Internal Analysis of Your Company

Introduction: Connecting Industry to Customer-Centric Advantage
Project Structure: A Phased Approach
NotebookLM Tips
Quick Exploration: Company Overview in Light of Industry & Customer Segments
What Excellent Work Looks Like: Setting a High Bar
Tips for Success & Avoiding Industry-Blind Analysis

Introduction: Connecting Industry to Customer-Centric Advantage

In prior modules, we have focused on analyzing the external environment, specifically the industries in which your chosen companies operate. Assignments have covered Porter’s Five Forces, PESTLE analysis, and Strategic Group Mapping. These frameworks provided insights into industry dynamics and macro-environmental factors shaping firm operations.

We now shift focus to company-specific strategies that enable firms to achieve competitive advantage within their respective industries. The Business Strategy Analysis Project is designed to apply strategic management concepts at the firm level, examining how individual organizations establish and sustain a competitive edge.

Rationale for this Project in Strategic Management

Your industry analyses highlighted industry-level forces and trends. However, performance variance exists within industries. Some firms consistently outperform industry rivals, capture greater value, achieve superior profitability, and cultivate stronger customer relationships. This differential performance is attributable to distinct strategies and competitive advantages.

This project bridges the analysis of the industry context with the internal strategy of a company. We transition from assessing industry-level forces to evaluating how a specific company leverages its capabilities and resources to compete effectively, while considering customer needs as a central element of strategy.

Project Objectives: Analyzing Customer-Centric Competitive Advantage

Upon completion of the Business Strategy Analysis Project, you will be able to:

Analyze Firm-Specific Competitive Advantage: Identify the unique factors that generate competitive advantage for your chosen company, moving beyond industry-average perspectives.
Analyze Customer Willingness to Pay (WTP) Drivers: Utilize tools such as Experience Mapping, Customer Journey Mapping, and Jobs-to-be-Done to develop an in-depth understanding of customer choice drivers and the factors influencing willingness to pay.
Evaluate Sustainability and Durability of Advantage: Assess the long-term viability of the company’s competitive advantage in the context of industry evolution and competitive dynamics.
Analyze Innovation for Future Advantage: Examine how firms employ process, product, or technology innovation to maintain and enhance their competitive position, adapting to evolving customer preferences and industry structures.
Synthesize Industry and Firm-Level Analysis: Integrate prior industry analysis with company-level strategic analysis to produce a comprehensive strategic assessment.

Project Structure: A Phased Approach

This project is structured into three sequential sections:

Section 1: Identification of Key Strategic Business Units (SBUs): The initial phase involves segmenting your chosen company into core business units to focus the subsequent analysis.
Section 2: Competitive Advantage Analysis: This section forms the core of the project. You will analyze the drivers of competitive advantage, employing customer analysis tools and value chain analysis to identify activities that generate customer value and differentiation. The sustainability of this advantage will also be critically evaluated.
Section 3: Innovation for Future Advantage: The final section focuses on prospective analysis, examining the company’s innovation strategies to sustain and expand its competitive advantage.

Utilize NotebookLM as your primary workspace for this project. It will serve as a centralized platform for research materials, notes, and analytical synthesis.

This project provides a framework to analyze competitive advantage, integrating customer understanding and industry context. Proceed to the next section for tips on how to set up a NotebookLM notebook for company analysis.

NotebookLM Tips

As you have already selected your companies for previous assignments, we will proceed directly with setting up your NotebookLM workspace for this Business Strategy Analysis Project.

Revisit Your Chosen Company

You will be continuing your analysis with the same company you selected for the Industry Analysis assignment. Please ensure you are clear on the specific company you will be focusing on for this project. Refer back to your previous assignment materials if needed to confirm your company choice.

NotebookLM Project Setup & Integrating Industry Analysis

For this project, you will utilize NotebookLM to organize your research, analysis, and synthesis. Currently, NotebookLM has some limitations in terms of source organization features; it does not yet offer functionalities such as tagging or folders for source materials, nor direct notebook import or linking.

