JOJO
1.Life cycle:
–Diversification strategy: It consists on penetrate several and very different markets simultaneously. This strategy allows the company risk diversification from depending on only one market, managing resources and investments from different categories and markets and normally having a huge dimension in terms of revenues. This strategy has a disadvantage based on the not specialization in one market and, sometimes, not developing properly the categories (not creating segments) or having investment problems in some markets due to the main priorities for the Board could not be a concrete market even for years. Another disadvantage might be not taking advantage about scale economies and logistics because of different ways of commercialization and distribution. E.g. Unilever: this company operates in markets so different like deodorants (Rexona), chocolates (Milka), ice-creams (Frigo), gel showers (Dove), etc.
–Pure Player strategy: It consists basically on operate in only one or two markets (if two, they are very similar, synergies). It provides to the company an enormous know-how and expertise about the consumer, the buyer, competitors, etc. This strategy allows the company increase the scale economies normally by innovation, developing new segments, taking advantages about consumer trends and the agility in the market, reacting very fast in front of environment changes. Logistics, production and supply chain are in levels near to the optimum. Some disadvantages might be related with the dependence about only one market: competitor reactions, changes in consumer behavior, new products substitutive, etc. If the trends are bad or the market is mature and decreasing, in long term the company might even disappear. E.g. SAB Miller. Is the most beer company in the world, and operates in Spain by Mahou-San Miguel group. They allows the company a perfect approach in a very fragmented market developing new segments by innovation and perfect positioning and differentiation between different brands
2.Analysis:
–of mature industries:
1 Growth slowing down but maturity does not occur at any fixed point in development.
2 It can be delayed by innovations or other events that maintain continued growth and strategic breakthroughs may even lead mature industries to recover rapid growth. Industries can experience more than one transition to maturity.
3 Significant changes that take place in the competitive environment.
4 Decline in industry growth rate means that firms cannot keep up their own growth rate in the industry simply by holding their market share.
5 Maintaining growth rate in sales requires that market share has to be increased at the expense of competition.
6 Competitors who have so far coexisted amicably may regard such a change in strategy as aggressive and irrational. Moreover, it may lead to substantial retaliation.
7 Price cutting, new forms of promotional activity and new additional services may be the order of the day.
8 As customers get used to the product they become more critical in their appraisal of what firms have to offer and also become more brand conscious.
9 Competition is based more upon level of service and cost control.
10 Over-capacity can lead to over-production and thence to price warfare to take up the production capacityScale Economies limitations. The development of scale economies implies an improvement on competitive approach because of the continuous reduction of unitary product cost.
11 The ability to find new products and applications diminishes as maturity is attained and where they can be found they tend to be more risky and costly.
12 Some international competitors possess radically different cost structures and this means that those who are most favourably placed can often enter foreign markets with a decided advantage over the country’s domestic producers.
–Of emerging and developing industries:
1 Emerging industries are either newly formed or reformed industries that have been produced by technological innovations, shifts in cost relationships, emergence of new consumer needs, or other economic and sociological changes that make a new product or service a potentially viable business opportunity.
2 Uncertainty exists about the technology and the strategic approaches adopted by industry participants. There is little or poor information about competitors, their customers and what is happening in the industry and reliable industry sales and market share data are often unavailable.
3 The initial small production volume and lack of experience with the product often combine to produce high costs relative to those the industry can potentially achieve.
4 From the customer’s point of view, changeover costs from what they currently use can be expensive.