Dessecting the Also-Rans

Abstract

The objective of the study is to understand companies that have fallen behind the industry leader in the context of industries that have undergone major environmental changes. The company pairs (leader- also ran pair) have been so selected as to ensure that by virtue of being at a comparable standing with the environmental shift imminent, any of the two had an opportunity to outrun the other. We think it is important that the term ‘also-ran’, as used, in the title of the thesis and thereafter is clearly defined. What an ‘also-ran’ is not is a loss making company or one that is constantly losing its market share or one whose revenue is on a constant downslide. What, however, an also-ran is, is a company that has done well by measures of profitability, revenues, returns to investors, market perception but not quite so well as may have been possible being in the position it was and as is evident from another company’s (typically the market leader) performance that was in a similar position. An also-ran, often, might even be the second largest in the industry but it is so-called as it did run the race with a fair chance of being crowned the winner. These are our also-rans. Also, to clarify further, there might be companies that have turned out to be also-rans in the long run losing an inch of ground year on year. Those are not the instances we study. We study only instances where companies have evolved into ‘also-rans’ as a result of being face-to-face with a major environmental change and being unable to make the right strategic moves, unlike their immediate competitors. What prevented these companies from making the right strategic moves which their competitors, meanwhile, did make? What made these companies miss the bus that helped their competitors achieve success in the face of a changing environment?