Economies of Scope

Economies of scope are “efficiencies formed by variety, not volume” (the latter concept is “economies of scale”). In economics, “economies” is synonymous with cost savings and “Scope” is synonymous with broadening production/services through diversified products. Economies of scope is an economic theory stating that average total cost of production decrease as a result of increasing the number of different goods produced. For example, a gas station that sells gasoline can sell soda, milk, baked goods, etc. through their customer service representatives and thus gasoline companies achieve economies of scope.

Whereas economies of scale for a firm involve reductions in the average cost (cost per unit) arising from increasing the scale of production for a single product type, economies of scope involve lowering average cost by producing more types of products.

Economies of scope make product diversification, as part of the Ansoff Matrix, efficient if they are based on the common and recurrent use of proprietary know-how or on an indivisible physical asset. For example, as the number of products promoted is increased, more people can be reached per unit of money spent. At some point, however, additional advertising expenditure on new products may become less effective (an example of diseconomies of scope). Related examples include distribution of different types of products, product bundling, product lining, and family branding.

Economies of scope exist whenever the total cost of producing two different products or services (X and Y) is lower when a single firm instead of two separate firms produces by themselves.

DSC = TC(q1) + TC(q2) – TC(q1, q2) / TC(q1, q2)

Where:

• TC(q1) is the cost of producing quantity q1 of good a separately
• TC(q2) is the cost of producing quantity q2 of good b separately
• TC(q1+q2) is the cost of producing quantities q1 and q2 together
• Economies of Scope (S) is the percentage cost saving when the goods are produced together. Therefore, S would be greater than 0 when economies of scope exist.

If DSC > 0, there is economies of scope. It is recommended that two firms can corporate and produce together.

If DSC = 0, there is no economies of scale and economies of scope.

If DSC < 0, there is diseconomies of scope. It is not recommended to work together for the two firms. Diseconomies of scope means that it is more efficient for two firms to work separately since the merged cost per unit is higher than the sum of stand-alone costs.

Joint costs

The essential reason for economies of scope is some substantial joint cost across the production of multiple products. The cost of a cable network underlies economies of scope across the provision of broadband service and cable TV. The cost of operating a plane is a joint cost between carrying passengers and carrying freight, and underlies economies of scope across passenger and freight services.

Natural monopolies

While in the single-output case, economies of scale are a sufficient condition for the verification of a natural monopoly, in the multi-output case, they are not sufficient. Economies of scope are, however, a necessary condition. As a matter of simplification, it is generally accepted that markets may have monopoly features if both economies of scale and economies of scope apply, as well as sunk costs or other barriers to entry.

Advantages

Economies of scope have the following advantages for businesses:

• Extreme flexibility in product design and product mix
• Rapid responses to changes in market demand, product design and mix, output rates, and equipment scheduling
• Greater control, accuracy, and repeatability of processes
• Reduced costs from less waste and lower training and changeover costs
• More predictability (e.g., maintenance costs)
• Faster throughput thanks to better machine use, less in-process inventory, or fewer stoppages for missing or broken parts. (Higher speeds are now made possible and economically feasible by the sensory and control capabilities of the “Smart” machines and the information management abilities of computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software.)
• Distributed processing capability made possible and economical by the encoding of process information in easily replicable software
• Less risk: A company that sells many product lines, sells in many countries, or both will benefit from reduced risk (e.g., if a product line falls out of fashion or if one country has an economic slowdown, the company will likely be able to continue trading).

Strategies Economies of Scope

1. Related Diversification

If a company is able to use its operational expertise, resources, and capabilities across its organization, then it can take advantage of related diversification. For example, hiring designers and marketers who can use their skills across different product lines allows for the production of a wide range of products.

2. Flexible Manufacturing

Flexible manufacturing exists if multiple products can be produced using the same manufacturing systems and inputs for example, using the same preparation and storage facilities when making hamburgers and fries, as opposed to using two separate facilities.

3. Mergers

Mergers often enable a company to share research and development expenses to reduce costs and diversify its product portfolio or knowledge. For example, two pharmaceutical companies might merge to combine their research and development expenses to create new products.

4. Linking the Supply Chain

Integrating vertical supply chain assists in reducing costs and wastage. For example, operating multiple businesses under the same entity or having combined management rather than running as separate entities.

5. Acquisition of Companies with Similar Products

Mergers with horizontal acquisition or strategic acquisitions will help achieve the economies of scope as the company will benefit from synergies due to utilization of similar raw materials, production and assembly lines.

6. Diversification

Companies producing different products using similar inputs and production processes will improve productivity.