Marketing Strategy: Standardization vs. Adaptation: Standardization and Adaptation Practices in the Commercial Vehicles Industry

The globalization of markets has disrupted the existing status quo, delineated the first mover advantage of incumbents and their entrenchment strategies. Changes to the auto industry have been especially drastic in the traditional North America and European markets where the very existence of industry icons, such as General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have come into question. Japanese manufacturers with their seemingly unbeatable innovative approaches to time-to market, process and product design have achieved superior performance standards and taken global leadership. A new era of competition is on the auto industry dictating the way value is created for customers and shareholders. Incumbent firms with decades of heritage and legacy must adapt to the new competition or be faced with a grim future of gradual decline. This book utilizing a resource based perspective analyzes how competition between American, European and Japanese companies evolves historically in emerging market settings, illustrating competitive marketing strategies and the use of standardization and adaptation practices in the pursuit of competitive advantage.