When it comes to competitive strategy, knowing what your competition is doing is good; understanding why they do what they do and predicting what they are going to do next is best.
Leading companies invest a lot of resources into competitive intelligence, so why are they still caught off guard by the actions and reactions of their competitors?
In “Inside the Competitor’s Mindset,” John Horn shares proven techniques to help businesses think like their competition and understand why they act the way they do. The keys to unlocking this mindset are cognitive empathy and a strategic approach to competitive insight that focuses on the “why” of a competitor’s move, and not just on “what happened.”
“Inside the Competitor’s Mindset” presents a systematic approach to competitive intelligence that starts with three frameworks to get inside the competitor’s mindset, predict their reactions to your moves, and assess whether they are getting ready for a spontaneous move of their own. Horn also demonstrates the importance of collecting forward-looking, predictive data; explains how to use war games, Black Hat exercises, mock negotiations, and premortems to build competitive insight; and makes the case for creating a dedicated competitive insight function within the organization.
When every move matters, staying a step ahead of the competition is critical. “Inside the Competitor’s Mindset” prepares leaders from any industry to be ready when it is time to act (and react) in the competitive market.
About the author
John Horn is professor of practice in economics at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. His microeconomics, macroeconomics, and global economics courses are informed by his nine years of work on competitive strategy, war gaming workshops, and corporate strategy exercises with the Strategy Practice of McKinsey & Company. He has published numerous articles about applying behavioral economics and competitive insight in business strategy.
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