PortersGenericStrategies波特的一般竞争战略

1、PortersGenericStrategiesIftheprimarydeterminantofafirmsprofitabilityistheattractivenessoftheindustryinwhichitoperates,animportantsecondarydeterminantisitspositionwithinthatindustry.Eventhoughanindustrymayhavebelow-averageprofitability,afirmthatisoptimallypositionedcangeneratesuperiorreturns.Afirmpos

2、itionsitselfbyleveragingitsstrengths.MichaelPorterhasarguedthatafirmsstrengthsultimatelyfallintooneoftwoheadings:costadvantageanddifferentiation.Byapplyingthesestrengthsineitherabroadornarrowscope,threegenericstrategiesresult:costleadership,differentiation,andfocus.Thesestrategiesareappliedatthebusi

3、nessunitlevel.Theyarecalledgenericstrategiesbecausetheyarenotfirmorindustrydependent.ThefollowingtableillustratesPortersgenericstrategies:PortersGenericStrategiesCostLeadershipStrategyThisgenericstrategycallsforbeingthelowcostproducerinanindustryforagivenlevelofquality.Thefirmsellsitsproductseithera

4、taverageindustrypricestoearnaprofithigherthanthatofrivals,orbelowtheaverageindustrypricestogainmarketshare.Intheeventofapricewar,thefirmcanmaintainsomeprofitabilitywhilethecompetitionsufferslosses.Evenwithoutapricewar,astheindustrymaturesandpricesdecline,thefirmsthatcanproducemorecheaplywillremainpr

5、ofitableforalongerperiodoftime.Thecostleadershipstrategyusuallytargetsabroadmarket.Someofthewaysthatfirmsacquirecostadvantagesarebyimprovingprocessefficiencies,gaininguniqueaccesstoalargesourceoflowercostmaterials,makingoptimaloutsourcingandverticalintegrationdecisions,oravoidingsomecostsaltogether.

6、Ifcompetingfirmsareunabletolowertheircostsbyasimilaramount,thefirmmaybeabletosustainacompetitiveadvantagebasedoncostleadership.Firmsthatsucceedincostleadershipoftenhavethefollowinginternalstrengths:Accesstothecapitalrequiredtomakeasignificantinvestmentinproductionassets;thisinvestmentrepresentsabarr

7、iertoentrythatmanyfirmsmaynotovercome.Skillindesigningproductsforefficientmanufacturing,forexample,havingasmallcomponentcounttoshortentheassemblyprocess.Highlevelofexpertiseinmanufacturingprocessengineering.Efficientdistributionchannels.Eachgenericstrategyhasitsrisks,includingthelow-coststrategy.For

8、example,otherfirmsmaybeabletolowertheircostsaswell.Astechnologyimproves,thecompetitionmaybeabletoleapfrogtheproductioncapabilities,thuseliminatingthecompetitiveadvantage.Additionally,severalfirmsfollowingafocusstrategyandtargetingvariousnarrowmarketsmaybeabletoachieveanevenlowercostwithintheirsegmen

9、tsandasagroupgainsignificantmarketshare.DifferentiationStrategyAdifferentiationstrategycallsforthedevelopmentofaproductorservicethatoffersuniqueattributesthatarevaluedbycustomersandthatcustomersperceivetobebetterthanordifferentfromtheproductsofthecompetition.Thevalueaddedbytheuniquenessoftheproductm

10、ayallowthefirmtochargeapremiumpriceforit.Thefirmhopesthatthehigherpricewillmorethancovertheextracostsincurredinofferingtheuniqueproduct.Becauseoftheproductsuniqueattributes,ifsuppliersincreasetheirpricesthefirmmaybeabletopassalongthecoststoitscustomerswhocannotfindsubstituteproductseasily.Firmsthats

