How does technological change alter the position and the configuration of groups of producers in an industry? This dissertation examines the transformations in the strategic groups of two manufacturing industries that introduced radically new manufacturing processes. The primary textile market during the period 1958 to 1978 with the introduction of synthetic fibers, introduced a large-scale process production. In the steel industry during the period 1965 to 1985, small-scale process production was introduced with the technology of mini-mills. / The impact of new manufacturing processes on the economic position of producers in the industry has been examined conventionally by the research in strategic management, which used with the set of business strategies developed by the positioning school (i.e., cost leadership, differentiation and focus). Where the cost structure is the determinant of the profitability of a manufacturer, strategic groups are expected to establish their position in terms of scale and scope (Porter 1980, Aaker, 1984, Day, 1990). / Our findings lead us to introduce a different view of the topic by focusing on competition between strategic groups having different centers of gravity. A center of gravity has been defined by Galbraith (1983) as the primary location of a producer in the economic chain of transformation. We found that large-scale and small-scale manufacturing processes have radically different impacts since these processes are intimately associated with specific centers of gravity. / Large-scale manufacturing processes create conditions for the formation of generalists with a strong center of gravity at the upstream primary manufacturing stage engaged in processes such as casting, cutting and forming. This strategic group of generalists establishes a dominant position in the industry in two stages: a cost leadership strategy followed by integrative strategies such as upstream and downstream vertical integration and ultimately, product diversification. Since manufacturers serve the same geographical market, we have a configuration of competing strategic groups. / Small-scale manufacturing processes create conditions for the formation of mid-size producers that we have called semi-generalists and semi-specialists. These strategic groups have a strong center of gravity at the downstream manufacturing stage and are engaged in processes such as as assembling and finishing. They have smaller scale facilities, are not vertically integrated, and sell a narrower product range than generalists. Since they are located closer to industrial centers and dedicated to specific industries, they compete on factors other than price, such as geographic location, product differentiation, service, etc. These strategic groups of medium-size producers challenge the dominance of generalists by restructuring the market into a set of regional markets. The configuration of strategic groups is shaped by generic groups of manufacturers competing in different geographical markets. / The set of business strategies proposed by the positioning school was adequate for large-scale processes. However, this set of strategies was largely inappropriate in a context where small-scale processes are introduced.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.41029 |
| Date | January 1992 |
| Creators | Sabourin, Vincent |
| Contributors | Mintzberg, Henry (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Faculty of Management.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001340872, proquestno: NN87893, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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