Competitive

Intelligence Marketing

Department of International Business

and Marketing BBA 2K17
Elective
NUST Business School
National University of Sciences & Technology
Course Details

Course Title: Competitive Intelligence Marketing Program: BBA 2K17 (ELECTIVE)

Course Code: MKT 430 Credit Hours: 3

Course Faculty

Instructor: Dr. Muhammad Adnan Waseem Email: adnan.waseem@nbs.nust.edu.pk

Office: 212 Tel Office: 051-90853106
Office Hours: 10:00 to 13:00 Hours

Course Description
Competitive Intelligence is the art and science of generating a deep understanding of marketplace
players and industry forces. It yields insight about the competitive dynamics that enables executives to
optimize their decisions in light of the plans and strategies of other high-impact participants in the
external environment. Students learn to apply the CI process and CI-related methodologies,
techniques, and tools to better analyze an organization’s current and future competitive position.
Students apply analytical and socio-technical techniques to improve organizational decision making as
related to CI, and should understand the issues related to the collection, analysis, and management of
external information.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Articulate the role of Competitive Intelligence (CI) and Competitive Analysis (CA) within
organizations.

2. Understand the role that competitive intelligence plays in business analysis.

3. Understand the role of the business analyst in assessing a market in order to develop strategy
that will drive economic performance.

4. Demonstrate knowledge of understanding the company strategy.

5. Analyze, synthesize, and communicate information and knowledge in a variety of formats.

6. Recognize existing and potential problems in a marketplace (effective use of competitive

strategies) and devise strategies to resolve them.

7. Demonstrate leadership abilities and innovation skills to remain competitive.

8. Analyze information problems and develop solutions, drawing from a wide range of information

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 technology tools and practices.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)

Upon successful completion of this course, you are expected to:

1. Become conversant in competitive intelligence, strategic, and corporate/organization terms and
concepts.
2. Develop more in-depth knowledge of and anticipate issues impacting organizational
effectiveness and competitiveness.
3. Develop an awareness of issues and trends in the field of competitive intelligence, including
research, analysis, and process management.
4. Know how to take advantage of opportunities for information professionals in the field of
competitive intelligence.
5. Know the range of competitive intelligence tools & services; as well as how to evaluate, select,
and use them effectively.
6. Gain familiarity with competitive intelligence-related projects and deliverables.
7. Identify and apply professional tools, news, and resources to gain awareness and build upon
skills.
8. Learn how to protect an organizations’ competitive and knowledge assets from internal and
external threats.
9. Elevate problem solving through targeted analysis.

Course Evaluation (Grade Breakup)

Grading will be done as per NBS criteria. The breakup of the grade points is as follows:

Quiz 10
Assign/Case/Project 25
Mid Term 20
Final Term 40
CP 05

Course Content (Weekly)

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Weekly breakdown is given below
Week Session Topic Relevant Book Chapters/Cases
1 Introduction to the Course
Understanding competitive Porter – Chapter 1: The Structural Analysis of Industries
intelligence Hooley – Chapter 2: Strategic Marketing Planning
The Evolution of Matt H. Evans - Chapter 1 (Part 1) Competitive intelligence
Competitive Intelligence
Competitive Intelligence Case Discussion: McDonalds Case Study

examples from the real

world
2 Generic Competitive Porter - Chapter 2: Generic Competitive Strategies
Strategies Porter – Chapter 3: A Framework for Competitor Analysis
The Components of Hooley – Chapter 2: Strategic Marketing Planning
Competitor Analysis Hooley - Chapter 3: The changing market “competitive”
Risk of Generic Strategies Environment.
Competitive market Case Discussion: KITEA Case
Analysis Research Article: Competitive Intelligence: concept, context and
Tracking competitors a case of its application
3 Competitor and Customer Porter – Chapter 3: A Framework for Competitor Analysis
Analysis Case Discussion: Competitive strategies
The Need for a
Competitive Intelligence
System
4 Porter – Chapter 4: Market Signals
Competitor Analysis Hooley: Chapter 4: Customer Analysis
Types of Market Signals Hooley: Chapter 5: Competitor Analysis
Case Discussion: PATANGALI Case
5 Competitive Moves Quiz 1
Buyer Selection Porter – Chapter 5: Competitive Moves
Purchasing Strategy Porter – Chapter 6: Strategy Towards Buyers and Suppliers

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6 Strategic Groups Porter – Chapter 7: Structural Analysis Within Industries
Forecasting future demand Hooley - Chapter 7:Forecasting future demand and market
and market requirements requirements
7 Competitive Strategy in Porter – Chapter 9: Competitive Strategy in Fragmented
Fragmented Industries Industries
Strategic Choices Porter – Chapter 10: Competitive Strategy in Emerging
Identifying Future and Industries
current competitive Hooley - Chapter 8: Identifying Future and current competitive
positions positions
Segmenting and Hooley - Chapter 9: Segmenting and positioning
positioning “Competitive focus ”
“Competitive focus ” Case Discussion: The Ethics of Competitive Intelligence
8 Project Part -1 Project Part 1 Submission/Presentation

