Combination (Stuck in the middle)
According to Porter, a company’s failure to make a choice between cost leadership and differentiation essentially implies that the company is stuck in the middle. There is no competitive advantage for a company that is stuck in the middle and the result is often poor financial performance. However, there is disagreement between scholars on this aspect of the analysis. Kay (1993) and Miller (1992) have cited empirical examples of successful companies like Toyota and Benetton, which have adopted more than one generic strategy. Both these companies used the generic strategies of differentiation and low cost simultaneously, which led to the success of the companies.
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