在一場訪談中，思科CEO John Chambers 曾發言談論他對競爭對手的豐富知識，能讓他在預料對方市場舉動上快一兩步，我覺得他有點誇大，缺乏實質內容支持。
I decided to test his claim by interviewing current and former C-suite executives, including Bob Crandall, former CEO of American Airlines; David Norton, former CMO of Harrah’s casinos; Will Ethridge, CEO of Pearson Education; and Pat O’Keefe, former CEO of Watts Water Technologies. From plumbing equipment to casinos, these executives all agreed: what Chambers said was not only true but almost an understatement. In fact, I began to see four different strategies for keeping track of — and out-maneuvering — rivals:
我決定要藉由訪問現任或前任的企業高層來測試他的論點，包含American Airlines 前CEO Bob Crandall， Harrah賭場前CMO David Norton，Pearson Education CEO Will Ethridge，Watts Water Technologies前CEO Pat O’Keefe，從水電材料到博弈事業，這些高幹都同意，Chambers所說不僅正確且還很輕描淡寫。事實上，我還見到四種不同的策略去追蹤跟智取競爭者。
Look for weaknesses that present opportunities.
找到顯露機會的弱點。
“It’s important to understand your rival’s weak spots and strategy,” says Will Ethridge, Pearson Education’s former CEO. “I knew one rival whose CEO was focused on driving profitability and bringing up margins. I knew that meant he would be relatively focused on short-term results while mostly ignoring product development. I also realized he would go after our top sales people to meet those short-term sales goals. So we worked extra hard to protect our key sales people. At the same time, we continued to invest in long-term product development and overseas markets, knowing it was unlikely he could follow us in the short term.”
"了解競爭對手的弱點跟策略是很重要的。"Pearson Education CEO Will Ethridge說。"我知道某個CEO專注在盈利跟提高利潤上，所以我清楚他會著眼短期成果而忽略掉產品研發。我也明白他會追逐我們業務去達成短期目標，所以我們得保護我們的業務員不被挖走，同時間我們也要作長期的產品研發與拓展海外市場，這些都是他在短期內不易達成的。"
Play to your strengths, not your rival’s.
慎選你的戰場，而非敵人的長處
David Norton, former CMO and SVP of Harrah’s/Caesars points out that you must appreciate your counterpart’s competencies and weaknesses, as well as your own. Gary Loveman, then CEO of Harrah’s, was an MIT-trained economist. He had recruited other quant experts, such as Norton, formerly of American Express. They saw the casino business as a great numbers experiment. Among their rivals was Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, who they believed operated from gut feel. He made a killing by opening casinos in Macau and Singapore.
Harrah賭場前CMO David Norton指出:你要感謝對手的強項跟弱點，對於本身強弱亦然，Harrah賭場CEO，出身於MIT的經濟學者Gary Loveman就曾聘用在American Express服務的計量專家Norton，因為他們視博弈為一種數學實驗。他們的對手是Las Vegas Sands Corporation的CEO Sheldon Adelson，他們認為Adelson都是靠直覺式經營，想藉澳門跟新加坡新賭場短時間大大地賺一筆。
Adelson’s bold move in Asia had outflanked Harrah’s. But Norton says the executive team didn’t conclude that they should abandon their quantitative strengths in favor of big rolls of the dice. Instead, Loveman decided to apply their deep quantitative knowledge of customer behavior in casinos and double down on U.S. expansion, out-maneuvering Adelson in the domestic market.
Adelson的舉動在亞洲包抄Harrah的事業，但Norton認為他們並不需要放棄他們計量強項反而去孤注一擲，Loveman反倒決定用計量長才去研究消費者行為並加倍美國本土的投資，智取Adelson本土市場。
“We used data to personalize our marketing and become more efficient in attracting and holding onto customers,” says Norton. “And when it came to expanding our presence in the U.S. market we knew no one else would go to the extent we did, investing heavily in analytics, training and so on to build a comprehensive loyalty program.”
"運用資料讓行銷更趨近消費者個人，並在吸引、鞏固消費者上更有效率。且當我們專注在美國本土時我們知道沒人能想我們一樣，大量投資在分析、員工訓練，並建立一個綜合的紅利積點。"
Encourage employees to monitor rivals, too.
鼓勵員工留意競爭者
Former American Airlines CEO Bob Crandall, like Chambers, watched his counterparts, but more broadly he encouraged the entire corporation to watch the competition at all levels.
American Airlines 前CEO Bob Crandall跟Chambers一樣，會觀察對手，但他更鼓勵全公司這麼做。
“It’s like running a national intelligence network,” he says. “If you are running it right, everyone is aware that anything and everything is important, and lots of information trickles up to management. For example, if a ticket agent in Chicago hears from an agent at another airline that the rival airline is looking for additional gate space, she should tell the local manager, who calls the division head who feeds it up the line. Senior management could then make some guesses about what the rival is up to, and could either add flights to use existing gates more intensively or take other action to blunt the success of whatever the rival might do.”
他說"這像在運作個全國智慧網，如果運行得宜，大家會預料任何事都是重要的，很多資訊能上達天聽。例如:芝加哥的票務聽聞到別家航空要更多登機門，他得告訴地區經理，並讓資深經理判斷對手接下來的策略，看要不要用現有登機門增加航班或是採行其他措施去挫挫對手銳氣。
Meet the competition in person.
私下跟競爭對手見面
You don’t have to watch your rivals from afar – or engage in deception to get close to them. In fact, face to face contact can pay off in unexpected ways. Pat O’Keefe was CEO of Watts Water Technologies, a global plumbing, water safety, and control equipment company. According to O’Keefe, his mandate was to grow Watts, largely through acquisitions. He spent most of his time seeking out and learning about acquisition candidates.
你不必遠遠的觀察，也不用欺瞞式地接近，事實上，可經由很多不經意方式面對面聊聊，Watts Water Technologies前CEO Pat O’Keefe，主要業務是水電材料，水質安全與控制設備，根據Pat O’Keefe所說，他的目標是要靠收購讓Watts成長，因此他花最多時間蒐尋收購對象。
“I was personally obsessed with looking at our competitors,” said O’Keefe. “I wanted to know more about them than other bidders, when and if the time came to make them an offer. But there was no point in deceiving them. Their CEOs all knew who I was and they would very willingly show me their products. I visited them regularly to ask if they might like to join the Watts family of companies.
"我是深深著迷在關注對手上，我想在交易前比其他收購者更了解他們。但欺瞞是沒有用的，那些CEO都了解我為人並樂意展示它們的產品，我定期拜訪看看他們是否對於成為Watts一員感興趣。"
No matter the industry, John Chambers is right. CEOs not only can, but should, be watching their counterparts closely, assessing their strengths, weaknesses and predilections, and developing counter-measures accordingly.
不管哪一行，Chambers所言甚是，CEO不只是要，是應該關注對手，評估其強項、弱點與嗜好，並據此發展策略。
http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/ceos-get-to-know-your-rivals/
