Strategic Analysis toolkit

Strategic & Market Analysis

These frameworks help assess a company's position, analyze market dynamics, and plan long-term strategy.

• SWOT Analysis: Our skincare brand is entering the German market. Run a SWOT analysis considering local competitors, regulations, and growth opportunities.

• Porter's Five Forces: Our retail chain faces new online competitors. Run Porter's Five Forces to assess threats from rivals, suppliers, and substitutes.

• Ansoff Matrix: Our SaaS product has plateaued in the U.S. Use the Ansoff Matrix to weigh market expansion vs. product diversification.

• BCG Matrix: We manage 12 apps. Place them into Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks, and Dogs, then recommend which to invest in or exit.

• Blue Ocean Strategy: Our fitness startup struggles in a crowded market. Suggest a Blue Ocean strategy to reach new demand and reduce competition.

• Scenario Planning: We're expanding into Southeast Asia. Develop three future scenarios (best case, worst case, likely) and suggest strategies for each.

Problem Solving & Decision Making

These tools are designed to identify the root causes of problems and guide complex decisions.

• Fishbone Diagram: Employee turnover has spiked. Build a Fishbone diagram categorizing causes like pay, workload, culture, and management.

• Root Cause Analysis: Checkout abandonment rose 30% last quarter. Use the "5 Whys" to find technical, UX, or trust-related issues and suggest fixes.

• Force Field Analysis: We're moving to a hybrid work model. Use Force Field Analysis to map enablers vs. resistors and suggest actions to reduce resistance.

• Decision Matrix: We're choosing a new HR platform. Build a decision matrix comparing features, pricing, integrations, and usability.

• Cost-Benefit Analysis: Should we build a custom CRM or use an existing tool? Compare 3-year costs, feature fit, and scalability to recommend the best choice.

• Pre-Mortem Analysis: Our mobile banking app is launching soon. Assume it fails within 6 months. List the most likely reasons and propose preventive fixes.

• OODA Loop: A competitor launched a surprise feature. Use the OODA Loop to assess our position, define actions, and recommend next steps within 48 hours.

Project & Process Management

These methods help organize tasks, manage timelines, and optimize workflows.

• Eisenhower Matrix: Our team is overloaded with projects. Create an Eisenhower Matrix to organize tasks into urgent/important, delegate, and eliminate.

• Critical Path Method: We're preparing for a global launch. Use Critical Path to map dependencies, identify bottlenecks, and optimize the timeline.

• First Principles Thinking: Our delivery costs are too high. Break the process into basic components and rebuild a cost-efficient model from scratch.

Innovation & Ideation

Use these frameworks to generate new ideas and approach problems from different perspectives.

• Six Thinking Hats: We're evaluating a subscription model. Use Six Thinking Hats to assess data (White), risks (Black), benefits (Yellow), ideas (Green), emotions (Red), and process (Blue).

• Lateral Thinking: Our airline wants to cut food waste by 80%. Use lateral thinking to propose creative methods beyond standard forecasting.

Growth & Product Strategy

These are specialized tools for testing hypotheses, segmenting users, and developing product plans.

• MECE Principle: Group our mobile app users into MECE segments for UX research. Avoid overlap between categories like "daily users" and "power users."

• Hypothesis Testing: Our product team believes a freemium plan will boost sign-ups by 25%. Design an A/B test with success metrics.