Identify the competitive characteristics that delineate strategic approaches used in the industry. Typical variables used in creating strategic group maps are price/quality range (high, medium, low), geographic coverage (local, regional, national, global), product-line breadth (wide, narrow), degree of service offered (no frills, limited, full), use of distribution channels (retail, wholesale, Internet, multiple), degree of vertical integration (none, partial, full), and degree of diversification into other industries (none, some, considerable).

Plot the firms on a two-variable map using pairs of these variables.

Assign firms occupying about the same map location to the same strategic group.

Draw circles around each strategic group, making the circles proportional to the size of the group's share of total industry sales revenues.