Drivers (what are their goals?), assumptions (what do they believe?), strategy (what are they doing now?) and capabilities (what can they do?). Most rival analyses describe what the rival does; the two corners that predict the next move are what the rival wants (drivers) and what it believes (assumptions).

In the study: Screens: What I know about Mega Bloks in 2004; Task

Mega Bloks' Micro line (1991) used smaller bricks the same size as LEGO's, and they fitted together. The patent had expired, so LEGO tried instead to protect the studs themselves. The court sided with Mega Bloks in 2002 and the appeal court did the same in 2003; the case now lies with Canada's Supreme Court. It is hard to patent a good idea when it is already 50 years old.

In the study: Screen: The idea

Its shareholders: the family firm listed in Toronto in 2002, and a newly listed company must show growth every quarter. And the big US retailers: at the end of the 1990s about 60 per cent of sales went through four US chains.

In the study: Screens: The idea; What I know about Mega Bloks in 2004