A. Fiegenbaum et H. Thomas, STRATEGIC GROUPS AS REFERENCE GROUPS - THEORY, MODELING AND EMPIRICAL-EXAMINATION OF INDUSTRY AND COMPETITIVE STRATEGY, Strategic management journal, 16(6), 1995, pp. 461-476
Previous studies on strategic groups have mainly focused on their stat
ic characteristics in order to test the theory of strategic groups and
intraindustry performance differences (Porter, 1979; Cool and Schende
l, 1988; Fiegenbaum and Thomas, 1990). In contrast, this study takes a
longitudinal, dynamic perspective and describes the forces driving st
rategic group membership and structural evolution. It proposes that a
strategic group acts as a reference point for group members in formula
ting competitive strategy. A partial adjustment model of strategic mob
ility is then developed which incorporates the idea of a strategic gro
up as a reference group. It models strategic change in an industry bot
h within and across strategic groups. The model is tested in the conte
xt of an in-depth industry analysis of the more significant firms in t
he insurance industry over the 1970-84 time period. The results sugges
t that strategic groups act as reference points for firm strategies an
d that predictions of future firm strategies and industry/group struct
ures may also be successfully derived.