The industry context of strategy, structure and performance: The U.K. brewing industry

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1987

Abstract

This paper is concerned with identifying influences on the competitive performance of companies involved in the U.K. brewing industry. It seeks to identify key strategic characteristics, relate these to company performance and move towards an explanation of the influences that emerge as influencing competitive standing. It argues that diversification strategies must be studied as an aspect of industry structure, and shows that more focused, limited diversification and regional brewing strategies may be preferable in the context of the U.K. brewing industry. The research findings conflict with those of many previous studies which research the diversification strategies of primarily large firms (both in the U.S. and the U.K.) drawn from across-industry samples (e.g. the Fortune 500 firms) and which identify superior performance for related diversification strategies. The study therefore provides support for the hypothesis that there is an optimum level of diversification within an industry which balances economies of scope and diseconomies of organizational scale. In the context of the U.K. brewing industry the traditional single or dominant business brewers seem to have found the strategy which matches firms effectively with the important characteristics of industry structure.

Discipline

Strategic Management Policy

Research Areas

Strategy and Organisation

Publication

Strategic Management Journal

Volume

8

Issue

4

First Page

343

Last Page

361

ISSN

0143-2095

Identifier

10.1002/smj.4250080405

Publisher

Wiley

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