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War Gaming: Strategic Analysis Tools

This document discusses various strategic analysis tools that can be used to analyze competitors and the external environment, including: environmental scanning, competitive intelligence, filtering information, predictive intelligence, communicating intelligence, contingency planning, and war gaming. It provides details on how to conduct a typical business war game over 2-3 days with cross-functional teams representing a company and its competitors. It also lists some case studies that demonstrate how different strategic analysis models have been applied.

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Joe Small
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89 views2 pages

War Gaming: Strategic Analysis Tools

This document discusses various strategic analysis tools that can be used to analyze competitors and the external environment, including: environmental scanning, competitive intelligence, filtering information, predictive intelligence, communicating intelligence, contingency planning, and war gaming. It provides details on how to conduct a typical business war game over 2-3 days with cross-functional teams representing a company and its competitors. It also lists some case studies that demonstrate how different strategic analysis models have been applied.

Uploaded by

Joe Small
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Topic Gateway Series Strategic Analysis Tools

3. Filtering. Information that has been collected on the arena needs to be


filtered according to significance. Expert interpretation is required in order to
identify particular events that signify strategic moves or shifts.

4. Predictive intelligence. Using knowledge of the forces driving a competitor


to predict which direction they are likely to take. One technique is to build
likely scenarios and actively seek the signals that confirm the scenario. The
predictions need to be assessed for their probability of occurring and
potential impact.

5. Communicating intelligence. Ensuring that the right people in an


organisation receive regular briefing on key signals.

6. Contingency planning. Events that have a high potential impact or


probability of occurring may merit contingency plans, for example, a change
of strategy or mitigating actions.

7. A cyclical process. The process of scrutinising information for new warning


signals should never stop. While the emphasis is on emerging threats and
opportunities, the process should be flexible enough to tackle unexpected
shorter term developments too.

War gaming
War games are a useful technique for identifying competitive vulnerabilities and
misguided internal assumptions about competitors’ strategies.

Simulations of competitive scenarios are used to explore the implications of


changes in strategy in a ‘no risk’ environment. They also encourage new ways of
thinking about the competitive context. War games are often particularly useful
for organisations facing critical strategic decisions.

A typical business war game has the following characteristics:

• an off-site venue

• senior managers representing a cross-functional mix of participants

• two to three full days’ duration

• four or more teams of between four to eight people each. Each team
represents either the sponsoring company or one of its competitors

• preparation time in which each team receives a dossier describing the


company they are representing, and its strengths and weaknesses

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Topic Gateway Series Strategic Analysis Tools

It also has the following characteristics.

• A structure where games comprise several ‘moves’ or decision rounds. Each


move consists of a fixed, predetermined amount of time ranging from a
couple of months to several years. During each move, teams make and carry
out strategic decisions. After each move, teams assess their positions relative
to other teams.

• A ‘control team’ of facilitators who serve as the board of directors. They


ensure that strategic plans are acceptable and legal. They also facilitate the
debrief, in which participants review the merit of each strategy.

Case studies
The Amway case study on The Times 100 website shows how Amway was able
to move its business forward by choosing an appropriate marketing strategy. It
demonstrates the connection between Amway's own strategies and the defining
matrix of strategies developed by Ansoff in 'Strategies for Diversification'
published by Harvard Business Review in 1957. www.thetimes100.co.uk
[Accessed 12 February 2008]

The Coursework4you.co.uk website provides a number of case studies which


examine strategic analysis models describing PEST analysis, Porter's five forces,
value chain analysis, SWOT analysis and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix
techniques. The validity of the analytical models is evaluated by applying them to
companies such as Diageo, Lastminute.com, Marks and Spencer, Ryanair and
Wal-Mart. www.coursework4you.co.uk/sprtbus53.htm
[Accessed 12 February 2008]

The Corporate Strategy Board provides a number of case studies on the use of
strategic analysis tools in companies such as IBM, Procter and Gamble and Shell.
The website is available to registered users only.
www.csb.executiveboard.com/Public/Default.aspx
[Accessed 12 February 2008]

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