Resources & Tools
Before applying his skills to the nonprofit arena, Mr. Fuld helped shape company strategy, improving the competitive position for his global clients.
The following are a number of Mr. Fuld’s articles on how to understand and anticipate your competition, today and tomorrow
79 Strategic Questions You Need to Ask
Competition is as much a fact of life for nonprofits just as it is for corporations. Nonprofits and their funders need to understand who else is serving a community and how these social enterprises plan to grow.
This strategy tool is more than a list of questions. Consider it an approach to assess your competition, identify funding risks, and examine your future direction.
Competition
CEOs, Get to Know Your Rivals
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – JULY 25, 2014
Four Mistakes to Avoid When Predicting Competitors’ Moves
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – JANUARY 13, 2014
Since 1986, Byron Wein, Vice Chairman Blackstone Advisory Partners (part of the Blackstone Group), has been offering 10 predictions for the coming year. Most years he is about 50 percent correct. But for 2013 he was only about 15 percent on target. Gold did not reach $1,900 an ounce. Iran did not build the Bomb. The S&P did not plunge to under 1800 – in fact, it hit an all-time high.
Embrace the Business Model That Threatens You
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – MAY 22, 2013
If your company is already well established and has smart management, it is likely that it will become a hybrid in the next ten years, blending its legacy business with a new business model that is rising to threaten it. Take Walmart, for example. After suffering several years of Amazon’s online hegemony, Walmart responded with a hybrid approach.
How To Predict Your Competitor's Next Moves
FORBES – OCTOBER 12, 2011
The rumor mill for the iPhone 4S began almost as soon as Apple released its iPhone 4. Better camera, faster processor, bigger screen, fire-proofing, cordless charging…leaps tall buildings in a single bound. The list goes on and on. We now know which of those predictions have come true.
Using War Games to Test the Future
BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK – FEBRUARY 11, 2011
Four Suggestions as You Face Your Industry’s Steamroller
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – JULY 16, 2013
Remember the scene in the first Austin Powers film where Powers, attempting to escape in a steamroller, warns one of Dr. Evil’s henchmen to move out of its path? Despite its comically slow speed — and a huge distance between them, the guard stays rooted to the spot, yelling Stop! … until it’s too late. (The scene dissolves to his Donna Reed-like wife getting the news and noting tragically: “People never think how things affect the family of a henchman.”)
The Future
An Exercise to Get Your Team Thinking Differently About the Future
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – JANUARY 23, 2015
What Do Mount St. Helens and Industry Disruptions Have in Common?
BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK – OCTOBER 4, 2013
I recently watched a couple of YouTube time-lapse videos about the eruption of the Mount St. Helens volcano. From space or from ground level, you see a verdant landscape that suddenly fills with ash. When the smoke clears, whoosh, you see devastation.
Be Prepared
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – FROM THE NOVEMBER 2003 ISSUE
Why didn’t we see this coming?” As an executive, that’s the question you never want to ask. And yet most companies act in ways that make it impossible to avoid.
Other Strategic Issues
Take Your Show on the Road
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – OCTOBER 21, 2013
Once in a blue moon, a brainstorming session produces an idea that is so blindingly good that people wonder not only “why aren’t we doing that already?” but even: “why isn’t everyone?” As someone who helps businesses conduct “war games” to inform their strategy-making, I suppose I see these moments more than most people; the whole point of these exercises is to devise new marketplace forays and anticipate competitive responses. But still, they are very rare.
Cross-Cultural Communication Takes More than Manners
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – AUGUST 01, 2012
I can’t stand it when someone writes “obviously” in at the beginning of a sentence, any sentence. Nothing is obvious to everyone, especially when it comes to appreciating the impact a person’s culture has on interpreting — or preventing the acceptance of — information.
The Right Kind of Competitive Intelligence
BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK – JULY 1, 2011
In a world of WikiLeaks, Galleon, and increased scrutiny of how businesses access and exchange information, many companies are getting timid about developing intelligence. This is a mistake. As someone who helps companies gather and analyze intelligence about their industries, competitors, and markets, I know that one can obtain and use valuable information legally.
