Abstract:

A company should base its strategic decisions on an assessment of its market position. Such assessments require specialist research methods to be applied, consistent with the goals pursued. One such tool which may be very helpful in this process is the growth-share matrix, developed by the Boston Consulting Group. This has been used to assess Polish clothing companies. As a result, the research sample have been put into four groups of companies. The article describes the groups and indicates what can make them grow, but it also identifies organisations with slim chances for resisting pressure from their European competitors. Additionally, the research results have been correlated with the theoretical strategic elements. A comparison has been made of companies’ goals, investment outlays and behaviour related to the risk undertaken. Information on the companies has been obtained by questionnaire surveys. Their findings confirm that clothing companies’ should base their strategic decisions on specialist methods of market analysis.