Difference in Entry Mode, Environmental Perception, and Peromance among Strategic Groups : An Exploratory Study in the Korean Health Food Industry

전략군간 진입특성, 환경인식 및 성과 차이 : 우리나라 건강보조 식품 산업에 대한 탐색적 연구

As an exploratory attempt, this study examined the correlates of different strategic groups in the Korean health food industry. Many prior studies believe that different entry mode such as entry timing and patterns, and different cognitive structure of top managers lead to the formation of different strategic groups in the same industry. Different strategic groups with different sources or mobility barriers are also expected to produce different level of economic performance. Multivariate statistical analyses of data from 32 firms in the Korean health food industry revealed the following results. i) There are four different strategic groups with different levels of mobility barriers in terms of firm size, scope of product/market domain, degree of forward and backward integration. ii) Differences in both entry timing and environmental perception of top managers are associated with different stratetic groups. However, the patterns of entry are not significantly different among four strategic groups. iii) Four strategic groups exhibit different level of economic performance in terms of sales growth rate and return on investment. Finally, this study tried to identify commonalities and differences among various strategic groups found in several industries in Korea. The results offered some implications to search for developing a useful theory of strategic groups in Korea.