GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES
Michael Porter has argued that a firm's strengths ultimately fall into one of two
headings: cost advantage and differentiation.
By applying these strengths in either a broad or narrow scope, three generic
strategies result:,
Cost Leadership
Differentiation
Focus
Generic Strategies
Cost Differentiation Focus
Leadership • Creating a • Concentrating
• Superior profits product or service on
through lower that is perceived a limited part of
costs. as being unique the market.
• E.g. : Wal-Mart “throughout the • E.g. : PepsiCo
industry”
• E.g. : McDonald.
Cost Leadership Strategy
An integrated set of actions designed to produce or deliver goods or services at the
lowest cost relative to competitors with features that are acceptable to customers
This involves
Relatively standardized products
Features acceptable to many customers
lowest competitive Price
Determine and control Reconfigure, if require
Alter production process New raw material
Change in automation Forward integration
New distribution channel Backward integration
New advertising media Change location relative to
Direct sales in place of suppliers or buyers
indirect sales
Major Risks of Cost Leadership Strategy
Expensive
Easy to imitate of strategy.
Temporary strategy.
Technological changes.
Differentiation Strategy
An integrated set of actions designed by a firm to produce or deliver goods or
services (at an acceptable cost) that customers perceive as being different in
ways that are important to them
Price for product can exceed what the firm's target customers are willing to
pay
Non standardized products
Customers value differentiated features more than they value low cost
Factors That Drive Differentiation
o Unique product features
o Unique product performance
oExceptional services
o New technologies
o Quality of inputs
o Detailed information
Major Risks of Differentiation Strategy
Experience may narrow customer's perceptions of the value
of differentiated features of the firm's products
Makers of counterfeit goods may attempt to replicate
differentiated features of the firm's products
Focused Business-Level Strategies
A focus strategy must exploit a narrow target's differences from the
balance of the industry by:
Isolating a particular buyer group
Isolating a unique segment of a product line
Concentrating on a particular geographic market
Finding their “niche”
Factors That May Drive Focused Strategies
Firm may lack resources to compete in the broader market
May be able to serve a narrow market segment more effectively than
can larger industry-wide competitors
Focus may allow the firm to direct resources to certain value chain
activities to build competitive advantage.
Major Risks of Focused Strategies
A large competitor may set its sights on your niche market.
Preferences of niche market may change to match those of broad
market.
Its short term strategy.