Predicting Your Competitors Response - Harvard Business Review April 2009
An interesting article from a few years ago from the HBR which which looks at how plan for what your competitors may do in response. PLEASE CLICK ON THE ABOVE PDF TO READ
Considering launching a new product? Making a price change? Implementing some other strategic move? If so, you need to know how your toughest competitors might respond. But most competitive analysis tools (such as game theory) become unwieldy in the real world with its multiple players—each of whom might react differently. Coyne and Horn recommend a new approach that’s simple yet rigorous. To make the best possible prediction of how a rival might respond to your next strategic move, ask three questions:
• Will your rivals react at all? Often, companies don’t respond to rivals’ moves.
• Which options will your rivals actively consider? Most firms review just a few obvious countermoves.
• Which option will your rivals most likely choose? Their past responses to competitors’ moves may provide clues