On the structural dimension of competitive strategy

This paper establishes the existence of systematic differencesin the nature of competitive strategies typically pursued acrossindustries. By means of qualitative content analysis, we extracteda matrix of 76 industries times 12 strategies reported as beingcharacteristic in a series of monographs. Subsequent tests forthe statistical significance of observed differences in thetypical strategy portfolio show an evident link to an industry'sgeneral reliance on intangible investments, human resourcesand inputs from external services.