Therefore, to effectively integrate your prior Industry Analysis into your NotebookLM workspace for this project, we will use the following method:

Create a New Notebook: Create a new, dedicated NotebookLM notebook specifically for this Business Strategy Analysis Project. This will provide a focused workspace for this assignment.
Leverage Chat Feature in Industry Analysis Notebook: Open your NotebookLM notebook from your Industry Analysis assignment. Utilize the chat feature within that notebook to ask targeted questions to retrieve key insights relevant to your current company strategy analysis. Focus your questions on areas directly relevant to company positioning, industry attractiveness, and competitive dynamics you identified in your prior work.
Aggregate Insights in Google Docs: Carefully review the responses from the NotebookLM chat in your Industry Analysis notebook. Copy the most useful and relevant insights. Aggregate these copied insights, along with a clear reference to their original source notebook and source document within that notebook, into a Google Docs document. Maintaining source references is crucial for traceability and academic rigor.
Import Google Docs into New Notebook: In your newly created Business Strategy Analysis NotebookLM notebook, import the Google Docs document containing the aggregated industry insights as a source. This will make your key industry analysis findings readily accessible within your current project notebook.

Note on NotebookLM Organization: While NotebookLM’s current feature set for organization is limited, effective use of source titles, document summaries, and careful note-taking within the notebook itself will be essential for managing your research materials effectively. Refer to the tips provided in “Know Your Company: Setting Up Your NotebookLM Project” for guidance on maximizing organization within NotebookLM.

Quick Exploration: Company Overview in Light of Industry & Customer Segments

Before diving into detailed competitive advantage analysis, take time to briefly re-familiarize yourself with your chosen company, now explicitly considering both the industry context and customer segments within that industry.

Consider the following questions as you begin your exploration, and use NotebookLM (and potentially direct chat with your imported Industry Insights document) to capture your initial thoughts:

Industry Context: Based on your Industry Analysis, what are the key opportunities and threats facing companies in this industry? (Refer back to your summarized Industry Insights document in your NotebookLM, particularly your Five Forces and PESTLE analysis).
Company Positioning & Customer Segments: Within this industry context, how is your chosen company positioned? What strategic group does it belong to? (Refer to your Strategic Group Analysis). Crucially, consider: What customer segments are likely targeted by companies in different strategic groups, including your chosen company’s group? Are some customer segments more attractive or challenging to serve within this industry?
Initial Hypotheses: Based on your industry knowledge and initial thoughts on customer segments, what initial hypotheses can you formulate about your company’s potential sources of competitive advantage, specifically in relation to the customer segments they serve? Where might they differentiate themselves to best serve their target customers?
Data Needs: What types of information do you anticipate needing to gather to rigorously analyze your company’s competitive advantage and its relevance to specific customer groups? (Consider sources like 10-K reports, analyst reports, company websites, customer reviews, and potentially market research reports segmenting customer preferences).

This initial exploration is intended to set the stage for a customer-segment aware analysis of competitive advantage, firmly grounded in your industry understanding.

What Excellent Work Looks Like: Setting a High Bar

To achieve an “Excellent” rating across all criteria on the grading rubric, your project should demonstrate:

Depth of Analysis: Go beyond surface-level descriptions and provide insightful, well-reasoned analyses for each section.
Application of Frameworks and Tools: Demonstrate a clear and effective application of the strategic management frameworks and customer analysis tools discussed in this lesson and throughout the course.
Evidence-Based Arguments: Support your claims and analyses with strong evidence from authoritative sources, properly cited and referenced in your NotebookLM and final document.
Industry and Customer Contextualization: Consistently contextualize your company-specific analysis within the broader industry landscape and customer needs, leveraging your prior industry analysis and customer insights.
Logical Organization and Clarity: Present your analysis in a well-organized, logically structured, and clearly written manner. Ensure your arguments are easy to follow and your findings are communicated concisely.
Effective Use of NotebookLM: Demonstrate effective and organized use of NotebookLM as a research and analysis tool, with clear evidence of source utilization, note-taking, and synthesis within your notebook.
Actionable Insights: Your analysis should generate actionable insights that are strategically relevant and potentially valuable for the company being analyzed. Actionable insights are findings that:
- Identify specific opportunities or challenges facing the company.
- Suggest potential strategic implications or recommendations for the company to consider.
- Are grounded in your analysis of competitive advantage, sustainability, and innovation.
- Move beyond simply describing what the company is doing to analyzing why it matters strategically and what it might mean for future actions.
For example, instead of simply stating “Company X invests heavily in R&D,” an actionable insight would be: “Company X’s significant R&D investment in AI for personalized customer experiences, given evolving customer expectations in the industry, presents a key opportunity to further differentiate its service offering and enhance customer loyalty, but also carries execution risks and requires careful monitoring of competitor moves in this space.”

