Client Need

A global think tank based out of Asia needed first-hand expert insights on the competitive strategy for consumer discretionary automobile goods and components in Asia in particular and the world in general. The client needs further delved into first-hand insights from senior global experts who have worked for automobile and automobile component manufacturers, OEMs, on the competitive landscape and competitive strategy in this space. The specifics of the need for insights ranged from Japanese, German and American, OEMs who dominate the automobile space globally. The need for insights on the competitive landscape was broadly divided into product strategy, R&D, platform strategy, and powertrain strategy. Further refinement and granularity were needed in each of these aspects in terms of vendor consolidation, location, collaboration.

Knowledge Ridge Solution

The team of dedicated account managers and researchers at Knowledge Ridge understood the client’s need thoroughly through focussed interactions with the stakeholders. This was followed by an exercise to phone interview relevant global experts from 9 major global OEM and automobile component manufacturers to gauge their level of expertise and experience and map it to the client’s need for first-hand actionable insights. The Knowledge Ridge team was able to interview and custom-vet senior experts who headed strategy for all 9 OEMs as needed by the client after which experts matching the client criteria were carefully selected to provide pinpointed answers to the client’s questions related to the competitive landscape and strategy in this arena.

Knowledge Ridge Impact

Knowledge Ridge successfully delivered 21 senior global experts who dealt in various aspects of the competitive strategies for 9 major OEMs and automobile component manufacturers across geographies, that matched the criteria laid down by the client. These included senior strategy experts from Japanese, American, German, Korean and British OEMs and automobile manufacturers. Knowledge Ridge exceeded the client’s expectations and consequently its industry-leading strike rate by enabling consultations with 14 of the 21 experts selected by the client. This resulted in a total of 21 highly successful consultations with the 14 experts selected of which several experts undertook multiple consultative sessions to provide pinpointed expert insights to the client. These insights broadly revolved around product strategy, R&D, platform strategy, and powertrain strategy.