Practice question · Match the pairs
Match each competitive position to Porter’s label.
- Cost leadership
- Differentiation
- Focus
- Stuck in the middle
- Either weapon aimed at a narrow niche
- Distinct value commanding a premium
- Same value, structurally lower cost
- Neither cheapest nor distinctive, outcompeted twice
Hints
- The generic strategies answer the question of why customers choose you.
- Refusing to choose is itself a position, and a losing one.
Show the answer
- Cost leadership → Same value, structurally lower cost
- Differentiation → Distinct value commanding a premium
- Focus → Either weapon aimed at a narrow niche
- Stuck in the middle → Neither cheapest nor distinctive, outcompeted twice
Why
The generic strategies are answers to "why us?", and Porter’s warning is that refusing to answer is itself an answer, the losing one.
Practise Planning and Strategy
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