gh-menoncello-menon-market-plugins-research-tools/skills/deep-research/references/industry-frameworks.md

# Industry Analysis Frameworks

## Overview

This guide provides comprehensive frameworks for analyzing industries, markets, and competitive landscapes. These frameworks provide structured approaches to business intelligence and strategic decision-making.

## Core Analysis Frameworks

### SWOT Analysis

**Purpose:** Assess internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats

**Structure:**

```
              Positive Factors          Negative Factors
Internal    |     Strengths         |     Weaknesses     |
External    |    Opportunities       |      Threats       |
```

**Implementation Guidelines:**

**Strengths (Internal, Positive):**

- What advantages does the company have?
- What unique resources or capabilities exist?
- What do competitors see as strengths?
- What factors drive sales and growth?

**Weaknesses (Internal, Negative):**

- What could be improved?
- What should be avoided?
- What factors cause losses or problems?
- What resources are lacking?

**Opportunities (External, Positive):**

- What market trends could be exploited?
- What technological changes create advantages?
- What regulatory changes benefit the business?
- What market gaps exist?

**Threats (External, Negative):**

- What obstacles does the business face?
- What are competitors doing that impacts the business?
- What technological changes threaten the business?
- What negative market trends exist?

**TOWS Matrix Integration:**

- **SO Strategies:** How to use strengths to capitalize on opportunities
- **WO Strategies:** How to address weaknesses to pursue opportunities
- **ST Strategies:** How to use strengths to avoid threats
- **WT Strategies:** How to minimize weaknesses and avoid threats

### Porter's Five Forces

**Purpose:** Analyze competitive forces and industry attractiveness

**The Five Forces:**

1. **Threat of New Entrants**
   - Barriers to entry (economies of scale, capital requirements)
   - Brand loyalty and customer switching costs
   - Access to distribution channels
   - Government regulations and policies
   - Expected retaliation from existing players

2. **Bargaining Power of Buyers**
   - Number and concentration of buyers
   - Buyer volume and purchase frequency
   - Price sensitivity and product differentiation
   - Availability of substitute products
   - Cost of switching between suppliers

3. **Bargaining Power of Suppliers**
   - Number and concentration of suppliers
   - Unique inputs and differentiation
   - Switching costs for buyers
   - Forward integration threat
   - Labor union power and availability

4. **Threat of Substitute Products**
   - Availability of alternative solutions
   - Relative price and performance of substitutes
   - Buyer willingness to switch
   - Perceived level of product differentiation
   - Technological developments

5. **Rivalry Among Existing Competitors**
   - Number and size of competitors
   - Industry growth rate
   - Fixed costs and exit barriers
   - Product differentiation
   - Brand loyalty and customer switching costs

**Analysis Questions:**

- How intense is the competition in this industry?
- What are the key barriers to entry?
- How much power do customers and suppliers have?
- What substitute products threaten the industry?
- What factors determine profitability in this industry?

### PESTLE Analysis

**Purpose:** Analyze macro-environmental factors affecting business

**Political Factors:**

- Government stability and political climate
- Tax policies and trade regulations
- Labor laws and employment legislation
- Environmental regulations and policies
- Trade restrictions and tariffs
- Government incentives and subsidies

**Economic Factors:**

- Economic growth and GDP trends
- Interest rates and inflation
- Exchange rates and currency stability
- Consumer spending patterns
- Unemployment rates
- Business confidence indices

**Social Factors:**

- Demographic trends and population changes
- Cultural attitudes and lifestyle changes
- Education levels and social mobility
- Consumer preferences and buying habits
- Health consciousness and wellness trends
- Social media influence and communication patterns

**Technological Factors:**

- Research and development activity
- Automation and innovation levels
- Technological infrastructure
- Rate of technological change
- Impact on cost structures
- New product development capabilities

**Legal Factors:**

- Consumer protection laws
- Employment and labor laws
- Health and safety regulations
- Industry-specific regulations
- Intellectual property laws
- Data protection and privacy laws

**Environmental Factors:**

- Climate change and weather patterns
- Environmental regulations and policies
- Sustainability expectations
- Resource availability and costs
- Waste disposal and pollution concerns
- Renewable energy adoption

