MIT Sloan Management Review

Corporate Strategy

Great Strategy or Great Strategy Implementation — Two Ways of Competing in Global Markets

By William G. Egelhoff

January 15, 1993

MANY BUSINESS ANALYSTS HAVE ATTRIBUTED THE LOSS OF U.S. MARKET SHARE IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY TO UNFAIR JAPANESE PRACTICES, including trade barriers and “dumping of goods in export markets Egelhoff draws from a study of sample semiconductor firms to argue that the market share losses have also been influenced by the distinctly different competitive modes that U.S. and Japanese firms use. U.S. firms tend to compete by developing a unique business strategy; Japanese firms tend to compete by implementing not-so-unique strategies better than anyone else. He shows how these two competitive styles have implications for a range of business activities and for other global industries as well.

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On 19 April 1775, British troops (Redcoats) marched toward Concord, Massachusetts, to destroy military stores that had been collected by the American revolutionaries (Minutemen). At Lexington Green, a large, flat, open area, the Redcoats met the Minutemen in the first battle of the day. Both sides employed a similar battle strategy, firing at each other in the open from closed ranks. It was the dominant battle strategy of the day. The Redcoats quickly prevailed, and the Minutemen dispersed after a few volleys and a number of casualties.

Later in the day, as the Redcoats returned to Boston, a second battle developed. At various points along the road, Minutemen fired upon the Redcoat formations from inside houses and behind stone fences. When the Redcoats charged these positions, the Minutemen withdrew into the countryside and reappeared farther down the road. The Minutemen’s skirmish tactics took a heavy toll on the massed and extremely vulnerable Redcoats, who could do little but set fire to the buildings the Minutemen had already abandoned.

The two battles between the same opponents on the same day produced two very different results. It seems reasonable to suggest that between the two battles the Minutemen made a fundamental shift in their battle strategy, and this new strategy, rather than luck or chance, produced the significant difference in results.

Like the Minutemen, competitors frequently don’t compete the... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.

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