An Extended Typology of Strategic Orientation and Its Linkages to Product Innovativeness

Strategic orientation typologies serve to simplify competitive analysis, help distill strategic options and communicate how individual competitors compete. The authors develop an expanded typology of strategic orientation which includes the four Miles and Snow types (prospector, Defender, Analyzer and Reactor) plus four new strategic types (Cost Leader, Differentiator, Opportunist and Pretender), then explore relationships between these types and the conduct of new product development. Six hypotheses are developed which link each type to product development success. Analyzers, Differentiators, and Prospectors are predicted to enjoy the most new product success, while Defenders, Cost Leaders and Opportunists rank next, and Reactors and Pretenders rank last.