Defender vs Prospector: Key Take Aways
Defender vs Prospector: Key Take Aways
Based on videos showed during class and case study, it is observed that:
• Companies develop their strategies based on their perception of environments. Hence each organization views its environment in different ways, causing it to adopt best suited strategies
• These flexible strategies allow companies to be more sensitive to environments than others, and different organizations represent a range of adaptive strategies
• Because of their adaptive strategies, prospector organizations are the most adaptive type of company
• Defender organizations are the least adaptive type
Further Discussion:
Different business environments exist from organization to organization, having a less adaptive strategy may be beneficial in an environment, such as highly regulated industries. For example, a study of the airline industry indicated that the defender airlines were more successful than the prospector airlines because the business environment changes slowly because of the heavy regulation. Hence, the emphasis on efficiency by the defender airlines works for them!
However, prospector organizations also have an advantage over other types of organizations in business environments. Companies operating in mature markets benefit from introducing new products or services and innovations to continue expanding. As stated by Miles and Snow, no single strategic approach can be declared as best. What Miles and Snow argue cannot determine the success of a company, but it simply tells that establishing and maintaining a systematic strategy that takes a company's environment, technology, and structure into account can work effectively for that particular organization
The application of Miles and Snow's typology can turn out to be efficient during strategic decision processes, international strategies, and functional areas within organizations. Furthermore, prospectors can be termed as “ad hoc” which means their adaptability is best suited to
Based on videos showed during class and case study, it is observed that:
• Companies develop their strategies based on their perception of environments. Hence each organization views its environment in different ways, causing it to adopt best suited strategies
• These flexible strategies allow companies to be more sensitive to environments than others, and different organizations represent a range of adaptive strategies
• Because of their adaptive strategies, prospector organizations are the most adaptive type of company
• Defender organizations are the least adaptive type
Further Discussion:
Different business environments exist from organization to organization, having a less adaptive strategy may be beneficial in an environment, such as highly regulated industries. For example, a study of the airline industry indicated that the defender airlines were more successful than the prospector airlines because the business environment changes slowly because of the heavy regulation. Hence, the emphasis on efficiency by the defender airlines works for them!
However, prospector organizations also have an advantage over other types of organizations in business environments. Companies operating in mature markets benefit from introducing new products or services and innovations to continue expanding. As stated by Miles and Snow, no single strategic approach can be declared as best. What Miles and Snow argue cannot determine the success of a company, but it simply tells that establishing and maintaining a systematic strategy that takes a company's environment, technology, and structure into account can work effectively for that particular organization
The application of Miles and Snow's typology can turn out to be efficient during strategic decision processes, international strategies, and functional areas within organizations. Furthermore, prospectors can be termed as “ad hoc” which means their adaptability is best suited to