In today’s business environment, nine out of every ten enterprises have shared services and 97-percent manage outsourcing relationships according to a study released by PwC and HfS Research. Corporate executives grapple with competitive pressures to be aggressive in the market, but often lack the required capital to develop important research and support processes.
Sometimes, these executives manage to collect business and financial data, make forecasts about the future direction of the business. But at the end of this expensive and time-consuming process, many of them say they are frustrated by its lack of impact on either their own actions or the strategic direction of the company. Therefore, a well-planned business research outsourcing not only saves time, offer required competitive intelligence and help business leaders make strategic decision for growth. Some of these services offer by research outsourcing firms include:
SWOT Analysis
It is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. A SWOT analysis can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. Identification of SWOTs is important because they can inform later steps in planning to achieve the objective.
PEST Analysis
PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social and Technological analysis) describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management. It is a part of the external analysis when conducting a strategic analysis or doing market research, and gives an overview of the different macro-environmental factors that the company has to take into consideration. It is a useful strategic tool for understanding market growth or decline, business position, potential and direction for operations.
Porter Five Force Analysis
Porter five forces analysis is a framework for industry analysis and business strategy development. The five forces that shape industry competition include:
- Threat of substitute products or services
- Bargaining power of customers
- Bargaining power of suppliers
- Intensity of competitive rivalry
These factors can be applied to a diverse range of problems, from helping businesses become more profitable to helping governments stabilize industries.
These three important business analysis tools improve operations, while relying on the service provider’s expertise, infrastructure and economies of scale to enhance business performance and reduce cost. They mainly help companies align corporate strategy with global business research services strategy; strengthen organizational change management and refine global sourcing strategies based on business changes.
The business strategies must be constantly adapted to the marketplace demands on an organization. Companies must implement a well-planned global research strategy to respond to the competition and make necessary changes to stay afloat. Establishing a global business research strategy can accelerate achievement of enterprise strategic objectives. Regardless of industry, specific strategic objectives, the alignment of functional responsibilities, the transformation must remain the critical focus of business executives. All in all, a well-executed business research is closely tied to corporate strategy and if organizations fail to establish an effective global business research service strategy, they are likely to repeat the same failures.
– Back Office Pro
