Originally published: 10/11/2016 10:39
Last version published: 29/09/2018 09:07
Publication number: ELQ-41103-5
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BCG Growth Share Matrix Template

A ready-to-use template for the BCG Growth Share Matrix also known as the Boston Consulting Group's Product Portfolio.

by Eloquens Team
Don't Reinvent The Wheel

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bcg business cash cow dog growth question mark share star strategy unit

Description
The aim of the Growth Share Matrix is to help a corporation efficiently allocate its ressources (financial + HR) to its different business units or product lines.

This concept was developed by Bruce D Henderson, the Founder of BCG and HBS graduate. In the words of Bruce D Henderson himself, “To be successful, a company should have a portfolio of products with different growth rates and different market shares. The portfolio composition is a function of the balance between cash flows.” This is what the matrix helps businesses do.

Cash cows are business units where the company has high market share in a slow-growing industry. The beauty of these units is that they should be self-sustaining in terms of cash flow and require little if any investment. In fact investment in this type of business unit is discouraged by BCG Growth Share Matrix analysis because it would be investing in a mature market with very little room for improvement.

Dogs are units with low market share in a slow-growing industry. These units typically struggle to generate enough cash to maintain the business’s market share. In BCG analysis, dogs should be divested in order to free up cash flow for more profitable investments.

Question Marks are business operating in a high market growth industry, but with a low market share. Question marks must be carefully scrutinized in order to judge whether they will become Dogs or Stars and whether or not on that basis they require further investment to develop their market share.

Stars are units with a high market share in a rapidly-growing sector. Stars should generate plenty of cash but may at the same time require significant cash injections in order to keep pace with and exploit the growth potential of the market.

- The Eloquens Team

This business tool includes
1 Powerpoint Slide + Explanations

Eloquens Team offers you this business tool for free!

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Further information

Objectives

Objectives:
- Map your business units or product lines on a single page to qualify your positioning and spot opportunities to boost your business growth and strengthen your cash position.
- Give a structured overview of your portfolio of activities and the relative positions of your chosen activites within it.
- Have a tool to take a decision on where to push your ressources/budget to increase your bottom line results

Expected Impact:
• Present your portfolio of activities at a glance
• Display a structured understanding of your businesses key components
• Provide intelligence on the main components and their relative positions within your business mapping
• Use a clear visual set-up to convince your audience

Main Sources:
• Existing reliable market studies giving your market share for each business unit, product line (Markess, Xerfi, Reuters, MarketResearch, HBR…)
• Business press
• Competitors’ publications: press releases, annual reports, corporate websites contents...
• Your own market watch tools
• Your own dashboard internal tools and KPIs

Use it if

• You want to highlight business opportunities in a multiple markets and decide were to disinvest
• You want to illustrate your business positions in a single structure
• You want a tool to help you conduct an evaluatory study

Insert in:
• Market studies
• Benchmarks
• Due Diligence
• Strategic plans
• Marketing plans

Don't use it if

• You want to present your busines units or product line key features or descriptions (or the ones of your competitors).
• You have no business status to evaluate - no mergers, investments, new ventures probability / feasibility to analyze