The BCG matrix is only for a single company’s product portfolio. It is possible that a company will have products that fall into each category, but not always the case. Stars are products that have high growth rates and high market share. These products might well represent the future of the company. Stars generate large cash flows for organizations which allow the company to fund further growth, or to support other products sold by the company. Stars often become cash cows. Cash cows are products that have high market share (relevant to competitors) but are in flat or slow growth markets. These markets are normally mature and often generate higher profits than stars. This profit is often used to fund new products. Question Marks (also known as a Problem Child) have low market share in markets with high growth rates. While there is great potential in the market, the company has not been able to realize the expected level of sales volume. Companies are not sure what the future holds for these products as they could become stars, or not. Dogs have relatively low market share in a low growth market. There is limited potential to change the market growth rate so growth has to come from taking market share from competitors.
![Three Types of Organizations ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)