Competitive Analysis

Frameworks for analyzing competitive position and industry dynamics.

When to Use Porter's vs. SWOT

Framework	Use When
Porter's Five Forces	Evaluating industry attractiveness; new market entry; strategic positioning
SWOT	Internal capability assessment; go/no-go decisions; strategy planning
Competitive Landscape Map	Visualizing whitespace; investor decks; positioning against specific competitors
Competitor Profiles	Battlecards for sales; feature gap analysis; threat assessment

Use Porter's to understand the structural forces shaping the industry. Use SWOT to assess your specific position within it. Combine both for a complete picture.

Porter's Five Forces Template

## Porter's Five Forces: [Industry/Market]

### 1. Competitive Rivalry — Intensity: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
| Factor | Assessment |
|--------|------------|
| Number of competitors | |
| Industry growth rate | |
| Product differentiation | |
| Exit barriers | |

### 2. Threat of New Entrants — Threat Level: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
| Barrier | Strength |
|---------|----------|
| Economies of scale | |
| Brand loyalty | |
| Capital requirements | |
| Network effects | |
| Switching costs | |

### 3. Bargaining Power of Suppliers — Power: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
[Key suppliers, switching cost, concentration]

### 4. Bargaining Power of Buyers — Power: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
[Price sensitivity, alternatives available, buyer concentration]

### 5. Threat of Substitutes — Threat: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
[Alternative ways customers solve the same problem]

### Overall Industry Attractiveness: X/10
[Summary: which forces are most significant and why]

SWOT Analysis

+-------------------------+-------------------------+
|       STRENGTHS         |       WEAKNESSES        |
|       (Internal +)      |       (Internal -)      |
| * What we do well       | * Where we lack         |
| * Unique resources      | * Resource gaps         |
| * Competitive advantages| * Capability limits     |
+-------------------------+-------------------------+
|      OPPORTUNITIES      |         THREATS         |
|       (External +)      |       (External -)      |
| * Market trends         | * Competitive pressure  |
| * Unmet needs           | * Regulatory changes    |
| * Technology shifts     | * Economic factors      |
+-------------------------+-------------------------+

TOWS Matrix (SWOT to Strategy)

	Strengths	Weaknesses
Opportunities	SO: Use strengths to capture opportunities	WO: Fix weaknesses to unlock opportunities
Threats	ST: Use strengths to mitigate threats	WT: Minimize weaknesses, avoid threats

Competitor Profile Template

## Competitor: [Name]

### Overview
- Founded: [Year] | Funding: $[Amount] | Employees: [N]
- Target customer: [Segment]
- Pricing: [Model and range]

### Strengths / Weaknesses
+ [Strength 1]
+ [Strength 2]
- [Weakness 1]
- [Weakness 2]

### Threat Assessment: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
- [Why this threat level]
- [Our differentiation vs. this competitor]

Competitive Landscape Map

Plot competitors on two axes that matter most to buyers (e.g., price vs. features, ease of use vs. power):

                    HIGH PRICE
                        |
     Premium Leaders    |    Luxury Niche
   +-------------+      |      +-------------+
   |  [Comp A]   |      |      |  [Comp B]   |
   +-------------+      |      +-------------+
                        |
LOW ────────────────────+──────────────────── HIGH
FEATURES                |                   FEATURES
                        |
   +-------------+      |      +-------------+
   |  [Comp C]   |      |      |    [US]     |
   +-------------+      |      +-------------+
     Budget Options     |    Value Leaders
                        |
                    LOW PRICE

Identify whitespace — quadrants with no incumbents that align with unmet buyer needs.

GitHub Signals for Competitive Tracking

# Star count and momentum
gh api repos/owner/repo --jq '{stars: .stargazers_count, forks: .forks_count}'

# Shipping velocity (recent releases)
gh release list --repo owner/repo --limit 5

# Community size
gh api repos/owner/repo/contributors --jq 'length'

Signal	Check Frequency
Star growth	Weekly
Release notes	Per release
Pricing changes	Monthly
Feature launches	Per announcement
Full analysis	Quarterly

References

Competitive Analysis Rules — Porter's, SWOT, landscape map, competitor profile templates
Competitive Analysis Guide — Research methodology, data sources, update cadence

Related Skills

ork:market-sizing — Quantify opportunity size alongside competitive landscape
ork:business-case — Build financial justification informed by competitive position
ork:product-frameworks — Full product strategy toolkit (value prop, prioritization, OKRs)

Version: 1.0.0

competitive-analysis