Industry and Competitive Analysis

Instructor: Dr. Patrick Tinguely

Assistant: Rudolf Maculan

Registration for Autumn Semester 2024:

Please register through myStudies to enroll for the course. If you have any inquiries about the course or want to register as an exchange student, please contact Rudolf Maculan: rudolfm@ethz.ch

Overview

Industry and Competitive Analysis (ICA) is an essential part of any strategic management process in firms and other organizations. It contains a very practical set of methods to quickly gain a good grasp of an industry, be it pharmaceuticals, information and communication technology, professional services, or even the beer industry. The purpose of ICA is to understand factors that influence the performance of an industry and firms within that industry. Gaining such understanding supports firms in developing effective competitive strategies.

As the world witnesses tremendous development in digital technologies, many industries are in the midst of transitioning from analogue to digital business models. Digitalization is radically changing what firms produce and the way they organize their business activities. To adapt to these changes, practitioners and scholars alike need a more advanced set of analytical tools to understand the constantly-changing industries. That is why we have developed our course as ICA 2.0, which provides state-of-the-art tools to gain an updated picture of various industries before and after their digital transformation. In this course, we will study theoretical frameworks, examine evidence from empirical research, and benefit from experience shared by our guest speakers.

Goals of the course

  • Students will develop an in-depth understanding of how the structure of an industry impacts both industry-level and firm-level performance
  • Students will develop practical skills in analyzing industries and firms within them 
  • Students will gain a broad understanding of the impact of digitalization (esp. generative AI) on various industries and develop an in-depth understanding of (at least) one chosen industry 
  • Students will improve the analytical skills needed to successfully compete in the digital age
     

Format

The course is organized into twelve sessions that comprise a combination of lectures, guest lectures, case studies, and (tutored) group work. The schedule is subject to change, depending on the availability of the guest lecturers.
Group work includes the analysis of specific industries, the analysis and development of strategies for selected firms, and the presentation of results. On each lecture day, the classroom is reserved until 15:00 for this group work. We encourage you to use the given time slot to meet your group, ask clarification questions to the teaching assistant, and progress with your group work.

Class Preparation and Participation

We strongly recommend that you attend each session because a crucial part of your learning experience will take place in the classroom. Please come to class well prepared and ready to contribute your thoughts and actively engage in discussion of the course’s topics.
We also expect you to take an active role in the learning process. Active class participation means that you articulate your arguments effectively, ask clarification questions when needed, contribute effectively to the ideas of others, and provide meaningful insights while solving case studies.
 

Structure

Friday, 12:15 - 15:00 (12:15 - 14:00 Lecture; 14:00 - 15:00 Project Work)

Room: CHN D29

Course Organization

Load/credit:

2 SWS / 3 credits

Grades:

  • 40% paper/industry report (group)
  • 40% final presentation (group)
  • 20% class participation (individual)

Registration

Industry and Competitive Analysis is an elective course within the MTEC Master programs.

Students should enroll directly in myStudies. Exchange students can register by sending an e-mail to rudolfm@ethz.ch if facing problems with their registration in myStudies. Those registrations will be handled on a case-by-case basis. E-mails that are sent before the starting date of registration in myStudies will not be accepted. 

An electronic confirmation of the registration will be sent out shortly before the start of the semester, which contains an access link to the Moodle course page (featuring readings, resources for group works, group assignments).

Reading list

This course is built upon a management classic (Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors by Porter, 2004). More recent research findings and practitioner-oriented papers in the area of strategy are also included. Readings associated with each lecture should be done before the lecture day.

To access the journal articles listed below, you have to be within the ETH domain (either directly connected to the ETH network within ETH or using VPN). PDF versions of the Harvard Business Review articles are only available via the class Moodle.

Session 2: Competitive strategy

Pre-reading:

Session 3: Industry Dynamics

Pre-reading:

Session 5: Strategic groups & firm membership

Pre-reading:

Optional reading:

Session 6: ICA in the Digital Age I

Pre-reading:

Optional reading:

Session 7: ICA in the Digital Age II

Pre-reading:

Optional reading:

Session 11: Opportunities and Feasibility Analyses

Pre-reading:

Alvarez, S. A., Barney, J. B., Anderson, P. (2013). Forming and Exploiting Opportunities: The Implications of Discovery and Creation Processes for Entrepreneurial and Organizational Research. Organization Science, 24(1), 301-317