FORE School of Management, New Delhi

Course Outline
Programme: PGDM (FMG-30/IMG-15/FM-4/BDA-2)

Name of the Course: Strategists’ Toolkit & Competitive Intelligence Credit: 3.0
Term: Term-4 Academic Year: 2022-23
Faculty: Prof. Anil Kumar Singh Office Contact No.:
Email: anil.singh@fsm.ac.in

Introduction: Strategist Tool Kit and Competitive intelligence as a course traverses through the
process of ethical intelligence acquisition and leveraging it for organizational benefit. The Tool kit
part is designed to initially overview the consulting profession with a subsequent emphasis on
organization consulting issues. Effort will be placed on developing proficiencies in a range of skills
required to practice consulting. How to approach business problems, what are the creative involved
and how to structure them for the best outcomes is of relevance to all business professional. The
course will add to the capabilities of those who are specifically interested in consulting careers.
The overall objective of this course is to provide you with an overview the ‘world’ of general
management consulting and to help you develop a basic understanding of that world and the skills
and knowledge to be successful in it.

The Competitive intelligence (CI) refers to a set of skill based managerial techniques which tracks
and monitors the activity of direct and indirect competitors in a range of fields: general business
activity, business development, strategy and tactics in different sectors or new activities. CI is quite
similar to the concept of radar which helps one to spot new opportunities and avoiding disasters.
Thus coupling of the intelligence activities with the problem solving approach can result in
wonderful insights to the practitioners in the field. This course contributes to the foundation in
strategic thinking and strategic analysis of students. It introduces them to the tools and techniques
of strategic analysis with purposeful information framework.

Objectives:
 This course aims to develop the conceptual foundations and organizational capabilities needed
for leading strategic development, growth and change to achieve high performance in changing
environment. The course also intends to develop skills in providing advisory role to the strategic
problems which organizations are facing. Thus, explicitly this course will focus on
generating/synthesizing following issues
 Identifying the information that a decision-maker needs on the competition, or the competitive
environment; Collecting raw data, using legal and ethical means, from public sources;
 Improve your ability to define key factors and issues relevant to a consulting engagement and
examine their inter-relationships and learn to ‘massage’ them conceptually.
 Analyzing that data, using any one of a wide variety of tools, converting it into intelligence, on
which someone can take action (‘‘actionable’’).
 Gain exposure to a variety of processes and interventions involved in the management
consulting arena.
 Communicating and/or applying the finished intelligence to the decision-maker(s) for their use
i.e. Improve your ability to present analyses of issues and organizational problems in a concise,
accurate, clear and interesting manner from the perspective of a consult
Pedagogy: Lectures, Role Plays, Real Life Problems solved by consultants, case discussion and
Exercises as assignments.

Evaluation Components:
Class Participation: 5
Assignment/Exercises/presentations: 15
Role Plays/situation analysis: 20
Mid Term: 20
End Term: 40
________
Total Marks 100

Text Books: NO TEXT BOOK ONLY HAND OUTS WILL BE PROVIDED

Reference books: (these are suggested books, if you get an opportunity must read them)
1. Competitive Solutions - The Strategist's Toolkit R Preston Mcafee Princeton University
Press
2. The Strategist's Toolkit- Jared Harris , Michael Lenox; Darden Business Publishing; 1
edition
3. The World's Newest Profession: Management Consulting in the Twentieth Century
(Cambridge Studies in the Emergence of Global Enterprise) Paperback – August 2, 2010
by Christopher D. McKenna
4. Dangerous Company: Management Consultants and the Businesses They Save and
Ruin Paperback – August 1, 1998 by James O'Shea, Charles Madigan.
5. Consulting Demons: Inside the Unscrupulous World of Global Corporate Consulting by
Lewis Pinault
6. The Exceptional Presenter: A Proven Formula to Open Up and Own the Room by
Timothy J. Koegel
7. The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing, Thinking, & Problem Solving by
Barbara Minto
8. House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the
Time by Martin Kihn
9. Flawless Consulting by Peter Block
10. McKinsey’s Marvin Bower: Vision, Leadership, and Creation of Management
Consulting by Elizabeth Haas Edersheim
11. Case Interview Success by Tom Rochtus
12. Wetfeet Insider Guide: Careers in Management Consulting by Wetfeet
13. Wetfeet Insider Guide: Ace Your Case! Consulting Interviews by WetFeet
14. Case in Point: Complete Case Interview Preparation by Marc P. Cosentino
15. How to Get Into the Top Consulting Firms: A Surefire Case Interview Method by Tim
Darling
16. Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng
17. Crack the Case System: Complete Case Interview Prep by David Ohrvall
18. Mastering the Case Interview: The Complete Guide to Interviewing With the Top
Consulting Companies by Alexander Chernev
19. The Secret Language of Competitive Intelligence by Leonard Fuld

Links
https://carpenterstrategytoolbox.com
http://economics-games.com/
 http://aireconsim.com/trial
Management Case consulting.com
CONTENTS
 Competitive Intelligence Process
 Intelligence Sources and Collection Techniques
 Analysis and Competitive Benchmarking
 Intelligence Sources and Collection Techniques
 Creating and Running a World Class Intelligence Process
 Value Chain Analysis
 Consultants framework at McKinsey
 Consultants Framework at Bain
 Problems related to
o add capacity & growth
o business competition
o estimate/guesstimate
o improve profitability
o increase sale/revenue
o industry analysis
o market entry
o market sizing
o new business
o new product
o reduce cost

