How Commitment to Craftsmanship Leads to Unique Value: Steinway & Sons’ Differentiation Strategy

Gino Cattani (), Roger L. M. Dunbar () and Zur Shapira ()
Additional contact information
Gino Cattani: Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012
Roger L. M. Dunbar: Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012
Zur Shapira: Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012

Strategy Science, 2017, vol. 2, issue 1, 13-38

Abstract: The positioning perspective in strategic management suggests that successful differentiation results from a firm’s deliberate efforts to create something that is perceived as being unique. This usually involves looking beyond the proximate to pursue distant opportunities. However, a firm that pursues local opportunities eventually may be perceived as being unique especially when competitors decide to follow other strategic paths within the same industry. In the language of the NK modeling approach, a firm can attain successful differentiation by choosing to move to a different peak (i.e., pursue distant opportunities), or to stay on the same peak in which it is currently located (i.e., pursue local opportunities). While extant strategy research has expounded the first path to differentiation, the second path has remained underexplored. Relying on a data set that combines primary and secondary sources, we use an historical case study research design to explore how and why, over time, Steinway & Sons adhered to traditional craft manufacturing methods to develop pianos that most virtuoso concert pianists still prefer today. While this commitment to craft methods enhanced the perceived uniqueness of Steinway & Sons’ pianos, it also constrained ability to adopt mass-production technologies even as other firms introduced them to reduce production costs and target piano mass markets. The case offers a counterpoint to the view that a successful differentiation strategy requires a firm to pursue distant opportunities by moving away from its current position on the competitive landscape.

Keywords: differentiation; craftsmanship; commitment; value; authenticity; competitive landscape; family business; technical core; historical case; Steinway & Sons; grand piano (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2017.0024 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orstsc:v:2:y:2017:i:1:p:13-38

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Strategy Science from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().