Posted: February 3rd, 2015

Understanding Industry Economics and Company Strategies of CA Technologies, Inc. and BMC Software, Inc.

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

The Form 10-K report the firm filed with the SEC (http://www.sec.gov) may be the best
place to begin learning about the economics of the industry and the particular strategy that CA Technologies and BMC Software have for competing in the industry. The first section of Form 10-K is a descriptive
narrative entitled ‘‘Item 1. Business.’’ This section usually describes the firm’s
principal businesses and provides information about suppliers, competitors, regulation,
and other items. Reading this section of Form 10-K for the other firms selected for
study usually provides sufficient information so that you can summarize the economics
of the industry using a value chain, Porter’s five forces framework, or the economics
attributes framework. These sources will not likely set forth
precise economics to fit any of the industry economics frameworks, so some interpretation
and synthesis on your part will be necessary.
Reading the Business description section of the Form 10-K report should provide
you with information on the strategy of both firms. We find it useful to search
the notes to the financial statements to find the segment data by products or services
and by geographical location.
Another source for industry information is Standard & Poor’s Industry Surveys.
These surveys describe the most important factors affecting the industry, key firms in
the industry, and key financial ratios for each firm.