A study of Turkish optical corporations competition strategies according to the generic strategies of Porter

The potential for development of the Turkish optical industry attracts overseas entrepreneurs as much as domestic entrepreneurs equally. In this context, corporate organizations want to increase their market shares by increasing the number of branches and managing their companies with a professional approach. It's also seen that these investor organizations coming from abroad affect the ratio of institutionalism in the sector. The subject of this study is to examine the competitive strategy of domestic and overseas corporal investors which form a 15% of the Turkish optical industry. As a result of the increasing number of organizations entering the Turkish market there is a clearly observed formation of a heavy competition between organizations already operating in the optical sector and those new entering. However, only a very few studies have examined the question which competitive strategies could provide sustainable competitive advantage with the growth of organizations under severe competitive conditions. Based on Porter's generic competitive strategy models 8 corporate optical companies were interviewed and investigated for the competitive strategies they have developed during their activities in Turkey. The taxonomy draft, which was updated by considering the current economic and business environment, classifies under the headings of cost leadership, differentiation and focusing strategies that are applied in the optical industry. Findings obtained using this taxonomy have shown that organizations adopt high levels of differentiation strategies in order to move away from the increasing competition environment and to create reasons for being chosen by customers. It has also been found that organizations are as sensitive as possible about costs due to their negative economic experiences in the past. As a result of this countrywide conducted study, it is however seen that all three strategies are being implemented in similar rates to each other. It also shows that organizations are cautious against both opportunities and threats that may occur in every field in the optical industry. This study is a significant resource for organizations to develop and implement strategies that can be both effective and efficient in growth, maintenance and downsizing periods.