Strategic planning for the under-dog

Abstract

t i m bblrndustry__ sales are down from | l a s t year. Historically, a del l c l i n e in sales has been the exception in American business. Usually such decline is associated only with buggy whips, kerosene lamps, passenger train travel, and other quaint items. Today, however, reports of industry decline reach more and more managers. Baby food firms are all too familiar with such news. Joining them in the early 1980s are the companies in the gasoline and tire industries. In distribution alone, that is an estimated 200,000 businesses, from oil jobbers to independently owned service stations to tire stores. ~ It is easy to view industries with falling sales simply as industries that are not growing, but that would be inaccurate. I would argue that strategic planning for a company in a shrinking industry differs from strategic planning in a stagnant industry.