Kettlewick Removals competitive strategy
Porter generic strategies slide with one cell chosen and three ruled out
A Porter generic strategies slide is most useful when it commits to one cell and says why the other three were rejected, with a number behind each reason. This one places Kettlewick Removals, a fictional mover, in differentiation focus: antique and piano moves within 150 km.
What is on the slide
- Title
- Generic Strategies, Kettlewick. Kettlewick Removals sits in differentiation focus: a narrow market, won on care rather than price.
- Cost Leadership, broad scope, low cost
- Not chosen. National van lines move a house for $1,900, and Kettlewick crew costs alone run to $2,300.
- Differentiation, broad scope, premium
- Not chosen. Premium everywhere would need depots in six cities and a $4M brand budget.
- Cost Focus, narrow scope, low cost
- Not chosen. Student moves are already served by casual van hire listings at $90 an hour.
- Differentiation Focus, narrow scope, premium
- Chosen. Antique and piano moves within 150 km, custom crated, at a $3,800 average job value.
When this is the right slide
Choose this slide when a firm must state how it competes and close off the obvious alternatives, with one cell marked chosen and a checkable reason against each of the other three.
What to swap it for
Context: Competitive Landscape Table. Swap to the competitive landscape table when the market view matters more, with each named rival in a row compared on price, scope and service.
What this slide shows
A title reads Generic Strategies, Kettlewick, with a framing line: Kettlewick Removals sits in differentiation focus, a narrow market won on care rather than price. Four cards fill a two by two grid, each with an icon, the strategy name, a small scope and advantage tag and one sentence. Cost Leadership, tagged broad scope, low cost: not chosen, because national van lines move a house for $1,900 and Kettlewick crew costs alone run to $2,300. Differentiation, tagged broad scope, premium: not chosen, because premium everywhere would need depots in six cities and a $4M brand budget. Cost Focus, tagged narrow scope, low cost: not chosen, because student moves are already served by casual van hire listings at $90 an hour. Differentiation Focus, tagged narrow scope, premium: chosen, covering antique and piano moves within 150 km, custom crated, at a $3,800 average job value. The cards run from dark teal at the top left to bright green at the bottom right, so the chosen cell is the lightest on the slide. The chosen card also happens to be the last one read, which suits the argument: three rejections first, then the decision.
When this is the right slide
Use it in a strategy review, a business plan or an investor conversation where the firm has to explain how it intends to win, and where the obvious alternatives need to be ruled out on the record. Service businesses with a commodity core and a specialist edge, such as removals, cleaning, printing or accounting, are typical cases. It is the wrong slide when the market itself is the question, which is better answered by a five forces view. It is also the wrong slide when the real comparison is against named competitors on price and service; that needs a competitive landscape table with each rival in a row, which shows the market rather than the firm's own choice.
How to adapt it
First, decide the cell before building the slide, and write chosen and not chosen as the first words of each card. Second, give every rejected cell one checkable reason. Look for the number that makes the option unreachable, such as a cost base above the market price, rather than a reason that sounds like taste. Third, make the chosen card concrete: what work, within what distance, at what price. Antique and piano moves within 150 km at $3,800 is a strategy a dispatcher can act on; premium service is not. For a firm still deciding, swap the verdicts for questions and use the slide in a workshop, then rewrite it with verdicts once the decision is made, because a slide that ends a debate should never look like one that opens it. Keep the evidence behind each figure in the appendix: the van line quotes, the crew cost build up and the job value history. The first question from a lender or a new partner will be where $3,800 comes from, and the answer should be one click away rather than a promise to follow up after the meeting.
What makes this slide work
One card says Chosen, three say Not chosen
Every card opens with its verdict before its reason. The reader learns the strategy from the first word of each card and the reasoning from the rest. A generic strategies slide that describes the four cells neutrally teaches the framework; this one uses it, which is what a board meeting needs from it.
Each rejection carries a number
$1,900 against $2,300 for cost leadership, six depots and $4M for broad differentiation, $90 an hour for cost focus. The reasons are facts the room can check, not preferences. They also anticipate the obvious challenges, because someone will always ask why the business does not simply compete on price.
The tags restate scope and advantage
Broad scope, low cost. Narrow scope, premium. Each card carries the two dimensions as a small tag, so the grid is self explanatory even for readers who do not remember which axis is which. That matters when the slide is sent on as a file and read without a presenter to explain it.
Questions people ask
Should a generic strategies slide show the company in more than one cell?
No. Porter's argument is that a firm trying to be both cheapest and most distinctive ends up stuck in the middle. The slide's value is that it forces one choice, and it should say chosen on one card and not chosen on three. A slide that hedges by placing the company in two cells will be read, correctly, as an undecided strategy.
What evidence should support a rejected strategy?
One fact that makes it unattractive or unreachable, preferably a number. Kettlewick's crew cost of $2,300 against a $1,900 market price is enough to rule out cost leadership on its own. Rejections without evidence look like taste, and the audience will reopen them. A short, factual reason closes the door without a long debate.
How does this slide relate to a five forces slide?
Five forces describes how attractive an industry is; generic strategies describes how one firm chooses to compete in it. They work well in sequence. If the five forces show high buyer power in standard moves, that is part of the reason a focused, differentiated position is safer, and the two slides can cite each other in their framing lines.
When does a generic strategies slide need a second slide?
When the chosen cell implies investment or a change in the business. Moving fully into antique and piano work may mean custom crating gear, insurance cover and a training program. Those belong on a follow up slide with costs and dates. The grid itself should stay a statement of position, not a project plan.
Which chart could follow this slide?
A bar chart of average job value by job type makes the case for focus: standard house moves against piano and antique moves. A scatter of competitors by price and specialisation would show the market view, but a plotted scatter needs real data for every competitor. A table of rivals by price and service is often more honest.
How should a generic strategies slide be presented?
Name the chosen cell first, then spend one sentence on each rejection, starting with the one the audience is most likely to suggest. In removals that is usually competing on price. Close by connecting the chosen cell to the figure that matters: a $3,800 average job, roughly double a standard move, is why the narrow market is worth it.
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