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Management Science Vol. 32 No. 10 1986

What is an Attractive Industry?

Birger Wernerfelt; Cynthia A. Montgomery

J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201

Abstract

Business Portfolio Planning techniques often suggest that firms should invest in industries with high profitability, high growth, or other attractive characteristics. Critiquing this view, we suggest that the same factors which lead to high profitability in an industry may cause its inefficient participants to earn lower profits. Higher growth, on the other hand, may benefit inefficient firms while reducing the gains of efficient competitors. The paper offers theory and evidence to support this view of performance dependencies for the special case of diversified firms.

DOI
10.1287/mnsc.32.10.1223
Volume
32
Issue
10
Pages
1223-1230
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib crossref openalex

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