focus

focus

1. a term used to describe a firm's concentration on a single or limited range of business activities. By focusing on a ‘core activity’ the firm is better able to reap the benefits of SPECIALIZATION and access ECONOMIES OF SCALE, increase its MARKET SHARE and concentrate management's attention and capabilities on ‘what they know best’. On the debit side, however, over-specialization may make the firm vulnerable to cyclical and secular downturns in demand while limiting opportunities for achieving long-run growth. See HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION, COMPETITIVE STRATEGY. Contrast DIVERSIFICATION.
2. a means of organizing production. See PRODUCT-FOCUSED LAYOUT.
3. a means of conducting market research by the use of ‘focus groups’. See MARKETING INTELLIGENCE.
4. competing in (‘targeting’) one MARKET SEGMENT only (also known as niche targeting or marketing.) See CONCENTRATED MARKETING or TARGETING STRATEGY, DIFFERENTIATED MARKETING or TARGETING STRATEGY.

Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson

focus

a term used to describe a firm's concentration on a single or limited range of business activities. By focusing on a ‘core activity’, the firm is better able to reap the benefits of SPECIALIZATION and access ECONOMIES OF SCALE, increase its MARKET SHARE and concentrate management's attention and capabilities on ‘what they know best’. On the debit side, however, over-specialization may make the firm vulnerable to cyclical and secular downturns in demand while limiting opportunities for achieving long-run growth. See HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION, DIVERSIFICATION.

Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005