Strategic success in an emerging
industry calls for bold entrepreneurship,
a willingness to
pioneer and take risks, an intuitive
feel for what buyers will
like, quick response to new developments,
and opportunistic
strategy making.
The must drive hard to
strengthen their resource capabilities
and build a position
strong enough to ward off newcomers
and compete successfully
for the long haul.
Industry leaders are proactive
agents of change, not reactive
followers and analyzers. Moreover,
they improvise, experiment,
develop options, and
adapt rapidly.
In fast-paced markets, in-depth
expertise, speed, agility, innovativeness,
opportunism, and
resource flexibility are critical
organizational capabilities.
One of the greatest strategic
mistakes a firm can make in a
maturing industry is pursuing a
compromise strategy that
leaves it stuck in the middle.
Achieving competitive advantage
in stagnant or declining industries
usually requires
pursuing one of three competitive
approaches: focusing on
growing market segments
within the industry, differentiating
on the basis of better
quality and frequent product
innovation, or becoming a
lower-cost producer.
In fragmented industries competitors
usually have wide
enough strategic latitude (1) to
either compete broadly or focus
and (2) to pursue a lowcost,
differentiation-based, or
best-cost competitive
advantage.
Industry leaders can strengthen
their long-term competitive positions
with strategies keyed to
aggressive offense, aggressive
defense, or muscling smaller rivals
and customers into behaviors
that bolster its own market
standing.
Rarely can a runner-up firm
successfully challenge an industry
leader with a copycat
strategy.
The strategic options for a
competitively weak company
include waging a modest offensive
to improve its position, defending
its present position,
being acquired by another
company, or employing an endgame
strategy.
