ABSTRACT
The end of the growth stage is often marked by some very aggressive price competition among rivals who have been left with considerable excess capacity as the anticipated continued sales growth in the industry fails to materialize. Once the industry has stabilized, the maturity stage of high but relatively stable sales at reasonable profi t margins can begin. Clearly, the level of business risk has reduced again as another development phase has now been successfully completed; the company should enter the maturity stage with a good relative market share as a result of its investment in marketing during the growth stage. The critical business risks remaining relate to the duration of this stable, maturity stage and whether the company can maintain its strong market share, on a fi nancially attractive basis, throughout this period.
