THE "STRATEGIC STRETCH": ESTIMATING LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY IN INTRODUCING NEW PRODUCTS TO A MARKET.

Three significant lifecycles interact in a given market and evolve concurrently as the market moves through its phases from incubation to maturity and into decline. The market, firm, and product lifecycles have their own profiles and the best results for the firm are obtained when these three coincide; a growing firm introduces for example a growth type product into a growing market; this would be a zero stretch situation where capabilities of the firm are aligned with the principal requirements of the market and the introduction of the new product exacts the least effort. In addition to these three, there is a fourth cycle defined by the evolution of external alliances of the firm that accompany it along its lifecycle. The alliances range from rather complex and flexible structures such as ecosystems at the beginning of the lifecycle to late stage rigid value chains that are, in comparison, simple and brittle, with dire consequences when the alliance is tested by shock loadings. Underlying these external lifecycles and their measures of coincidence are the internal functions of the firm. Decision making, finance, HR, and compensation regimes among many functions also progress along their own lifecycles. These internal functions can be in or out of phase at different points of the market, creating serious challenges when their out of phase state is maximal leading to internal stretch that further taxes the firm's ability of execute. This article proposes a metric of strategic and internal stretch and examine the impacts on the firm's ability to execute its strategy when the degree of stretch is beyond a coping level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]