INSTRUCTIONS: Please RESPOND to this answer from the Point of view as a student. Use credible sources and respond as if you are a manager of a marketing agency. Tell this student what your marketing agency would think of each of these answers from a Management perspective in about 4-5 paragraphs:
In delineating a firm’s strategic position, it is important to understand the likely evolution of the industry life cycle, and how that impacts the strategic position. “…Conditions at different phases of an industry life cycle provide differential opportunities and constraints” (Carpenter & Sanders, 2008, p. 152). In previous posts I have mentioned the fact that our StratSim Company has struggled with the balance inherent in an integrated approach. In striving to focus on both low-cost and differentiation, we are coming to learn that we are forced to make trade-offs. The trickiest part has been evolving the company’s strategy through the various phases in the industry life cycle in a timely fashion. We initially aspired to embrace the embryonic stage in making conservative decisions, ultimately preparing for the growth stage. Our approach was slightly delayed, and it took a bit too long to enter the growth stage, where efforts towards differentiation increase and low cost leaders “emerge through experience and scale advantages” (Carpenter & Sanders, 2008, p. 152). It is critical to arrive at the growth stage in a timely fashion relative to competitors, as “industries enter periods of rapid growth, incumbent firms increase market share by taking advantage of footholds established earlier” (Carpenter & Sanders, 2008, p. 153). Hindsight is 20/20, and if we had it to do over again, we would have capitalized on the growth opportunities earlier in hopes of increasing our competitiveness with rival firms. While StratSim is an expeditious process with a finite time of a firm’s existence, it has instilled the logic (with respect to my current work endeavors) of understanding the importance of being cognizant of the time in which new phases are entered.
Carpenter & Sanders (2008). Strategic Management: A Dynamic Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Pearson Education, Inc.