### BCG Matrix

**Purpose:** Analyze product portfolio and resource allocation

**Four Quadrants:**

1. **Stars (High Growth, High Market Share)**
   - Market leaders in growing industries
   - Require significant investment
   - Potential for future cash generation
   - Strategy: Invest and maintain market position

2. **Cash Cows (Low Growth, High Market Share)**
   - Market leaders in mature industries
   - Generate more cash than required
   - Foundation of the business
   - Strategy: Maintain and harvest cash

3. **Question Marks (High Growth, Low Market Share)**
   - Potential in growing markets
   - Require significant investment
   - Uncertain future performance
   - Strategy: Invest heavily or divest

4. **Dogs (Low Growth, Low Market Share)**
   - Low market share in mature markets
   - Generate low or negative cash flow
   - Limited growth potential
   - Strategy: Harvest, divest, or liquidate

## Specialized Analysis Frameworks

### Value Chain Analysis

**Purpose:** Identify value-creating activities and competitive advantages

**Primary Activities:**

1. **Inbound Logistics**
   - Receiving, storing, and distributing inputs
   - Material handling, inventory control, transportation
   - Supplier relationships and scheduling

2. **Operations**
   - Transforming inputs into final products
   - Manufacturing, packaging, testing, equipment
   - Process efficiency and quality control

3. **Outbound Logistics**
   - Collecting, storing, and distributing products
   - Order processing, scheduling, delivery
   - Distribution channels and customer service

4. **Marketing and Sales**
   - Persuading customers to purchase products
   - Advertising, promotion, pricing, channel selection
   - Sales force management and customer relationships

5. **Service**
   - Enhancing and maintaining product value
   - Installation, repair, training, customer support
   - Spare parts availability and complaint handling

**Support Activities:**

1. **Procurement**
   - Sourcing raw materials and supplies
   - Supplier relationships and negotiation
   - Quality control and cost management

2. **Technology Development**
   - Research and development activities
   - Process automation and improvement
   - Product design and innovation

3. **Human Resource Management**
   - Employee recruitment, training, and development
   - Compensation and performance management
   - Organizational culture and relationships

4. **Firm Infrastructure**
   - General management, planning, finance
   - Legal, accounting, and quality management
   - Organizational structure and systems

### Blue Ocean Strategy

**Purpose:** Create uncontested market space and make competition irrelevant

**Key Concepts:**

**Value Innovation:**

- Simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost
- Creating and capturing new demand
- Breaking the value-cost trade-off
- Aligning the whole system of activities

**Four Actions Framework:**

1. **Eliminate**
   - Factors that industry takes for granted but should be eliminated
   - Reduce complexity and cost structure
   - Focus on value-creating activities

2. **Reduce**
   - Factors that should be reduced well below industry standard
   - Identify over-served customers
   - Eliminate waste and inefficiency

3. **Raise**
   - Factors that should be raised well above industry standard
   - Address customer pain points
   - Create new value propositions

4. **Create**
   - Factors that industry has never offered
   - Discover new sources of value
   - Reconstruct market boundaries

**Strategy Canvas:**

- Visual representation of current strategic landscape
- Plot competitor factors and value curves
- Identify opportunities for differentiation
- Communicate strategic shift internally

### McKinsey 7S Framework

**Purpose:** Analyze organizational effectiveness and alignment

**Hard Elements:**

1. **Strategy**
   - Plans for allocation of resources
   - Competitive positioning and market approach
   - Response to external changes
   - Sustainable competitive advantages

2. **Structure**
   - Organizational chart and reporting lines
   - Division of labor and specialization
   - Coordination mechanisms and control systems
   - Decision-making authority and responsibility

3. **Systems**
   - Formal and informal procedures
   - Performance measurement and evaluation
   - Information systems and communication flows
   - Operational processes and workflows

**Soft Elements:**

4. **Shared Values**
   - Core values and organizational culture
   - Mission and vision statements
   - Superordinate goals and beliefs
   - Organizational identity and purpose

5. **Skills**
   - Dominant attributes and capabilities
   - Core competencies and distinctive abilities
   - Organizational strengths and weaknesses
   - Human capital and talent management

6. **Style**
   - Leadership approach and management style
   - Employee attitudes and behaviors
   - Organizational climate and atmosphere
   - Communication patterns and norms

