California Management Review

Abstract

The article focuses on the intensive growth opportunities open to a firm. Market penetration, market development, and product development constitute the major intensive growth opportunities open to a firm. The author describes a matrix framework designed to help identify the various distinct growth possibilities latent in each of the above opportunity classes and proposes an extended product-market growth matrix incorporating external opportunity factors such as user focus, market growth rate, and a wide range of internal strategy response options as sub-dimensions. Planning for growth by focusing on existing products and markets as well as searching for new directions for growth is a critical component of any strategic planning effort. First, there is a need to relate concepts such as brand extension and multi-brand strategies, product/brand positioning and repositioning, product differentiation and market segmentation and strategies for marketing mix modification and the various intensive growth opportunities. Concern has been expressed regarding the adequacy of a simple two-dimensional concept of product-market strategy from the points of view of business definition as well as strategic planning.

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