How can you make effective decisions in a highly competitive market?

I found in our business when we start in a new direction, we need to spend the most time focusing on how to ask the right question. Without this step at the very start, you can set the wrong strategy, pick the wrong results, and allocate resources poorly. I’ve found that taking time to really think through the question sets the strategic process in motion with the clearest vision on how to achieve it. Start by taking your time, being patience, looking at all angles, getting the insights from the right people, and then using your answer as the string board for your goal setting and strategic planning.

Learn from Mistakes: don't be afraid to admit when a decision isn't working out and be willing to pivot or adjust your strategy accordingly. Learning from mistakes is a valuable part of the decision-making process.

It is a temptation to jump straight into solutions before knowing the real issue to resolve. Leaders end up "barking at the wrong tree" by doing this. So, before stating what you want to achieve ask yourself: "WHERE are we?" - inform this primarily with consumer insight, industry analysis, competitive considerations and other external uncontrollable factors. Then ask yourself "WHY are we there?" Clearly understand what drives / inhibits the business. Then map out "Where SHOULD WE BE?" Blue ocean thinking is a great approach to figure this out. And finally state the key issue to resolve by asking "HOW do we ...?" When you know the key issue to solve, it becomes a north star and enables faster decision-making.

In a highly competitive market, success often depends on your ability to make well-informed, strategic decisions quickly. Regularly assess your strategies and adapt as needed to stay competitive and agile in a rapidly changing business landscape.

Before making any effective decisions in a competitive environment, You should be able to have a wide range of decisions , weigh your risks and having contingency plans for all areas of possible decisions you can make.

Just be natural and ask relevant questions. Stop being the same as everyone else on this platform ie I’m the most exceptional hard working humble human. You just sound like someone who has written a generic CV for you. It’s boring.

Gathering and evaluating information is crucial for informed decision making and effective problem solving. It involves defining your information needs, identifying reliable sources, collecting data, and systematically organizing it. Once gathered, it's essential to assess the credibility, relevance, accuracy, currency, and completeness of the information to ensure it aligns with your objectives and provides a solid foundation for making well informed choices or addressing specific issues. This process helps mitigate risks, minimize errors, and enhances the quality of decision making in various contexts.

Decision making is an easy process but a complicated one too lest it has adverse implications if one's decision goes wrong!. Through experience and adopting the WCS ( worst case scenario) methodology, I have overcome this dilemma through my professional journey. Always evaluate the worst case scenario if the decision taken falls flat, by foreseeing the implications. This way, one will boil down to decide and deploy the best decision amongst a set of multiple choices thought of. Trust this will enable readers to take effective decisions.

In today's world, data has become more valuable than gold. The ability to extract valuable insights from data is essential for most companies and individuals alike. With the advent of AI, and with the assistance of Large Language Models (LLMs), businesses can glean valuable information from their data and other sources. Merely possessing data is insufficient; curating the data demands time and the skill of aligning it with the objectives or purpose. Ensure you consider both external and internal factors in this process. And don't discard human intuition when evaluating information, always based on facts.

Start from the macro view. What forces are shaping the profitability of your industry. A good habit is to use Porter's 5-forces to understand the internal competitive dynamics, the relative power of suppliers and buyers and the threat of substitutes and new entrants. On the internal side, being clear on whether or not there is a competitive edge is crucial. I find that the VRIO analysis is a simple way to assess if there is a competitive advantage or not. All of this revolves around the consumer habits, usage and attitudes towards your brand. This information is critical and it goes beyond the tactical short-term performance analysis.

Generating and comparing alternatives is a critical step in the decision making process. It involves brainstorming and identifying various possible options or courses of action to address a particular issue or achieve a specific goal. Once these alternatives are generated, they are systematically evaluated and compared based on factors such as feasibility, potential outcomes, risks, costs, and alignment with objectives. This process enables decision makers to select the most suitable and effective option among the alternatives, fostering well informed and strategic decision making across a wide range of scenarios.

A simple way to visualize alternatives comes from the Ansoff model. You can: Penetrate the market (sell more of the same to the same people) Develop the market: (sell more of the same to new people) Develop the product (sell new things to the same people) Diversify (Sell new things to new people) At this point you can build the criteria to decide which path would work best. Criteria may include potential profit, competitive imitation, and internal capabilities.

"Generating and comparing alternatives" is a pivotal step in decision-making, particularly in competitive markets. It involves a comprehensive approach, starting with diverse idea generation through brainstorming and problem framing. Quantity and quality of alternatives are equally crucial, encouraging both a wide array of ideas and the focused evaluation of feasibility and impact. Risk and reward assessments, cost-benefit analyses, scalability, sustainability, alignment with core values, and market research provide a multifaceted framework for evaluating options. Scenario analysis, pilot testing, and feedback loops allow for a dynamic and adaptable decision-making process.

This is so dull and the answers given an example of what is taught and then just trolled out. But remember when I’m reading my timeline and see the same trite statements and messages of ego it becomes numbing.

Decision-making is often centralized at the top, but it's essential to remain open and welcome feedback from other parts of the company, if possible. This can assist you in selecting the best option and creating champions to help implement it. A compelling narrative is essential to provide clarity and engage the community. This ensures that everyone is aligned and understands the efforts being undertaken.

The "best" option depends on alignment to two factors: Corporate business objectives (growth, profit) Company values. There is no one-size-fits-all. A great profit solution may be in contradiction with corporate values and, for this reason, lack merit.

"What gets measured gets treasured" The trap is to measure data points that are not critical to the business. Tracking change in consumer variables is a priority. Connecting these metrics to business metrics enhances the objectivity of future decision making. Tracking and using metrics that are disconnected from the business objectives is a common mistake. Usually, the metrics that matter are few compared to the sea of information and data we have access to.

Monitoring is often overlooked, but it's an essential practice and process that can provide valuable insights and help you anticipate potential changes. View any challenge, mistake, or error as an opportunity for improvement, rather than assigning blame. Implement straightforward and objective metrics that bring meaning and value to your enterprise. Start with a few metrics and gradually increase them as the earlier ones become well understood and established. Use the power of monitoring to collect historical data and perform comparisons.

Making a decision in highly competitive market actually means making fast decisions. This result usually in lack of data, so the decision needs to be derived on 80/20 principle, sometimes even 60/40. Then it is crucial to follow up this decision, and revisit it once more data arrives. I use a principle of asking the team , is it possible that avoiding decision is even worse than taking one,

To take a highly effective decision in a market, the decision maker should think from the consumer point of view such as perception towards the product or brand; consider have and have not situation analysis; am I fulfilling the needs or wants; think the possibility of consumers living without my product; and the percentage of mindshare I am having at present and what should be the ideal level are all to be deeply analysed. More importantly the decision should have certain level flexibility to handle the bumpy rides in market, otherwise, the decision maker will be creating his or her own limiting boundaries which will be consequential.

[1] Keep the customer at the center of your decision-making. Understanding and addressing customer needs better than competitors is key to success in a competitive market. [2] Utilizing competitive intelligence tools can provide real-time insights into market trends, competitor strategies, and customer preferences which are crucial in a competitive environment. [3] Learn from both successes and failures, and adapt strategies accordingly. Continuous learning cultures tend to outperform in competitive markets. [4] Encouraging a culture of innovation can lead to novel solutions and a competitive edge.

To win in highly competitive environments it is key to: -Stay focused on the consumer. -Practice marketing discipline. -Identify the Key Issue to resolve. A Key Issue is one, that when resolved, materially moves the business forward. -Measure what matters.

To make effective decisions in a competitive market we must focus on the needs of consumers and check if we can add extra benefits to the customers.