Stratlogics: towards an expert systems approach to the analysis of competitive positioning

Portfolio analysis has been subjected to considerable scrutiny in recent years. This paper describes an attempt to recast portfolio analysis in the light of past criticisms and the growing importance of expert systems to marketing decision making. It introduces a data driven approach to the analysis of competitive effects that has at its heart a portfolio-based model. Inputs to the ‘stratlogic’ model include data on the competitive structure of a product-market and measures of the marketing ambition and positioning of the players in it. The authors go on to outline the various steps that should be taken to develop an expert system based on the stratlogic approach. By deliberately exploiting management's creativity and insight, the authors argue that the expert system approach facilitates the strategic thinking that would be constrained where a predefined set of general propositions was imposed.