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Evaluating the Applicability of the Miles and Snow Typology in a Regulated Public Utility Environment[Note 1. The authors are grateful for the comments of an ...]
Author(s) -
Ghobadian Abby,
James Philip,
Liu Jonathan,
Viney Howard
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
british journal of management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.407
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1467-8551
pISSN - 1045-3172
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8551.9.s1.7
Subject(s) - typology , snow , physical geography , geography , archaeology , meteorology
This paper examines and evaluates the applicability of the Miles and Snow organizational strategy, structure and process model to the electricity distribution and supply industry of England and Wales (ESI), and specifically the regional electricity companies (RECs). In the past such generic strategy models have principally been applied to industries that conform to the traditional free‐market paradigm, and doubt has been cast upon their applicability in non‐traditional environments. This paper argues in contrast that generic strategies are of considerable value in the regulated industries, especially those developing new strategies to address major change, such as the approach of full competition. As a feature of this process, the paper also examines some of the differences and similarities between the ESI and the traditional free‐market paradigm. However, having argued for the use of such strategies, it is necessary to make various amendments to enhance the applicability of the model. These amendments and the characteristics of new generic strategies are described.