

They're often used to fund new business ventures and help turn question marks into stars and potential future cash cows. They generate more revenue than the resources they consume. Cash cows - A cash cow has high market share in a mature, low growth market.As market growth declines and the star holds onto its market share, it becomes a cash cow that can generate revenue for future innovation and investment. They both make and consume large amounts of capital.

Stars - Stars have a high growth rate in a high growth market.A question mark may require large sums of investment to keep growing and under the right circumstance it can become a star, but without growth a question mark can quickly become a dog. Question marks - Question marks describe an investment that is growing fast but is not necessarily generating a lot of revenue due to low market share.As their name implies it's a product or investment with little to no potential. Dogs - Dogs have low market share and a low growth rate.A product or investment can be considered a star, a question mark, a cash cow, or a dog. Each investment or product is plotted in one of four positions on the matrix. Growth-Share Matrix What is a Growth-Share Matrix?Ī growth-share matrix, also known as a Boston or BCG growth matrix, creates a visual assessment of products or investments in terms of relative market share and market growth rate.
