IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/gjagec/145223.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Strategic Group Membership Affect Firm Performance? An Analysis of the German Brewing Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Theuvsen, Ludwig
  • Heyder, Matthias
  • Niederhut-Bollmann, Christoph

Abstract

The concept of strategic groups has been successfully applied for analyzing firm strategies, structures and performance in various industries. Based on a largescale empirical study, this paper identifies strategic groups in the German brewing industry and analyzes the effects of group membership on economic performance. The brewing industry is an interesting research object. The severe economic crisis German breweries face in their home market and the deep structural changes reshaping the global beer industry are forcing German breweries to rethink their strategic position. The analysis reveals a limited number of strategic groups and significant performance differences between these groups. Both results are in line with the central hypotheses of the concept of strategic groups. The empirical results enable firm managers to benchmark their breweries against more successful strategic groups, to better adapt corporate and competitive strategies to firm environments, to identify more profitable strategic positions, and to take action to switch from one strategic group to another. Das Konzept der strategischen Gruppen ist wiederholt zur Analyse des Zusammenhangs von Unternehmensstrategien und -Performance eingesetzt worden. In diesem Beitrag untersuchen wir auf der Grundlage einer großzahligen empirischen Studie, inwieweit in der deutschen Brauwirtschaft strategische Gruppen existieren und die Zugehörigkeit zu einer dieser Gruppen Einfluss auf die Unternehmens-Performance hat. Die Brauwirtschaft ist ein besonders interessanter Anwendungsfall für das Konzept der strategischen Gruppen, da sie mehr als 1200 Unternehmen umfasst und zugleich tiefgreifende Veränderungen der Weltbrauwirtschaft wie auch des Verbraucherverhaltens die Unternehmen zwingen, ihre Strategien kritisch zu überprüfen. Im Rahmen der Untersuchung konnten die beiden zentralen Annahmen des Konzepts der strategischen Gruppen – Existenz einer begrenzten Anzahl strategischer Gruppen sowie zwischen ihnen bestehender Performance-Unterschiede – bestätigt werden. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse haben vielfältige Implikationen für das Management von Unternehmen der Brauwirtschaft; sie erlauben es Managern u.a., ihre Brauereien mit erfolgreicheren Wettbewerbern zu vergleichen und Maßnahmen zum Wechsel in eine mehr Erfolg versprechende strategische Gruppe einzuleiten.

