In 1972, Michael S. Hunt proposed the concept of "strategic group". In 1980, Michael Porter introduced it to the analysis of industrial structure characteristics, defining it as a group composed of companies in an industry that adopt the same or similar strategies in a certain strategy. Strategic group analysis is a method of dividing and combining analysis of enterprises that implement the same or similar strategies. The differences in corporate strategies in the industry are mainly reflected in the degree of vertical integration, specialization, research and development priorities and marketing priorities.

The level of competition among strategic groups is affected by various factors, with different business strategies, the target customers are the same or the number of strategic groups is large, and the competition is usually fierce; if a few strategic groups occupy a leading position and have a high market share, the confrontation will not be fierce. .

Within the strategic group: There is competition within the strategic group due to different corporate advantages. If the economic benefits depend on the output scale, large-scale enterprises will have the advantage; if the enterprise strategic implementation capabilities vary, those with strong abilities will have the advantage.

A strategic group is a group of enterprises in the industry that executes the same or similar strategies and has similar strategic characteristics.

This analysis method is between industry analysis and enterprise analysis.

The purpose is to find commonalities of strategic groups and grasp the direction and essence of industry competition.

The best strategic variable used as a graph axis is the variable that determines the formation of a strategic group.

The selected axis variables cannot be changed together.

The graph axis variables need not be continuous or monotonic.

Several strategic group maps can be outlined to understand key competitive issues.

Determine the competitive characteristics that distinguish enterprises in the industry, such as price and quality, geographical scope, and degree of vertical integration.

Draw the locations of different companies on a two-dimensional diagram.

The areas that fall into the same strategic space will be incorporated into the unified strategic group.

The sales share of the strategic group in the industry is represented by the size of the circle.

The main differences include the degree of vertical integration, degree of specialization, research and development priorities and sales priorities.

The intensity of competition among strategic groups is affected by four factors:

Enterprises within strategic groups are both cooperative and competitive.

Identification of main competitors: Other companies that are in the same strategic group as this company, the intensity of competition is affected by the market space and number of companies in the group.

Identification of secondary competitors: including other strategic groups in this industry and substitute industries that are comparable to the strategic groups to which the company belongs. The former is affected by factors such as market overlap, and the latter requires an alternative intensity analysis.

Potential competitor identification: It may come from irrelevant industries or related industries. The identification has certain rules, and its threat depends on entry barriers and the reactions of existing companies. The competitors are dynamic.

The dimensions of identifying strategic groups include organizational variables, marketing and product characteristics, financial variables, and choose two to three dimensions to draw, avoid choosing dimensions that all companies are the same.

Enterprises within the same strategic group have the same competitive characteristics as price or quality, geographical area, degree of vertical integration, product line, distribution channels, services, technical methods, etc.

Find out what strategic groups exist in the industry, the reasons for the formation and the strategic differences between groups.

Analyze the competition between groups.

Analyze competition among enterprises within strategic groups.

Analyze the customer's company's choice of strategic groups.

Strategic groups are divided based on clear and critical standards, and objective facts are used as the analysis basis.

When there are no specific values, you can qualitatively arrange the relative position of the data to draw conclusions.

Understand the competition between the groups.

Understand the “mobile barriers” between groups.

Understand the focus of corporate competition within strategic groups.

Predict market changes or discover strategic opportunities.

Establish a new strategic group.

Transfer to a better-positioned strategic group.

Strengthen the group status and the company's position in the group.

Invade other strategic groups.

Understand the competitive situation of strategic groups and the differences between groups.

Predict market changes and discover new strategic opportunities.

Reveal the difficulties and obstacles in the evolution between different strategic groups.

The distribution of strategic group of enterprises in the printing industry: select market purchasing characteristics (frequency) and product quality as indicators, and divide the printing industry enterprises in a certain city into 4 strategic groups, respectively positioning different markets and businesses.

Analysis of the characteristics of enterprises within each strategic group: Each strategic group has different characteristics in terms of scale, equipment, personnel, organizational structure, market positioning, etc.

Strategic Group Analysis

The strategic problems in the printing industry in a certain city: insufficient discovery of differences within the strategic group, and poor strategic execution of state-owned printing enterprises.

Inspiration to the western printing industry