these objectives, organisations need offensive (attacking) and defensive
strategies.
Kotler et al. (1998) identify a number of attacking and defensive strat-
egies. Such strategies are used in combination by organisations in order to
successfully compete in the modern business world.
Offensive strategies, designed primarily to gain market share are shown
in Figure 8.8. Each is summarised in turn.
Strategy formulation 163Attacker Defender(4) Bypass attack(2) Flank attack(1) Frontal attack(3) Encirclement attack(5) Guerrilla attack Figure 8.8
Attacking strategies
(Source: Kotler
et al., 1999)1 Frontal attack: This is an all-out attack on a competitor. Generally, such
an attack requires a sustained effort. Attackers must be certain they,
have the resources to endure a long hard struggle and survive poten-
tially heavy initial losses. They are likely to face a well-established
competitor with broadly the same product offering. Therefore, the
attacker needs a clearly defined advantage. For example, the attacker
may have a cost advantage or its brands may be perceived more
positively.
2 Flank attack: To draw on the analogy of the battlefield, where the flanks
were always the weakest point of any army. Equally, this can be the
case in the business world and ‘flanking’ is achieved by attacking
selective market segments where the competitor is relatively weak. By
concentrating resources on narrow areas it is possible to achieve super-
iority. The key to success is to identify worthwhile, underserved
segments. For example, a computer manufacturer may feel a rival only
offers a limited, and somewhat dated, range of lap-top computers.
This could be a weak ‘flank’ vulnerable to attack.