Session Plan:-

S.No. Session Theme Key Readings Cases/Exercises Objectives, questions to

explore & Learning
Outcomes
STRATEGY CONSULTING
1 Course overview, NIL To sensitize about the
deliverables and demands and challenges of the
expectations course
2-3 Understanding a The McKinsey Way, The McKinsey Clear conceptualization of a
business Problem; Mind, business problem will assist is
McKinsey way of and The McKinsey Engagement. The structuring the solution
Solving Problem McKinsey Way, Case centered
Building a decision Interview approach
tree; Hypothesis
method
This module will be introductory in
nature. It will detail the facets and
nuances of consulting, preparation of
consulting proposal and initiating
relations with the client.
4-5 Typologies of Assignment booklet How to approach Guess-
Problems to be estimation questions.
 solved by the Theme-Estimation/ Guess The demand side and supply
participants estimation: revenue generated by side estimation.
YouTube of a popular Brazilian
summer hit
6 Continued Instructor Material Framework for revenue
estimation
Revenue estimation case; Serum
institute of India
7 Continued Instructor Material Framework for Market entry

Market entry: Tanishq

8 Continued Instructor Material Translating PLC/OLC/Ansoff
matrix and BCG in actionable
Diversification: Client International, form
Complex Case.
9 Continued Instructor Material Translating PLC/OLC/Ansoff
matrix and BCG in actionable
Mix of full case and an estimation form
case: Safe express
10 Continued Instructor Material Dealing with issues of
profitability in business
Profitability cases: Pharmaceutical
company wishes to raise profits
from their US operation

11 Course Competitive Intelligence To familiarize students with

introduction & the in Action; John J. McGonagle Jr. and the concept of CI
concept of business Carolyn M. Vella; Business Matters
model canvas
Lecture & Discussion

12 What is CI & Why Raising the Intelligence Stakes: Competitive Intelligence

it is required; Corporate Information Warfare Adds Value:
Significance of and Strategic Surprise Five Intelligence Attitudes
intelligence Blaise Cronin and Holly Crawford
Indiana University

A Case Study of Motorola’s Corporate

Competitive Intelligence Group, 1983-
2009
13 CI Process with the secret language of CI, Gathering, Analysing and
focus on CI, by LEONARD M. FULD. Putting it to Work
Mechanism, Data C. Murphy
Collection, The role of expertise and judgment in
refining the search, a data-driven world
understanding
sectors, Human Cases/Exercises to be announced
Source
intelligence,
 crafting analysis,
Company open
source documents

14 Anticipating The Art of Anticipating Disruptions

disruptions The How some companies—Cisco,
porter four corner Corning, Intel, Shell, Wyeth (Pfizer) get
analysis; The five it right. The Ethics of Competitive
online tools, Intelligence: the Good, the Bad & the
Business War Gray
Games & The
Ethics of P&G’s Bad Hair Day
Competitive
Intelligence:
managing risks in
CI
Dealing with the Assignments: Three sessions are reserved for presentations by the groups, In the remaining
three sessions Consulting Role plays will be performed. By this time it is expected from all the groups that
they have solved all the questions in the booklet of assignment given. All the problems need to be translated
on Power Point Presentations. The presentations will be on random basis. Two panels of different groups will
be evaluators, who in turn will be evaluated by the instructor. Same will be done in the role plays. This
assignment will be performed in class room mode. However if the online mode continues there will be
appropriate modifications.
15 Group 1,2 and 3 As given in the assignment booklet To maximize the sharing of the
will be presenting benefits in the class
and designated
groups will be
evaluating
16 Group 4,5 & 6 will As given in the assignment booklet To maximize the sharing of
be presenting and the benefits in the class
designated groups
will be evaluating
17 Group 7,8,9 & 10 As given in the assignment booklet To maximize the sharing of
will be presenting the benefits in the class
and designated
groups will be
evaluating
18 Group 4,5 & 6 will It is important that both groups should
be doing the role share their assignment booklet along
plays as with solutions
interviewees and
Group 1,2 and 3 As given in the assignment booklet
will be acting as
interviewer
19 Group 1,2 & 3 will It is important that both groups should
be doing the role share their assignment booklet along
plays as with solutions
interviewees and
Group 7,8,9 and 10 As given in the assignment booklet
 will be acting as
interviewer
20 Group 7,8,9 & 10 It is important that both groups should
will be doing the share their assignment booklet along
role plays as with solutions
interviewees and
Group 2,3,4 and 5 As given in the assignment booklet
will be acting as
interviewer
 Interactions with Alumni working in CI and strategy consultancy domain will be organized.
The session may be slightly altered depending upon the sessions confirmed by the Corporate
and Alumni.
 Case studies and study material are indicative but not exhaustive.
For official use: -
As Benchmarked with course content in previous year, the contents of this course: (Please mark
the right option below)
(a) Is totally new
(b) Has not changed at all
(c) Has undergone less than/equal to 20% change
(d) Has undergone more than 20% change

Course Faculty: Prof. Anil K Singh

Area Chair – Prof. Anil K Singh

Manager (Academics-I) Dean (Academics)