【正文】 eting Another generic approach to petitive strategy is niche marketing. In this approach, the anization seeks to gain a proportion of the total sales of a given type of product or service within the marketplace. This strategy requires a concentration on one or more specific market segments based on characteristics such as buyer group, portion of a product line or market, or geographical area. For example, rather than marketing itself as a generalist, a management consulting firm might specialize in working with the telemunications industry or only with businesses on the west side of metropolitan Chicago. A niche market strategy is indicated in situations where the business believes that it can better serve a segment of the market rather than the entire market. For example, in the illustration of the management consulting firm, the founding partners may have e out of the telemunications industry and, therefore are more familiar with the nuances of the industry than they are with other industries. This approach puts the anization in a unique position (through a type of differentiation) to be better able to market to that focused segment than to the market as a whole. Consideration of Competitors in the Marketplace To be successful, analysis of the marketplace needs to consider not only the needs of the customer base and the relationship between these needs and the value that can be offered by the anization39。s petition within that industry. As opposed to a market that can be defined as a group of customers with similar buying needs, an industry is a group of anizations (., petitors) that offer similar products or services to the market. Different anizations offering similar products or services, however, will not necessarily have the same window of opportunity. Therefore, it is important to understand how peting firms view the market in order to develop a strategic marketing plan that will yield a significant petitive advantage. Factors that Influence Industries amp。re number one! exclaimed Hertz. We try harder! rejoined Avis. Customers, too, can influence the nature of petition within an industry. If the industry bees larger, it will bee more attractive to new entrants offering the same product or service. As this occurs, petition will tend to conitantly increase. Similarly, not only may new anizations enter the industry, but they may bring with them new products that change the nature of the industry. Of particular importance in this regard are new products that improve the relationship between price and performance (., offer the same quality for a lower price or offer more quality for the same price) or produced by industries that earn high profits. In some industries, a single customer dominates the industry (., the federal government is the primary procurer of military ships). This gives the customer more negotiating room for developing higher specifications, tighter deadlines, and lower costs. In addition, buyers can also exert pressure on an industry by searching for lower prices, higher quality, or demanding additional features for a product or service. Organizations willing to meet these requirements will achieve a petitive advantage. However, suppliers can also have bargaining power that affects the petitiveness of an anization or industry. If there is only one or a limited number of suppliers for a ponent or material needed by the anization, it is the supplier and not the anization that will drive the price of that modity.