Final answer:
The strategic group map is a business analytical tool used to understand the competitive dynamics within an industry, such as identifying close competitors and assessing the impact of industry forces on different strategic groups. It goes beyond just market share, considering a range of factors that influence a company's market position and the group's overall strengths and weaknesses.
Step-by-step explanation:
A strategic group map is an analytical tool that provides valuable insights into the competitive landscape of an industry. It helps in analyzing different market positions and strategies of companies within the industry, identifying close competitors, and understanding the influence of industry-driving forces and competitive pressures on various strategic groups. When creating and interpreting a strategic group map, one needs to evaluate several factors including, but not limited to, market share, product quality, technological innovation, customer service, and distribution channels.
Moreover, strategic group mapping underscores the variance in profit potentials due to diverse market positions and the strengths and weaknesses of each strategic group. This analytical tool is not just about measuring market concentration or sales division, but it provides a broader perspective that takes into account the uniqueness of competitive conditions across different industries and strategic groups' particular circumstances.