Strategic groups and firm performance: the case of Spanish house-building firms

A central theme in strategic management is the theoretical relationship between strategic groups and firm performance. However, the empirical evidence is conflicting. The aim of this research is to study this linkage by examining business strategies in the Spanish construction industry. This paper defines several groups based on Porter's generic strategies of 88 house-building firms, and studies performance differences between groups. The empirical findings demonstrate that significant differences in performance do not exist among groups. Implications of this research for Porter's generic strategies in construction are then discussed.