Porter's 3 Generic Strategies

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Porter's 3 Generic Strategies

Written by

Carissa O'Connell

Sept 20, 2023; Updated: Jan 2024

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Porter's 3 Generic Strategies

Porter’s three generic strategies could be used as a method which businesses could use to define their goals. Its general definitions allow for his strategies to “be applied to any business, product, or service”. These three generic strategies are:

  1. broad cost leadership
  2. broad differentiation
  3. focused strateg

(Baltzan, 33, 2022)

Broad cost leadership companies attempt to sell decent quality goods, to a large range of customers, at the lowest price. Companies who approach their business with the broad differentiation strategy, focus on selling a good that is unique when compared to similar items. Lastly, the focused strategy is what businesses use to identify how to provide more quality to a product in a niche market.

Broad market and low cost:

Swatch – Watches and jewelry that appeal to a large range of customers while still providing quality and style.

Broad market and high cost:

Van Cleef and Arpels – Watches and jewelry known for their quality and detail in their craftmanship is the reason why they fetch big money.

Narrow market and low cost:

Timex – Focused on the manufacturing and selling of watches, they have created three dimensions of watches which cover the mass-market, sport and technology, and boutique divisions. Their focus on the construction of watches has also allowed them to provide decent quality for a very affordable price.

Narrow market and high cost:

Rolex – With a history of quality, style, and innovation for their watches, it has become the reason why they are considered to have a high value and therefore, a hefty price tag.

References

Baltzan, Paige. Business Driven Technology 9e - Connect. New York: McGraw-Hill 2022.

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Carissa O'Connell

Aloha! I am a passionate software developer looking to help people create programs that help improve business efficiency, connect with nature, and play with logic.