11、ucceedinadifferentiationstrategyoftenhavethefollowinginternalstrengths:Accesstoleadingscientificresearch.Highlyskilledandcreativeproductdevelopmentteam.Strongsalesteamwiththeabilitytosuccessfullycommunicatetheperceivedstrengthsoftheproduct.Corporatereputationforqualityandinnovation.Therisksassociate

12、dwithadifferentiationstrategyincludeimitationbycompetitorsandchangesincustomertastes.Additionally,variousfirmspursuingfocusstrategiesmaybeabletoachieveevengreaterdifferentiationintheirmarketsegments.FocusStrategyThefocusstrategyconcentratesonanarrowsegmentandwithinthatsegmentattemptstoachieveeithera

13、costadvantageordifferentiation.Thepremiseisthattheneedsofthegroupcanbebetterservicedbyfocusingentirelyonit.Afirmusingafocusstrategyoftenenjoysahighdegreeofcustomerloyalty,andthisentrenchedloyaltydiscouragesotherfirmsfromcompetingdirectly.Becauseoftheirnarrowmarketfocus,firmspursuingafocusstrategyhav

14、elowervolumesandthereforelessbargainingpowerwiththeirsuppliers.However,firmspursuingadifferentiation-focusedstrategymaybeabletopasshighercostsontocustomerssinceclosesubstituteproductsdonotexist.Firmsthatsucceedinafocusstrategyareabletotailorabroadrangeofproductdevelopmentstrengthstoarelativelynarrow

15、marketsegmentthattheyknowverywell.Somerisksoffocusstrategiesincludeimitationandchangesinthetargetsegments.Furthermore,itmaybefairlyeasyforabroad-marketcostleadertoadaptitsproductinordertocompetedirectly.Finally,otherfocusersmaybeabletocarveoutsub-segmentsthattheycanserveevenbetter.ACombinationofGene

16、ricStrategies-StuckintheMiddle?Thesegenericstrategiesarenotnecessarilycompatiblewithoneanother.Ifafirmattemptstoachieveanadvantageonallfronts,inthisattemptitmayachievenoadvantageatall.Forexample,ifafirmdifferentiatesitselfbysupplyingveryhighqualityproducts,itrisksunderminingthatqualityifitseekstobec

17、omeacostleader.Evenifthequalitydidnotsuffer,thefirmwouldriskprojectingaconfusingimage.Forthisreason,MichaelPorterarguedthattobesuccessfuloverthelong-term,afirmmustselectonlyoneofthesethreegenericstrategies.Otherwise,withmorethanonesinglegenericstrategythefirmwillbestuckinthemiddleandwillnotachieveac

18、ompetitiveadvantage.Porterarguedthatfirmsthatareabletosucceedatmultiplestrategiesoftendosobycreatingseparatebusinessunitsforeachstrategy.Byseparatingthestrategiesintodifferentunitshavingdifferentpoliciesandevendifferentcultures,acorporationislesslikelytobecomestuckinthemiddle.However,thereexistsavie

19、wpointthatasinglegenericstrategyisnotalwaysbestbecausewithinthesameproductcustomersoftenseekmulti-dimensionalsatisfactionssuchasacombinationofquality,style,convenience,andprice.Therehavebeencasesinwhichhighqualityproducersfaithfullyfollowedasinglestrategyandthensufferedgreatlywhenanotherfirmenteredt

20、hemarketwithalower-qualityproductthatbettermettheoverallneedsofthecustomers.GenericStrategiesandIndustryForcesThesegenericstrategieseachhaveattributesthatcanservetodefendagainstcompetitiveforces.ThefollowingtablecomparessomecharacteristicsofthegenericstrategiesinthecontextofthePortersfiveforces.GenericStrategiesandIndustryForcesIndustryForceGenericStrategiesCostLeadershipDifferentiationFocusEntryBarriersAbilitytocutpriceinretaliationdeterspotentialentrants.Customerloyaltycandiscouragepotentialentrants.Focusingdevelopscorecompetenciesthatcanactasanentrybarrier.BuyerPowerAbilit