✔ 最佳答案
Cost leadership and product differentiation in most cases go the opposite way. That means it is not easy for a company to enjoy lower cost while pursuing a strategy of product differentiation. So "Cost-leadership implies + efficency & - flexibility" is often correct.
Cost-leadership generally arises as a result of economies of scale (e.g. by automation so that products can be produced at lower cost, or by sharing administrative costs among several divisions). It is easier to observe the characteristics of cost-leadership in manufacturing industries. If a company turns to automation to lower its production cost, it will definitely become subject to certain restricitons in respect to production (e.g. the minimum batch size to achieve cost effectiveness). Products can be produced faster and at lower cost, but the company loses the flexibility to switch production from one product to another.
Product differentiation normally means forgoing cost effectiveness. One reason is that differentiated products, i.e. those having distinctive features, are not as much demanded as the common products. Compare sports car like Ferrari with Toyota cars, or PDA phones with the more common Nokia or Sony Ericson. Company pursuing a strategy of product-differentiation refuse to expand it production line too much to avoid unsold stock.
