Strategic groups, mobility barriers, and competitive advantage: An empirical investigation

Strategic groups analysis is a relevant framework for investigating competitive advantage and identifying the variables that create and sustain competitive advantage in an industry. Using the perfumes, cosmetics, and toiletries industry, a multi-year analysis was conducted: (1) to illustrate how strategic group analysis can be employed to identify firms that have achieved competitive advantage over their rivals in an industry; (2) to identify functional variables that create mobility barriers and thus competitive advantage for these firms; and (3) to explore the relationships among group structure, performance, and competitive advantage over time. The results indicate that strategic groups achieving a significant competitive advantage can be identified and that the key variables creating competitive advantage are not stable.