Contents
Competitive Intelligence Strategic Plan and War Game
Purpose: This assignment immerses students in a high-stakes competitive industry simulation, where each team represents a real-world company (Payfast) operating in the same sector. The goal is to develop and adapt competitive strategies in response to real-time market intelligence and industry disruptions.
o Each team will represent a real-world company in the same industry.
o Conduct competitive intelligence research to anticipate your rivals’ moves.
o Develop a preliminary competitive strategy and be ready to adjust based on real-time developments.
o Compete in a live competitive simulation, where teams react to intelligence updates and adapt their strategies.
Part A: Competitive intelligence strategic plan [50 Marks]
Each team will submit a 10-12 slide PowerPoint executive briefing covering:
- Competitive positioning and intelligence gathering (20 Marks)
- Identify the key players in the industry (MTN MoMo , YOCO, Capitec Pay, Payflex and add more players)
- Choose TWO (2) (MTN MoMo indirect competition & YOCO direct competition) key players and conduct real-time intelligence gathering using:
o Social media monitoring
o Google trends and press releases
o Customer sentiment analysis - Develop a competitor threat matrix, analysing strengths and weaknesses of the two key players.
- Pre-game strategy submission (30 Marks)
Develop a competitive strategy detailing:
o Market positioning
o Cost or differentiation strategy
o Intelligence-based predictions of rival strategies
o Tactical moves for competitive advantage
Part B: The Live Competitive Intelligence War Game [50 Marks]
The class will participate in a live industry battle, where teams compete, adapt, and counteract each other’s moves in real-time.
Live Industry Battle Format:
- Round 1: Initial Team Presentations (10 min per team)
o Each team presents their competitive intelligence strategy and positioning as outlined in Part A.
o Teams must predict competitors’ moves and explain their counter-strategy. - Round 2: Intelligence Update – Disruptions Announced
o Module lead will introduce a surprise industry shift
o Teams have 15 minutes to revise their strategy based on the disruption. - Round 3: Intelligence Revisions Update
o Each team has Five (5) minutes to present their revised competitive intelligence strategy andpositioning. Bonus 5 Marks for Best Strategic Adaptation (Team that best pivots in real-time crisis).
Sample Answers: Competitive Strategic Intelligence Plan
This competitive intelligence strategic plan for Payfast is aimed that performing strategic analysis of key competitors in the payment industry with the objective of suggesting its implication to Payfast. In performing the strategic competitive assessment, the direct competitors selected is YOCO and indirect competitor is MTN MoMO. The presentation slides are briefly summarised as follows:
Slide 1: Title Slide
- Title is competitive intelligence strategic plan of Payfast
- Development of strategies in the fintech industry
- Name of Team Members
- Date:
- Institution:
Slide 2: Industry Overview
- The digital landscape in South Africa is evolving.
- Increasing Smartphone and internet penetration has given rise to the number of fintech companies.
- There is high potential for growth with appropriate fintech innovation and mobile payments.
- The direct competitors include YOCO, Peach payments, SnapScan and indirect ones are MTN MoMo, Capitec Pay.
Slide 3: Competitive Positioning
The current market position of the Payfast indicates that:
- Strengths: The strength of the company is Its easy integration, wide support with different merchants and cost efficient.
- Weaknesses: Low recognition, issues in processing mobile transaction and limited capabilities.
| Disclaimer: This answer is a model for study and reference purposes only. Please do not submit it as your own work. |

