Title: Firm's typology and strategic innovation among Chinese cosmetic industry - a strategic transformation tool

Authors: Sreenivasan Jayashree; Xu Yang

Addresses: Faculty of Management, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya Campus, Persiaran Multimedia, 63100 Cyberjaya, Malaysia ' Faculty of Management, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya Campus, Persiaran Multimedia, 63100 Cyberjaya, Malaysia

Abstract: Strategic transformation occurs via innovative technologies. This paper presents the challenges faced by the Chinese cosmetics industry in achieving strategic transformation by exploring how firms innovate strategically to compete based on their typology. The constituents of strategic innovation were analysed by 19 types of strategic innovation. Miles and Snow business-level strategy typology was extended to analyse the choices among defenders, analysers, and prospectors. MANOVA was used to analyse data. Results indicated that different types of firms focus on different types of strategic innovations. Prospectors focus on strategic innovation that improves new market creation, defenders on the improvement of product and service value, and analysers on competitive disruption. This research improves the understanding of strategic innovation in the Chinese cosmetics industry based on the typology of firms as a tool of strategic transformation.

Keywords: firm typology; strategic innovation; China; cosmetics industry; strategic transformation; defenders; analysers; prospectors; MANOVA; new markets; market creation; product value; service value; competitive disruption.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2015.068221

International Journal of Technology Management, 2015 Vol.67 No.2/3/4, pp.132 - 147

Received: 24 Oct 2013
Accepted: 16 Apr 2014

Published online: 29 Apr 2015 *

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