Mid-term preparation Mid-term preparation

9 Mid Term Exam

10 Selecting market targets Hooley - Chapter 10:Selecting market targets
Applying Strategic and Porter – Chapter 11: The Transition to Industry Maturity
tactical CI Case Discussion: “Bang & Olufsen’s attractive business
The Transition to Industry model”
Maturity
11 Competitive positioning Hooley - Chapter 11:Creating sustainable competitive
advantage
strategies
Porter – Chapter 12: Competitive Strategy in Declining
Competitive Strategy in Industries
Case Discussion: Nokia “what advantages and dangers does
Declining Industries
Nokia’s market share relative to its competitors bestow?
Quiz 2
12 Competing through new Hooley - Chapter 12: Competing through new marketing mix
marketing mix
Case Discussion:
Tyrrells
“How Tyrrells produced a value added product”
13 Competing through Hooley - Chapter 13: Competing through innovation
innovation
Case Discussion: Gillette “What type of innovation is Gillette
Fusion And how likely is it to be successful in the market place”
14 Vertical Integration Quiz 3

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 Porter – Chapter 14: The Strategic Analysis of Vertical
Integration
15 Project Presentations Project Part 2 Submission

16 Buffer Week
17 END SEMESTER EXAM

Required Course Material

The core textbook required for this course is:

 Porter, M. E. (2008). Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and
competitors.
Supporting textbooks:
 Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning (4th Edition) Graham Hooley /Nigel
F.Piercy /Brigitte Nicoulaud
 O'shaughnessy, J. (2014). Competitive marketing (RLE marketing): A strategic
approach. Routledge.

Other Related Material:

Material from various other sources such as; Journal articles, Magazines, HBR cases will be discussed
in the class. Such resources will be uploaded onto LMS before each class.

Course Project

Term Long Group Project

The final project carries 15% weightage of your overall grade. The project has two parts. Both parts will have
equal weightage. Students will assume the role of marketing consultant for their chosen business, in designated
groups of 4 (maximum). Groups will be formed by the instructor.
Part 1
For Part 1, students will be required to work in their assigned group. Students will pick a business that is present
in the local vicinity of Islamabad. In most cases, due to the nature of this project, the group will have to meet
with the company/business. In the 8 th week (before mids), students will present their findings in a group
presentation (details will be shared later). Each group is required to produce a report of maximum 4 pages.
Submission for Part-1 report is due in Week-8 and presentations will take place in week 9. Specific requirements
for Part-1 of the project are as follows:

Choose one business in the firm or a well-defined product line in the business and study a key competitor of that
business or product line using both the firm’s internal data on competitors (if and as available) and publicly
available data.

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Part 1 – Analyzing the Industry and the Competitor’s Place in it:
Companies compete in a multivariate world. As such, there is a need to portray competitive dynamics in
multivariate ways. Increasingly, visualization techniques are being used to convey complex, multivariate
messages. Your assignment is to develop a visualization competitor template that captures the economic
structure—both historical and current—of the industry in which it competes as well as the focal firm’s place in
that industry.
To complete this assignment, you need to consider the following (among other factors) for the development of
the template:
• The key players in the industry, their relevant sizes and industry concentration ratios
• A five-forces analysis with respect to the industry
• The performance of the industry in revenues, profits.
• The basic economics of the industry
• The strategies and performance of the competitor(s) and their source competitive advantages (if any).
 Each key competitor’s current positioning.
• Industry trends, key success factors
• Industry and Focal firm’s value chains
You are encouraged to use a variety of techniques in this template such as:
o The combination of words, numbers, pictures, charts, etc.
o Time dimension
o Animation
The template is to be in PowerPoint or other graphical form along with a word report.
Part 2
For Part 2 of this project, each group is required to address the following requirements in their presentation and
report. Submission of 2nd report is due in week-14 (Maximum 12-pages). Presentations will take place in week-
15 and week-16.
Part 2 – Analyzing the Firm’s Marketplace Strategy
Identify the key competitors’ Marketplace Strategy as described in the course materials. Your report should
describe:
a) Your findings and;
b) Their implications for the chosen firm. The slides must “speak for themselves.”
Value Chain, Capabilities, Organization, Alliances
In this part, you may analyze the following: a) the competitor’s value chain, b) the competitor’s capabilities
(primarily its technological, social, ethical/moral, cultural, financial capabilities), c) its organization, or d) its
strategic alliances (all as described in the lecture materials). Prepare a presentation that describes a) your
findings and b) their implications for the chosen firm. The slides must “speak for themselves.”
The Competitors’ Likely Future Strategies
Will the competitor maintain its current strategy, what directions will it most likely take, what options are
available to it, what are the implications of those options for us? What additional sources of competitive
advantage could each develop in the future?
Further focus must be put in the following areas:
i. New positioning and accompanying new marketing strategies that you recommend for your

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 company vis-à-vis the competitor
ii. Why you recommend these particular strategies for your company?
iii. How these strategies would be implemented?
iv. How their success should be measured?
Along with word report, prepare a presentation of PowerPoint slides that describes results.

