SSU's Wine Business Program director Armand Gilinsky and SSU economics professor Robert Eyler, recently completed a study of the north coast wine industry's best practices. The 1999 Wine Industry Survey of Leadership and Strategy was created in collaboration with San Francisco State Professor Richard McCline, and outlined the new growth opportunities in the wine industry, what the best practices are for wine businesses to emulate, and where the best growth opportunities are likely to be located.
The survey was sent to 354 firms in the North Coast wine industry and received a response rate of 33%. Preliminary results revealed that the Northern California wine industry has begun its evolution from entrepreneurially-driven to professionally-managed businesses. Three standards of excellence emerged from this study: know the marketplace, be profitable, and share best practices. Respondents indicated that their strategic mix included serving a carefully defined market niche, responding rapidly to environmental change, and building an organization through excellent people. Newer entrants into the wine industry (defined as firms under 12 years in business) targeted niche markets and penetrated via product innovation. Growth firms (defined as businesses between 12 and 20 years in business) built management control systems and sought to protect market share via branding. Mature businesses (defined as being in the industry for longer than 20 years) focused on building internal systems to foster greater operating efficiency and cost competitiveness.
In early October the results of this survey were presented to the Strategic Management Society conference in Berlin, Germany. The research from this study was also presented to the International Council of Small Businesses conference at the University of Naples, Italy.
For more information on SSU's Wine Business Program contact Becky Montrose at 707 664-2260.
