| Summary: | 碩士 === 中華大學 === 企業管理學系碩士在職專班 === 101 === Unlike other industrial manufacturers that are free to adopt various promotional marketing, manufacturers of tobacco products in recent years have been limited by the frameworks of government law and public opinion. Focusing on the reduction of tobacco use, Taiwan’s research of tobacco products has been mostly linked to the level of health hazards, consumer behavior, and market segmentation. The strategic level of competitors in the tobacco market has rarely been explored. Therefore, the competitive situation of Taiwan’s tobacco manufacturers and the interactive relationship of competition have raised people’s curiosity and concern.
Based on the above background and motivation, the main focus of this study is to develop a dynamic competitive model, in order to map out the dynamic mode of competition and image of competitors, to construct the relative competitive advantage of Taiwan’s tobacco industry.
Based on the latest Nielsen Report (2011), this study adopted the top five tobacco companies in market share–British American Tobacco Taiwan, Imperial Tobacco Ltd., Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT), Philip Morris International (PMI), Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (TTL)–as the objects of empirical research. The product sales of various tobacco companies with different price ranges and the number of dealers in the four regions of Taiwan were taken as the data source of market commonality and resource similarity. Chen’s (1996) concepts of market commonality and resource similarity were then integrated with the above data to map out the image of competitors. The specific image showing the mutual competitive positions among the five largest tobacco companies in Taiwan was analyzed in accordance with the presented results.
According to Chen’s (1996) theory of market commonality and resource similarity, the bigger the market commonality or resource similarity, the less likely it is that other manufacturers will take the initiative to attack. Furthermore, the market commonality of the Taiwan market for tobacco products can be taken as a response indicator of the competitive behavior of competitors.
The results of the research analysis found, as far as most manufacturers are concerned, that Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) has the highest market commonality, so other companies are less likely to take the initiative to attack it; an attack on Taiwan’s market of tobacco products will be deemed a threat to other tobacco companies, which will respond to the attack in a positive way. In contrast, Philip Morris International (PMI) has a lower market commonality, so it is less likely to take the initiative to attack the other four tobacco companies. If it launched an attack, the other four major tobacco companies are more likely to ignore it or be slow in attacking back. Depending on the relative position of the image of competitors, the five major tobacco companies have different competitive interactions.
Through the competitor’s image, the position of the major competitors of each tobacco company can be seen. This analysis can serve as a reference for Taiwan’s tobacco companies when developing a competitive strategy and program.
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