There are three traditional approaches to
defining competitive strategy: Miles and Snow's adaptive strategies, Abell's
business definition framework, and Mintzberg's competitive strategies.
Miles and Snow's adaptive strategies
approach is based on the strategies that organizations use to successfully adapt
to their uncertain competitive environment. They identify four strategic
postures: prospector, defender, analyser, and reactor.
1)
The prospector competitive strategy is a strategy in which an
organization continually innovates by finding and exploiting new product and
market opportunities. They're constantly "prospecting" for new directions to
pursue.
2)
The defender competitive strategy is a strategy characterised by the
search for market stability and producing only a limited product line directed
at a narrow segment of the total potential market.
3)
The analyser competitive strategy is a strategy in which organizations
compete by analysing and imitating the successes of other organizations.
4)
The reactor competitive strategy is a strategy characterised by the lack
of a coherent strategic plan or apparent means of competing. It's almost a "no
strategy" type position because obviously it's not a preferred or recommended
competitive strategy for developing a sustainable competitive advantage.
Strategy research on Miles and Snow's
adaptive strategies verify that these four competitive types are theoretically
sound and can be used to describe what competitive strategies organizations are
using.
