| McKinsey Classics | August 2017 |
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| Getting into your competitor’s head |
| Why does one fast-food player roll out stuff it touts as healthy, while another offers high-calorie junk? If you had been competing against either company, could you have foreseen its moves? Few can. Getting into a competitor’s head is hard because businesses and their executives are different. Yet all companies have publicly known assets, market positions, and capabilities they must protect and develop, and their top executives are often known quantities. To anticipate rather than react to a strategy, you must analyze it on two levels. On the organizational one, you have to understand the strategic fit between the competitor’s attributes and market environment. On the individual level, you need to know which of its executives makes which decision, as well as their influences and incentives. To learn how, read the classic 2009 article “Getting into your competitor’s head.” |
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