Originally Published MX July/August
2002

BUSINESS PLANNING
& TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Product- or
Market-Oriented?

Many companies
are driven by a need to be known to their customers by the products they offer.
The driving force for other organizations is service to targeted markets.

An organization
that tends to identify itself with its products will continue to manufacture
and deliver products similar to those it already does. Products developed in
the future will have characteristics very like those of current products. This
type of company will focus on penetrating more thoroughly its current markets
and the particular market segments or customer groups it serves. It will seek
new markets and market segments as well, but only where there is a need for
the sorts of products it already makes. Well-known companies whose strategies
are based on the products they offer include Black & Decker, the Ford Motor
Co., Dell Computer, and the J. M. Smucker Co.

While product-identified
companies are always looking for new markets for existing products, market-oriented