COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES AND THE FACTORS AFFECTING THIS DECISION

Aim: The purpose of this research is to determine what the strategic choices of firms and what are the internal and external factors that influence this choice. Method: This research was conducted in brick and tile sector. The research was carried out by collecting interviews and secondary data with partner and senior managers of a total of 14 companies with different scales, production systems and products. Qualitative methods have been used in the analysis of the research. First of all, participating companies are classified according to competition strategies in the axis of Miles and Snow typology they follow. Later on, factors that influence strategy choices have been revealed. Findings: From the findings of this research it was seen that participating firms follow three different strategies, which are reactor, analyzer and defender, which supports the argument of Miles and Snow typology. It has been seen that there is no firm following the prospector strategy. The main factors affecting the choices of the enterprises were; raw materials, production system, sources owned by the operator, related sectors, geographic location, competitive environment, and substitute products. Results: It has been determined that the strategic orientations of companies involved in the research were often reactive. It has been determined that the analyzer and defender strategies were followed by the companies that were in the foreground in the sector. According to results, the underlying reasons for the strategic decisions of enterprises were more or less internal factors than external factors. The resources of analyzers and defender firms were superior to reactors' resources. At the end of the study, some suggestions were developed by the researchers