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BCG Matrix, an analytic tool designed and named for the Boston Consulting Group, provides insight into corporate strategy regarding a company's operating units and products. The focus of the matrix is on "market growth and market share of the organization's product portfolio relative to their largest competitor" (NetMBA.com. N.D. PP. 1). Companies should according to the matrix, allocate capital to portfolio investments which are in a fast growing market that could lead to the firm achieving high market share. Represented on the BCG matrix are four types of scenarios, Stars, Cash Cows, Dogs and Question Marks which limn these potential opportunities (NetMBA.com. N.D. PP. 1).
When did the BCG experience-curve begin to have a significant impact on business thinking?
A tenet of the BCG Matrix, the experience curve describes how significant investment in products with high growth rates can lead to high market share. Specifically, as a firm spends more...
"BCG data revealed that the real value-added production cost declined by 20 to 30% for each doubling of cumulative production quantity" (Economist.com. The Experience Curve. September 14, 2009. PP. 1). Succinctly, an organization develops experience in production: proprietary methods, intellectual property technologies, scope, scale, and learning which provide them lower production costs over rivals and thus a competitive advantage leading to greater market share.
In the 1970's when the matrix was utilized by larger organizations, the experience curve was particularly useful "for if costs fell (fairly predictably) with experience, and if experience was closely related to market share (as it seemed it must be), then the competitor with the biggest market share was going to have a big cost advantage over its rivals" (Economist.com. The Experience Curve. September 14, 2009. PP.…
"Cash cows are businesses that have a high market share (and are therefore generating lots of cash) but low growth prospects; stars have high growth prospects and a high market share; question marks have high growth prospects but a comparatively low market share; and dogs are low on both growth prospects and market share" (Economist.com. Growth Share Matrix. September 11, 2009. PP. 1).
In predictable and long- set industries, a firm with a high- growth and high- market share product would understandably allocate more cash to continue the cycle. However, returning to the experience curve, technology can be the great equalizer to a firm which has a significant cost advantage. The 1990's were a period of rapid information and technological advancement which allowed competitor firms to achieve cost reductions on their product lines by "creating new experience curves" (NetMBA.com. N.D. PP. 1). The assumed advantage of cost to control market share could quickly evaporate in this environment.
Tangentially, the 1990's saw rapidly merging industries which had previously not existed, most associated with the internet or information technology. Organizations which misjudged the growth prospects and life-cycles of their portfolio may have sold dogs or cows which they believed were at the end of their dominance, heavily invested in stars that were not,
3. Limitation of individual model - synergies obtained by combining strategic analyses models All analysis models presented in the previous chapter represent useful but not exhaustive methods of deciding the future of a company or its products. As there is no perfect model, the joint usage of them might bring most value to the company. Ansoff analysis generally assumes that diversification will bring higher returns when higher levels of risks are undertaken (diversifying
Successful Strategy Execution The Balanced Scorecard A balanced scorecard is balanced precisely because it considers three major areas of performance: 1) The relationship between the company and the customer; 2) the key internal processes of the company; and 3) the learning and growth of the company. The dynamics that make the balanced scorecard a highly functional tool is that it enables linkage to be constructed between the short-term activities of the company
Harvard Business Review Assessment task: strategic planning Over the past decades, the strategic plan has become an important human resource management tool. Several researchers have written and published a lot in this field of strategy, and subsequently, on the subject of strategic planning. In the year 1970-80, planning was the core activities of modern firms because the management believed it would enable them achieve a competitive merit. Many of the studies