Growth Strategies in Declining Industries

The phenomenon of declining industries has been sparsely researched and few scholars have investigated whether firms pursue, or should pursue, growth in industries that are in decline. This study aims to find out if and how firms pursue growth when they perceive the industries in which they operate...

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Main Authors: Sundberg, Christoffer, Sundberg, Gustaf, Lilja, Miikka
Format: Others
Language:English
Published: Högskolan i Jönköping, Internationella Handelshögskolan 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-26744
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spelling ndltd-UPSALLA1-oai-DiVA.org-hj-267442015-06-10T04:48:43ZGrowth Strategies in Declining IndustriesengSundberg, ChristofferSundberg, GustafLilja, MiikkaHögskolan i Jönköping, Internationella HandelshögskolanHögskolan i Jönköping, Internationella HandelshögskolanHögskolan i Jönköping, Internationella Handelshögskolan2015Declining KIndustriesGrowth StrategiesStrategyStrategic ManagementThe phenomenon of declining industries has been sparsely researched and few scholars have investigated whether firms pursue, or should pursue, growth in industries that are in decline. This study aims to find out if and how firms pursue growth when they perceive the industries in which they operate as experiencing a decline. The study also aims to examine the key factors that influence firm strategy in declining industries. We interviewed managers in firms operating in two declining industries, the Swedish retail fuel industry and the Finnish printing industry.   Our finding is that the studied firms operating in these two industries are aware of the declining state of their industries. However, all of them believe that their respective industries will transform instead of perish. Consequently, these firms pursue growth through various strategies to better position themselves within the changing conditions and declining state of their respective industries. Both internal and external factors influence firm strategy, and the factors were both industry and firm-specific. The firms studied tended to employ strategies based on their perception of their industries. In addition, the strategies were developed to both suit the current and the future industry environment. We label these strategies transformational strategies. We build on this new strategic option and construct a guiding framework that aims to facilitate firms’ strategic decision-making in declining industries. Student thesisinfo:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesistexthttp://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-26744application/pdfinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
collection NDLTD
language English
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Declining KIndustries
Growth Strategies
Strategy
Strategic Management
spellingShingle Declining KIndustries
Growth Strategies
Strategy
Strategic Management
Sundberg, Christoffer
Sundberg, Gustaf
Lilja, Miikka
Growth Strategies in Declining Industries
description The phenomenon of declining industries has been sparsely researched and few scholars have investigated whether firms pursue, or should pursue, growth in industries that are in decline. This study aims to find out if and how firms pursue growth when they perceive the industries in which they operate as experiencing a decline. The study also aims to examine the key factors that influence firm strategy in declining industries. We interviewed managers in firms operating in two declining industries, the Swedish retail fuel industry and the Finnish printing industry.   Our finding is that the studied firms operating in these two industries are aware of the declining state of their industries. However, all of them believe that their respective industries will transform instead of perish. Consequently, these firms pursue growth through various strategies to better position themselves within the changing conditions and declining state of their respective industries. Both internal and external factors influence firm strategy, and the factors were both industry and firm-specific. The firms studied tended to employ strategies based on their perception of their industries. In addition, the strategies were developed to both suit the current and the future industry environment. We label these strategies transformational strategies. We build on this new strategic option and construct a guiding framework that aims to facilitate firms’ strategic decision-making in declining industries.
author Sundberg, Christoffer
Sundberg, Gustaf
Lilja, Miikka
author_facet Sundberg, Christoffer
Sundberg, Gustaf
Lilja, Miikka
author_sort Sundberg, Christoffer
title Growth Strategies in Declining Industries
title_short Growth Strategies in Declining Industries
title_full Growth Strategies in Declining Industries
title_fullStr Growth Strategies in Declining Industries
title_full_unstemmed Growth Strategies in Declining Industries
title_sort growth strategies in declining industries
publisher Högskolan i Jönköping, Internationella Handelshögskolan
publishDate 2015
url http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-26744
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AT liljamiikka growthstrategiesindecliningindustries
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