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  • Winter 2021
  • Article
  • MIT Sloan Management Review

How Would-Be Category Kings Become Commoners

By: Rory McDonald and Keith Krach
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

Category creation is the holy grail in business, but more often than not, the very companies that establish lucrative new markets don’t end up being the category kings. Why? Many executives undermine their own ventures’ standing by misinterpreting and misfiring on strategies considered fundamental to creating new categories. Here, the authors spell out three common mistakes that turn would-be kings into commoners in the categories they create.

Keywords

New Markets; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Business Model

Citation

McDonald, Rory, and Keith Krach. "How Would-Be Category Kings Become Commoners." MIT Sloan Management Review 62, no. 2 (Winter 2021): 76–82.
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About The Author

Rory M. McDonald

Technology and Operations Management
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More from the Authors

    • December 2022
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    Shaping Nascent Industries: Innovation Strategy and Regulatory Uncertainty in Personal Genomics

    By: Cheng Gao and Rory McDonald
    • October 2022
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    How Leaders with Divergent Visions Generate Novel Strategy: Navigating the Paradox of Preservation and Modernization in Swiss Watchmaking

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    • September 2022
    • Strategy Science

    A Spanner in the Works: Category-Spanning Entrants and Audience Valuation of Incumbents

    By: Rory M. McDonald and Ryan T. Allen
More from the Authors
  • Shaping Nascent Industries: Innovation Strategy and Regulatory Uncertainty in Personal Genomics By: Cheng Gao and Rory McDonald
  • How Leaders with Divergent Visions Generate Novel Strategy: Navigating the Paradox of Preservation and Modernization in Swiss Watchmaking By: Ryan Raffaelli, Rich DeJordy and Rory M. McDonald
  • A Spanner in the Works: Category-Spanning Entrants and Audience Valuation of Incumbents By: Rory M. McDonald and Ryan T. Allen
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