your strategy – the time or cost required, the resources available to you and the risks
• Create a strategic action plan for your business and begin to implement it

Learning outcomes of Strategic Analysis and Competitive Positioning

Getting started
• What is the strategic planning process?
• What is the “outside-in” approach?
• What is the quick method?
• What is the business lifecycle?
• What are the benefits of industry consolidation?

Where you are: external
• How attractive is your sector?
• What is the “five forces” model?
• How can you gain a competitive advantage?
• What is customer segmentation?
• What is the importance of scale?
• How can differentiation and cost advantage be used?

Where you are: internal
• What is the value chain?
• Why should you analyse the value chain?
• What is outsourcing?
• How does your cost structure compare with competitors’?
• What is a competitive position?
• How can you integrate your work?

Where you want to be and how to get there
• Where is the source of your ideas?
• How do value disciplines help businesses win?
• How can you shift your competitive position?
• How can you use the impact-effort matrix to prioritise?
• How can you use the risk-return matrix to prioritise?

Turning ideas into action
• How do you pull together your sources?
• How do you scenario plan?
• How do you present a strategy?
• What is SWOT analysis?
• How do you prepare for scrutiny?
• What’s the action plan?
• What are the next steps?

Target audience for Strategic Analysis and Competitive Positioning

Accounting and finance professionals who are part of their business’ strategic planning process, advising clients, or who want to take their strategic planning to an expert level.

About the author of Strategic Analysis and Competitive Positioning

Patrick Macdonald is a Co-Founder and Partner at the School for CEOs, a new approach to executive education.

He has 30 years’ experience in business. Starting his professional career at the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors.
 
 
Patrick then worked for The Boston Consulting Group in Germany and the UK. In 2003 Patrick became CEO of John Menzies plc where he doubled profitability. Subsequently he has worked in private equity.

In 2009 Patrick joined Reconomy a waste recycling and construction business as CEO, where he is now Chairman.

Patrick holds a first class honours degree in Engineering Science from Oxford University and gained an MBA with Distinction at INSEAD in 1992. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute. He is also a Sainsbury Management Fellow.

Flexible learning

Learners take their own route through the topics covered in the course. They will learn at their own pace through a variety of activities designed to accommodate a range of learning styles.

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