The book covers the following topics

Assessment of Customer is the first step. The question is what is the customer really buying and not what are you selling. By probing into what the customer is buying you get a new insight into who the true current and future competitors really are. The battlefield approach is used to illustrate this concept.

Competitive Demographics is next. This applies the concept of consumer demographics to competitors and points out that the age, education, motivations of the competitors leaders can strongly influence their behavior and aggressiveness. In addition, the type of ownership, the cultural heritage and the degree of specialization also have strong influences.

Winner and Loser analysis help to identify the leadership and success factors of an industry. Understanding who the past winners and losers were and what made them one or the other helps to specify the key leadership factors.

Specific company evaluations start with competitor's leaders and understand their background and how they achieve success. Then evaluate the management policies and who makes the strategic and operational decisions.

Drivers are discussed and how they influence the overall strategy and the objectives and goals, as well as the key skills and resources required. The underlying premise is that winners are best at something. Some may be product innovators, others may be market driven,others may differentiate themselves by service or how well they product their products.

Each functional strategy is probed and compared to determine if the competitors implementation strategies are consistent with their strategic drives and market dynamics. This identifies potential gaps or pitfalls in their ability to implement and in their ability to win

Competitive sources are outlines and evaluated.

Each of the concepts are illustrated and explained to assure maximum understanding and to enhance the ability to use the competitive thinking process.