1. As the new competitive character of industry maturity begins to hit full force, any of several strategic moves can strengthen a firm’s competitive positions:
a. Pruning Marginal Products and Models: Pruning marginal products from the line opens the door for cost savings and permits more concentration on items whose margins are highest and/or where a firm has a competitive advantage.
b. More Emphasis on Value Chain Innovation: Efforts to reinvent the industry value chain can have a fourfold payoff – lower costs, better product or service quality, greater capability to turn out multiple or customized product versions, and shorter design-to-market cycles.
c. Trimming Costs: Stiffening price competition gives firms extra incentives to drive down unit costs. Company cost reduction initiatives can cover a broad front.
d. Increasing Sales to Present Customers: In a mature market, growing by taking customers away from rivals may not be as appealing as expanding sales to existing customers.
e. Acquiring Rival Firms at Bargain Prices: Sometimes a firm can acquire the facilities and assets of struggling rivals quite cheaply.
f. Expanding Internationally: As its domestic market matures, a firm may seek to enter foreign markets where attractive growth potential still exists and competitive pressures are not so strong.
g. Building New or More Flexible Capabilities: The stiffening pressures of competition in a maturing or already mature market can often be combated by strengthening the company’s resource base and competitive capabilities.
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