What is special about the methods and strategies of The Position School of Strategy?

The positioning school of strategy has a narrow method of identifying the best strategy for an organization. It is an analytical approach to strategy to determine an action plan. While the planning school and design school do not limit the number of strategies in a given situation, the position school argues that one only requires few key strategies which are generic in nature and can be potentially applied across industry segments thus one can defend against existing and future competitors. The positioning school strategies are based on the result of calculations done by the analysts, who are monitoring the market concerning the goal of the organization. The strategies, under this process, are deliberate positional strategies, which effectively drive the organizational structure triggered by market structure. The school then defines generic categories of strategies, e.g. product differentiation or focused market groups.

According to Mintzberg, Lampel, and Ahlstrand, this concept recommends the focus on the current position of the company in the industry and development of strategies that would change the position of the company. Thus companies should only focus more on how to change their current position in the customer’s mind and in the industry. This concept is more useful for large firms than smaller ones because larger firms can invest heavily. It avoids macro elements of the environment (PESTEL), concentrating more on profit. Toyota is a good example as they followed this strategy by selling luxury cars under the brand Lexus.