
The matrix consists of two axes: one showing market growth and the other showing market share. Its findings enable decisions to be made as to which ones should be maintained, which should be withdrawn, and which should be developed further. The Boston Matrix helps to facilitate discussions on the value of the contribution made by, and investment required for, specific products and services. Nonetheless, it can be helpful in considering product positioning as long as its findings are not used in isolation and its limitations are acknowledged. Over the last forty years its use has gone in and out of fashion and it has been removed from certain contemporary marketing textbooks. It is often used by people responsible for brand marketing, product management, strategic management, and portfolio analysis. The Boston Matrix is used to help the organization decide how to allocate resources to each product or service it sells depending on how that product or service is positioned in the market. It is important to be aware of these names because you may hear the technique referred to by any one of them. This technique has become known by several different names including: B-Box, BCG Analysis, BCG-matrix, Boston Box, Boston Matrix, Boston Consulting Group Analysis and the Portfolio Diagram.

It was designed for use by its consultants to help corporations with analyzing their business units or product lines. One of the most popular tools used by organizations to analyze these is the Boston Matrix.īruce Henderson developed this business analysis technique in 1970 for use within the Boston Consulting Group. The organization's response can only be effective if it has a clear understanding of its own internal capabilities. If you are unfamiliar with the SWOT analysis then download our free SWOT Analysis eBook. An MIS also helps your organization to identify and respond to the opportunities and threats that have been identified in a SWOT analysis. The more accurate and up-to-date an MIS is, the greater your competitive edge will be. The types of data that are fed into a marketing information system (MIS) cover all areas of the organization - production, operations, sales and marketing, etc. Whatever your management role, you may sometimes be asked for market intelligence that can be used in the strategy planning process.



This information and data will play a significant role in analyzing the internal capabilities of the organization, an essential part of strategy development and implementation. A key role of management within the strategy planning process is to provide market intelligence.