To maximize your success in the Business Strategy Analysis Project and avoid common pitfalls, consider the following tips and best practices:

Time Management Strategies: Plan and Pace Yourself

Start Early: Do not wait until the last minute to begin this project. Effective strategic analysis requires time for research, reflection, and synthesis. Start early to allow ample time for each stage of the project.
Break Down the Project: Divide the project into smaller, manageable tasks aligned with the different sections (SBU Identification, Competitive Advantage Analysis - WTP/SOC, Activity Analysis, Sustainability, Innovation). Set deadlines for completing each task to stay on track.
Allocate Time for Research: Allocate sufficient time for thorough research using authoritative sources and NotebookLM. Do not underestimate the time required to locate, review, and synthesize relevant information.
Regular NotebookLM Engagement: Make NotebookLM an active part of your workflow throughout the project, not just at the end. Regularly add sources, take notes, summarize findings, and organize your analysis within NotebookLM as you progress.
Review and Refine: Schedule time for reviewing and refining your analysis before submission. Allow time to revisit earlier sections, strengthen your arguments, improve clarity, and ensure consistency across your project.

Focusing on Industry-Contextualized Analysis: Avoid a Vacuum

A critical mistake to avoid is analyzing your chosen company in isolation, without sufficient consideration of its industry context. Remember, competitive advantage is relative to competitors within the same industry. To avoid “industry-blind” analysis:

Continuously Refer Back to Industry Analysis: Actively and explicitly connect your company-specific analysis back to your prior Industry Analysis assignment. Refer to your Five Forces, PESTLE, and Strategic Group Mapping findings throughout your project.
Industry Benchmarking: Explicitly benchmark your company’s activities, WTP, SOC, and innovation efforts against key industry competitors. Avoid making generic statements about “good” or “bad” strategies without comparing them to industry norms and best practices.
Consider Industry Dynamics: Always analyze sustainability, durability, and innovation in light of industry-specific dynamics. What are the typical sources of sustainable advantage in this industry? How is the industry evolving? What are the key competitive trends in this sector?
Customer Understanding within the Industry: Frame your customer analysis tools (Experience Mapping, CJM, JTBD) within the context of industry-specific customer needs and expectations. Customer needs and WTP drivers are often shaped by industry norms and competitive offerings.

Using NotebookLM to Connect Industry, Customer, and Company Insights: Synthesis is Key

NotebookLM is not just a research repository; it is a tool for synthesis and analytical connection. Maximize its value by:

Linking Industry and Company Sources: Actively link your Industry Analysis sources (imported Google Doc) with your company-specific sources (10-K reports, analyst reports, etc.) within NotebookLM. Create connections between industry trends and company strategies you observe.
Thematic Organization for Synthesis: Organize your NotebookLM notes and summaries thematically around key analytical concepts (SBUs, WTP drivers, activities, sustainability, innovation), across both industry and company sources. This thematic organization facilitates synthesis and comparison.
Utilize Chat for Cross-Source Insights: Use NotebookLM’s chat feature to ask questions that span across your industry and company sources. For example: “Compare the risk factors related to supply chain disruption mentioned in the 10-K report to the supply chain trends identified in the industry report.”
Visual Maps/Tables in NotebookLM: Consider creating visual maps or tables directly within NotebookLM to synthesize information across sources and analytical sections. Use these visuals to identify patterns, connections, and key insights.

Avoiding Common Mistakes: Focus and Depth over Breadth

Superficial Analysis: Avoid simply describing company information without in-depth analysis and application of strategic frameworks. Go beyond the surface level and rigorously analyze why things are the way they are and what it means strategically.
Descriptive vs. Analytical: Shift from describing company activities to analyzing their strategic significance. Focus on evaluation, interpretation, and insight generation, not just information reporting.
Generic Statements: Avoid making generic, unsubstantiated statements. Support all claims and analyses with specific evidence and reasoning, grounded in your research and application of strategic frameworks.
Ignoring Customer Perspective: Do not neglect the customer analysis aspect of this project. Superficial or absent customer analysis will weaken your WTP analysis and overall competitive advantage assessment. Actively use Experience Mapping, CJM, and JTBD to inform your understanding of customer value.
Lack of Source Integration: Do not treat your sources as separate silos of information. Actively integrate information from different sources (company reports, analyst reports, industry publications, executive interviews) to build a holistic and well-supported analysis.