STRATEGIC GROUPS AND RIVALROUS FIRM BEHAVIOR - TOWARDS A RECONCILIATION

This research examines the question of whether rivalry is greater betw een or within strategic groups by utilizing more direct, dynamic and f ine-grained measures of rivalry. Examining the competitive actions of firms in different strategic groups to determine if competitive respon ses were more likely to occur from firms in the same strategic group, or from firms in different strategic groups, the research found that c ompetitive responses cannot be predicted by strategic group membership . Importantly, however, strategic group membership is a predictor of t he manner by which firms compete with one another, or the frequency wi th which they undertake competitive actions, cut prices, instigate war fare and imitate rivals. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.