NOTE: More content can be added as and when required by the faculty during the course of
study.

Class Participation & Attendance:

 Maintaining 75% attendance is your responsibility. According to NUST policy, 75% attendance is
mandatory for you to pass this course. Please make sure that your emergency and sick leaves
fall within this criteria.
 Attendance will be taken on LMS, and can be taken any time during the session. Once
attendance has been taken, you will not be marked present.
 You are responsible for making your contributions heard and your presence felt in class. Please
make your remarks relevant, timely and constructive. Quality is more important than quantity.
 Failure to attend class and participate will reflect in your final grade. 5% of your grade accounts
for class participation.
 If you are away on official NUST duty1, it is the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor on
time with an official notice2. Consequently, the student will still be marked as present, but as “On
Duty”. AIESEC events and activities related duties don’t qualify for “On Duty” status
unless instructed by Dean/Principal NBS.
 It is the student’s responsibility to continuously monitor his/her attendance. Do Notask the
instructor to change/modify the attendance, unless there has been an accidental oversight.
In such an event, the student should inform the instructor of the error (with proof) before the
month ends.
 Make sure you use the sample front page provided (at the end of this outline) as a cover to any
assignment.
 Take note that late submissions will not be counted.
 There will be no make-up assignments of any kind.

1
Duties include representing NUST at any forum both at national and international level and being
assigned duties by NUST societies/authorities for NUST/NBS level events.
2
An application duly signed by the Principal/Dean of NBS

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Quizzes:
There will be three quizzes during the semester. They may be announced beforehand. Test format may
combine a mixture of multiple choice answers, covering all readings, lecture, handouts and class
discussion content.

Academic Dishonesty:
Students need to carefully consider NUST Business School’s policies regarding plagiarism. Group-work
is encouraged but any form of plagiarism is a crime and will not be tolerated. Strict action will be taken
against any student(s) found plagiarising any material and submitting it as his/her own.
You are responsible for knowing and enacting academic conduct that is in line with the University’s
statement entitled “Academic Dishonesty” available on NUST’s website:
http://www.nust.edu.pk/usr/showContents.aspx?mdl=1839
The statement highlights examples of unacceptable behavior which include, but are not limited to, the
following:
 Cheating: Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study
aids in any academic exercise; copying from another student’s examination; submitting work
prepared in advance for an in-class examination; taking an examination for another person or
conspiring to do so.
 Plagiarism: Intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own
in any academic exercise; failure to attribute direct quotation, paraphrase, or borrowed facts or
information.
It is expected that all work that is handed will be your own.  Any ideas or content that come from
another source must be properly cited (including any content taken from the Internet, books, articles
and lectures). Make sure you understand the Plagiarism policy handed to you by the university (Student
Handbook) and you should bring it with you in the next class that you take with me3
Moreover, TurnItIn will be used as the plagiarism software to evaluate all your submissions. Any acts
of plagiarism and cheating will be dealt strictly and in accordance with the policy in place by the
University.

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Do’s and Don’ts of Class
DO
Come to class on time and having
completed the reading material.
Take notes during the lectures.
Ask questions that are relevant to the topic
being discussed and participate actively in
class discussions and activities.
Let the lecturer know in advance if you need
to miss a class.
Constantly check the deadlines that are
due.
Constantly monitor the course outline and
have it with you at all times.
Research topics and news items for
constructive (and respectful) in-class
debates.
Switch off/Put your phones on silent
during class.
10
DONT
Submit assignments, quizzes late. Such
assignments and quizzes will not be accepted.
Cause disturbance in class. If you have a
question, address it to the lecturer.
Walk in and out of class during the lecture as
you please. If you have an emergency, let the
lecturer know.
Come to class without your own copy of
reading materialassigned for that week.
Ask the lecturer to reschedule deadlines.
Ask the lecturer to change attendance
details.
Eat/Drink food in class.
Do Notforget to write some form of
identification on each document that is due
for submission of any kind. It is not anyone’s
responsibility to keep track of the author of
such documents but the author himself/herself.
Sample Front Page for Report/Assignments

NUST Business School

Competitive Intelligence Marketing

Topic of Report/Assignment

Submitted to;
Faculty Name
Submitted by;
xxx
GROUP #
BBA 2K16

Date: xx Month, 2020.

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