Structural and Perceptual Influences on Intraindustry Stratification

This paper argues (1) that intraindustry stratification is a function of both structural parameters and top managers' responses to perceptions of their environments, and (2) that the notion of strategic groups can meaningfully extend to corporate and collective levels of strategy. We explored relevant research questions using survey data from 114 of the largest firms in the financial services industry. The results suggest that variables measuring managerial perceptions are useful predictors of intraindustry stratification and that the strength of the predictor variables differs across levels of strategies. Supragroupings of firms with similar configurations of strategies across levels also emerged.

[1]  J. Bain.  Barriers to new competition , 1957 .

[2]  K. Andrews.  The Concept of Corporate Strategy , 1971 .

[3]  Michael Hunt.  Competition in the major home appliance industry, 1960-1970 , 1972 .

[4]  Fn Kerlinger,et al.  Foundations of behavioral research (2nd ed. , 1973 .

[5]  R. Rumelt.  Strategy, structure, and economic performance , 1974 .

[6]  Trends affecting the U.S. banking system , 1976 .

[7]  D. Schendel,et al.  Heterogeneity within an Industry: Firm Conduct in the U.S. Brewing Industry, 1952-71 , 1977 .

[8]  M. Porter,et al.  From Entry Barriers to Mobility Barriers: Conjectural Decisions and Contrived Deterrence to New Competition , 1977 .

[9]  Charles W. Hofer,et al.  Strategy formulation : analytical concepts , 1978 .

[10]  H. H. Newman.  Strategic Groups and the Structure-Performance Relationship , 1978 .

[11]  M. Porter.  The Structure Within Industries and Companies' Performance , 1979 .

[12]  Danny Miller,et al.  Momentum and Revolution in Organizational Adaptation , 1980 .

[13]  L. J. Bourgeois,et al.  Strategy and Environment: A Conceptual Integration , 1980 .

[14]  S. Oster.  Intraindustry structure and the ease of strategic change , 1982 .

[15]  D. Hambrick.  An Empirical Typology of Mature Industrial-Product Environments , 1983 .

[16]  C. Fombrun,et al.  Collective Strategy: Social Ecology of Organizational Environments. , 1983 .

[17]  Gregory G. Dess,et al.  Porter's (1980) Generic Strategies as Determinants of Strategic Group Membership and Organizational Performance , 1984 .

[18]  R. J. House,et al.  Organizations: A Quantum View , 1984 .

[19]  K. R. Harrigan.  An Application of Clustering for Strategic Group Analysis , 1985 .

[20]  G. Huber,et al.  Retrospective reports of strategic‐level managers: Guidelines for increasing their accuracy , 1985 .

[21]  David Lei,et al.  Toward an Empirical Prioritization of Contingency Variables for Business Strategy , 1985 .

[22]  J. Dutton,et al.  Categorizing Strategic Issues: Links to Organizational Action , 1987 .

[23]  Randolph P. Beatty,et al.  Ceo change and firm performance in large corporations: Succession effects and manager effects , 1987 .

[24]  Ron C. Mittelhammer,et al.  Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Econometrics , 1988 .