Question

An industry's key success factors

a) Are best determined by studying the strategies of those companies in the industry's best strategic group and those in the worst strategic group.

b) Concern the particular product attributes, competencies, competitive capabilities, and intangible assets with the greatest impact on future success in the industry.

c) Are mainly a function of an industry's macro-environment and dominant economic features.

d) Involve identifying the similarities in the strategies of rival companies; those strategy elements that are most commonly found in the strategies of rivals can be considered key success factors.

Answer 1

Key success factors in an industry include product attributes, competencies, competitive capabilities, and intangible assets crucial for success, with specialization in core competencies often leading to better performance. The market structure also significantly impacts these success factors.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question pertains to the key success factors in an industry. It is essential to understand that key success factors are those elements, such as product attributes, competencies, competitive capabilities, and intangible assets that substantially impact a company's ability to succeed in the industry. Concentrating on a company's core competency, typically focusing on a single or a few products, often results in better success than trying to operate across a wide range of products. This supports the idea that specialized capabilities and expertise can be pivotal in achieving competitive advantage and thus, can be considered key to the firm's success.

In addition, the market structure, characterized by levels of competitiveness and the extent of market power held by each firm, plays a significant role in determining the success factors in an industry. These structural aspects along with production and cost conditions are important to consider when analyzing an industry's key success factors.