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Symptoms and Implications

The purpose of the Symptoms and Implications section of StrategyStreet is to enable you to check current developments in your industry in order to understand their implications for the future of your industry and your business. In our work over many years, we have observed that certain industry developments are precursors to the development of a tougher marketplace. This section enables you to see how these developments might forecast impending problems in your industry.

We have organized Symptoms and Implications into 4 sections:

  • The Customer Segments section tracks symptoms occurring with certain customer groups in the marketplace; it also follows competitive initiatives in the market and their likely implications.
  • The Products and Services section tracks the introduction of new product price points to forecast how these new price points might affect their creator’s success. This section follows changes competitors are making to their products and services at a given price point.
  • The Pricing section describes the implications of symptoms where competitors are changing pricing levels compared to the rest of the market. This section follows symptoms related to industry prices, growth and profitability.
  • The Costs  section describes symptoms caused by companies’ cost management and new investment initiatives.

List of All Symptoms

To use this section, follow the following steps:

  1. Identify each symptom occurring in your marketplace;
  2. Follow the suggested links to related sites in order to begin your work to develop a greater understanding of your business and industry situation;
  3. Review the implications that such symptoms have meant for other markets like yours.
Over the years, we have written a number of Perspectives that cover a broad range of subjects in deteriorating and hostile marketplaces. We recommend that you review some or all of these articles before undertaking extensive analyses or delving deeper into the other Perspectives. These broad discussion Perspectives add important context to the Analyses, Symptoms and Implications and to the other Perspectives. These general articles include:
 “Use Subtle Strategy in Tough Markets“A hostile market operates differently than a market with “normal” competitive conditions. But as difficult as a tough market can be, it can also present an astute management team with an unusual opportunity.
 “Rare Mettle: Gold and Silver Strategies to Succeed in Hostile Markets“Managements of winning companies have common themes for success in hostile markets. They each follow five basic themes. While virtually all successful companies are aware of these themes, their implementation differs according to their market position at the onset of hostility.
 “Staying Alive in a Hostile Marketplace“A few companies survive and even prosper during periods of hostility. How do these companies avoid being the victims of tough market conditions?
 “Success Under Fire: Policies to Prosper in Hostile Times“A hostile market evolves through six predictable phases. Most companies fail, withdraw or become acquisitions before this evolution is complete. They fail because their management policies were not effective. The few who survive and prosper do so by making decisions that follow two rules: attract customers and discourage competition. Losers lose by not following the second rule.
 “The Wisdom of Salomon“In the late 80s’, the investment banking firm of Salomon Inc. decided to leave the municipal bond market – a market the firm had lead. This withdrawal showed just how limited management’s options are when a market goes into overcapacity and how the best choice under such conditions may be the painful decision to leave the industry.

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