Strategy & Planning
BCG Matrix
Plot products or business units by market growth and relative market share to decide where to invest and where to harvest.
- Time: 30 to 60 min
- With: Strategy or product leadership
- You get: A portfolio chart and a decision per product
How to use this worksheet
- List each product or business unit with its market growth rate (percent per year) and relative market share. Relative share is your share divided by the share of your largest competitor.
- Add revenue to size the bubbles. Use the same period for all products.
- Read the chart: stars get investment, cash cows fund the rest, question marks need a decision, dogs are candidates to divest.
- Drag bubbles to test what a different share or growth would mean.
Products and business units
One row per product. Relative share 1.0 means you are as large as your biggest competitor.
Prompts
Ask yourself
- Is the market defined the way your customers see it?
- Which question marks could become stars with investment?
Growth-share matrix
Before you finish
- Relative share is measured against the largest competitor.
- The growth threshold fits your industry (10% is a common default).
- Every question mark has an invest-or-divest decision.
About the BCG matrix
Bruce Henderson of the Boston Consulting Group introduced the growth-share matrix in 1970. High share in a growing market makes a star; high share in a slow market a cash cow.
The model is simple on purpose, and it is often criticised for ignoring synergies and for how markets are defined. Treat it as a discussion tool for portfolio balance.
Recommended reading
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- The Lords of StrategyWalter Kiechel III
History of strategic consulting including BCG's development of portfolio management tools and their impact on business strategy.