7. **Staff**
   - Employee demographics and characteristics
   - Training and development programs
   - Performance and reward systems
   - Socialization and team integration

## Market-Specific Frameworks

### Technology Adoption Lifecycle

**Purpose:** Understand market adoption patterns for new technologies

**Adoption Categories:**

1. **Innovators (2.5%)**
   - Technology enthusiasts and visionaries
   - Risk-takers and early adopters
   - Focus on new capabilities and features
   - Willing to tolerate bugs and limitations

2. **Early Adopters (13.5%)**
   - Opinion leaders and trendsetters
   - Recognize potential for competitive advantage
   - Willing to invest in new solutions
   - Provide valuable feedback and insights

3. **Early Majority (34%)**
   - Pragmatists and practical thinkers
   - Focus on proven solutions and ROI
   - Require reference cases and testimonials
   - Critical for mainstream adoption

4. **Late Majority (34%)**
   - Conservatives and skeptics
   - Focus on risk reduction and reliability
   - Require established standards and support
   - Price-sensitive and risk-averse

5. **Laggards (16%)**
   - Traditionalists and resistors to change
   - Focus on familiar and proven solutions
   - Require significant pressure to change
   - May never adopt new technologies

**Chasm Theory:**

- Critical gap between early adopters and early majority
- Different buying criteria and decision processes
- Need for whole product solution and market development
- Strategic importance of crossing the chasm

### Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) Framework

**Purpose:** Analyze customer profitability and relationship value

**CLV Calculation:**

```
CLV = (Average Purchase Value × Purchase Frequency × Customer Lifetime) - Customer Acquisition Cost
```

**Key Components:**

1. **Customer Acquisition**
   - Marketing and sales expenses
   - Lead generation and conversion costs
   - Onboarding and setup costs
   - Channel and partnership expenses

2. **Customer Retention**
   - Revenue per customer per period
   - Purchase frequency and average order value
   - Customer retention and churn rates
   - Cross-selling and up-selling opportunities

3. **Customer Lifetime**
   - Average customer relationship duration
   - Retention rates by customer segment
   - Lifetime value trends and patterns
   - Factors affecting customer longevity

**Strategic Applications:**

- Customer segmentation and targeting
- Resource allocation and investment decisions
- Pricing and value proposition optimization
- Customer experience improvement initiatives

### Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) Framework

**Purpose:** Understand customer needs and motivations for product usage

**Core Concepts:**

**Job Statement:**
"When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome]."

**Job Dimensions:**

1. **Functional Jobs**
   - Practical tasks and problems to solve
   - Measurement criteria and success metrics
   - Functional requirements and constraints
   - Alternative solutions and trade-offs

2. **Emotional Jobs**
   - Feelings and perceptions to manage
   - Social identity and status considerations
   - Personal values and beliefs
   - Emotional responses and reactions

3. **Social Jobs**
   - How others perceive the customer
   - Social status and group belonging
   - Influence and impact on others
   - Social norms and expectations

**Job Mapping:**

- Define the job and desired outcomes
- Identify constraints and obstacles
- Map the job process and steps
- Discover improvement opportunities

## Implementation Guidelines

### Framework Selection Criteria

**Research Objectives:**

- What specific questions need to be answered?
- What level of analysis is required?
- What resources and time are available?
- Who is the target audience?

**Industry Characteristics:**

- Industry structure and dynamics
- Competitive intensity and market maturity
- Regulatory environment and constraints
- Technological complexity and change rate

**Data Availability:**

- Accessibility of relevant information
- Quality and reliability of data sources
- Time sensitivity of information
- Analytical capabilities and tools

### Combining Frameworks

**Complementary Analysis:**

- Use multiple frameworks for comprehensive understanding
- Cross-validate insights across different approaches
- Identify patterns and consistencies
- Address different aspects of business analysis

**Integration Strategies:**

- Start with broad frameworks (PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces)
- Apply specific frameworks based on research questions
- Use specialized frameworks for detailed analysis
- Synthesize findings into actionable insights

**Best Practices:**

- Document assumptions and limitations
- Use consistent terminology and definitions
- Validate findings with additional sources
- Update analysis regularly for changing conditions

This comprehensive set of frameworks provides structured approaches to analyzing industries, markets, and competitive landscapes, enabling thorough and actionable business intelligence research.