Suggested Citation

  • Theuvsen, Ludwig & Heyder, Matthias & Niederhut-Bollmann, Christoph, 2010. "Does Strategic Group Membership Affect Firm Performance? An Analysis of the German Brewing Industry," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 59(02), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:gjagec:145223
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.145223
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/145223/files/1_Theuvsen.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.145223?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Noël Houthoofd & Aimé Heene, 1997. "Strategic groups as subsets of strategic scope groups in the Belgian brewing industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(8), pages 653-666, September.
    2. R. E. Caves & M. E. Porter, 1977. "From Entry Barriers to Mobility Barriers: Conjectural Decisions and Contrived Deterrence to New Competition," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 91(2), pages 241-261.
    3. John McGee & Howard Thomas, 1986. "Strategic groups: Theory, research and taxonomy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(2), pages 141-160, March.
    4. Hatten, Kenneth J & Schendel, Dan E, 1977. "Heterogeneity within an Industry: Firm Conduct in the U.S. Brewing Industry, 1952-71," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 97-113, December.
    5. L. Martin Cloutier & Anne-Laure Salves, 2002. "Functional Eating and Strategic Groups in Canada," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 50(4), pages 569-585, December.
    6. Fraser McLeay & Sandra Martin & Tony Zwart, 1996. "Farm business marketing behavior and strategic groups in agriculture," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(4), pages 339-351.
    7. Leask, Graham & Parnell, John A., 2005. "Integrating Strategic Groups and the Resource Based Perspective:: Understanding the Competitive Process," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 458-470, August.
    8. Day, Diana L. & Lewin, Arie Y. & Li, Hongyu, 1995. "Strategic leaders or strategic groups: A longitudinal data envelopment analysis of the U.S. brewing industry," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 619-638, February.
    9. Chris T. Bastian & Deborah M. Oakley-Simpson & Donald M. McLeod & Dale J. Menkhaus & Dan Alsup & Jeff Ogden & Glen D. Whipple, 1999. "Niche Market Potential: The Case of the U.S. Craft Brewing Industry," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 21(2), pages 552-562.
    10. Gloy, Dirk, 1996. "Entwicklungspfade von Molkereiunternehmen, eine Anwendung des Konzepts strategischer Gruppen," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 45(03).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liam Keenan, 2020. "The geographies of the institutional and industrial constraints on the financialization of German brewing," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(8), pages 1662-1680, November.
    2. Dominic, Theresia & Theuvsen, Ludwig, 2015. "The Impact of External and Internal Factors on Strategic Management Practices of Agribusiness Firms in Tanzania," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 197072, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    3. Dominic, Theresia & Theuvsen, Ludwig, 2015. "Agribusiness Firm Resources and Performance: The Mediating Role of Strategic Management Practices," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 200324, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    4. Iselborn, Maximilian & Müller Loose, Simone & Kühl, Rainer, 2016. "Produktionsstrategische Erfolgsfaktoren Veredelnder Weinbaubetriebe," 56th Annual Conference, Bonn, Germany, September 28-30, 2016 244803, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Theuvsen, Ludwig & Heyder, Matthias & Niederhut-Bollmann, Christoph, 2010. "Does Strategic Group Membership Affect Firm Performance? An Analysis of the German Brewing Industry," Journal of International Agricultural Trade and Development, Journal of International Agricultural Trade and Development, vol. 59(2).
    2. Antonio Gozzi & Roberta Scarsi & Riccardo Spinelli, 2015. "Un?analisi dei raggruppamenti strategici nella fornitura di servizi logistici," ECONOMIA E DIRITTO DEL TERZIARIO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(2), pages 231-257.
    3. Francisco Espasandín Bustelo & Cristóbal Casanueva Rocha & Juan Domingo Ganaza Vargas, 2004. "Las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en la economía social andaluza," CIRIEC-España, revista de economía pública, social y cooperativa, CIRIEC-España, issue 49, pages 193-215, August.
    4. Zuniga-Vicente, Jose Angel & de la Fuente-Sabate, Juan Manuel & Suarez Gonzalez, Isabel, 2004. "Dynamics of the strategic group membership-performance linkage in rapidly changing environments," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(12), pages 1378-1390, December.
    5. Inderhees, Philipp & Theuvsen, Ludwig, 2006. "Farmers' strategies in globalization markets: Empirical results from Germany," 98th Seminar, June 29-July 2, 2006, Chania, Crete, Greece 10053, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Prior, Diego & Surroca, Jordi, 2006. "Strategic groups based on marginal rates: An application to the Spanish banking industry," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(1), pages 293-314, April.
    7. Carroll, Charles, 1998. "Interdependence and the social structure of rivalry," Research Report 98B24, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    8. Fleischer, Manfred, 1998. "Patenting and industrial performance: the case of the machine tool industry," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Dynamics FS IV 98-9, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    9. Pätäri, Satu & Puumalainen, Kaisu & Jantunen, Ari & Sandstrüm, Jaana, 2011. "The interface of the energy and forest sectors--Potential players in the bioenergy business," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(1), pages 322-332, May.
    10. Enrique Claver & Jose Molina & Juan Tari, 2003. "Strategic groups and firm performance: the case of Spanish house-building firms," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 369-377.
    11. Eriksen, Bo & Knudsen, Thorbjorn, 2003. "Industry and firm level interaction: Implications for profitability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 191-199, March.
    12. Ángela González-Moreno & Francisco Sáez-Martínez, 2008. "Rivalry and strategic groups: what makes a company a rival?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 12(3), pages 261-285, August.
    13. Epure, Mircea & Kerstens, Kristiaan & Prior, Diego, 2011. "Bank productivity and performance groups: A decomposition approach based upon the Luenberger productivity indicator," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 211(3), pages 630-641, June.
    14. Cotterill, Ronald W. & Wastgren, Randall E., 1993. "Strategic Market Behavior of Large Food Manufacturers and Distribution Firms," Food and Agricultural Marketing Issues for the 21st Century - FAMC 1993 Conference 265925, Food and Agricultural Marketing Consortium (FAMC).
    15. J. Vineesh Prakash & D. K. Nauriyal, 2020. "Automotive Components Industry and Profitability Factors: Evidence from India," Vision, , vol. 25(2), pages 209-223, June.
    16. Day, Diana L. & Lewin, Arie Y. & Li, Hongyu, 1995. "Strategic leaders or strategic groups: A longitudinal data envelopment analysis of the U.S. brewing industry," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 619-638, February.
    17. Giuseppe Labianca & James F. Fairbank & James B. Thomas & Dennis A. Gioia & Elizabeth E. Umphress, 2001. "Emulation in Academia: Balancing Structure and Identity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(3), pages 312-330, June.
    18. Karel Cool & Ingemar Dierickx, 1993. "Abstract," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 47-59, January.
    19. Anne Toppinen & Ning Li & Anni Tuppura & Ying Xiong, 2012. "Corporate Responsibility and Strategic Groups in the Forest‐based Industry: Exploratory Analysis based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Framework," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 191-205, July.
    20. Sudharshan, Devanathan & Furrer, Olivier & Arakoni, Ramesh A., 2013. "Robust Imitation Strategies," FSES Working Papers 446, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agribusiness; Industrial Organization;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:gjagec:145223. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iahubde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.