Business Policy and Strat. World. EXAM 1 (Chapters 1-3) flashcards

BADM 482

Strategic Flexibility

set of capabilities firms use to respond to various demands and opportunities existing in today’s dynamic and uncertain competitive environment.

strategy

integrated and coordinated set of commitments and actions designed to exploit core competencies and gain a competitive advantage.

strategic management process

is the full set of commitments, decisions, and actions firms take to achieve strategic competitiveness and earn above-average returns.

Average Returns

are returns equal to those an investor expects to earn from other investments possessing a similar amount of risk.

capability

capacity for a set of resources to perform a task or an activity in an integrative manner.

above average returns

returns in excess of what an investor expects to earn from other investments with a similar amount of risk.

mission

specifies the businesses in which the firm intends to compete and the customers it intends to serve.

strategic competitiveness

formulating and implementing a value creating strategy.

organizational culture

refers to the complex set of ideologies, symbols, and core value that individuals throughout the firm share and that influence how the firm conducts business.

strategic leaders

people located in different areas and levels of the firm using the strategic management process to select actions that help the firm achieve its vision and fulfill its mission.

resources

inputs into a firm’s production process, such as capital equipment, the skills of individual employees, patents, finances, and talented managers.

stakeholders

are individuals, groups, and organizations that can affect the firm’s vision and mission, are affected by the strategic outcomes achieved, and have enforceable claims on the firm’s performance.

risk

are individuals, groups, and organizations that can affect the firm’s vision and mission, are affected by the strategic outcomes achieved, and have enforceable claims on the firm’s performance.

competitive advantage

implementing a chosen strategy, it creates superior value for customers and when competitors are not able to imitate the value the firm’s products create or find it too expensive to attempt imitation.

global economy

one in which goods, services, people, skills, and ideas move freely across geographic borders.

hypercompetiton

condition where competitors engage in intense rivalry, markets change quickly and often, and entry barriers are low.

vision

is a picture of what the firm wants to be and, in broad terms, what it wants to achieve.

core competencies

capabilities that serve as a source of competitive advantage for a firm over its rivals.

competitor analysis

How companies gather and interpret information about their competitors

general enviroment

composed of dimensions in the broader society that influence an industry and the firms within it.

opportunity

a condition in the general environment that, if exploited effectively, helps a company reach strategic competitiveness.

industry environment

the set of factors that directly influences a firm and its competitive actions and responses: the threat of new entrants, the power of suppliers, the power of buyers, the threat of product substitutes, and the intensity of rivalry among competing firms.

demographic segment

concerned with a population’s size, age structure, geographic distribution, ethnic mix, and income distribution.

threat

a condition in the general environment that may hinder a company’s efforts to achieve strategic competitiveness.

political/ legal segment

the arena in which organizations and interest groups compete for attention, resources, and a voice in overseeing the body of laws and regulations guiding interactions among nations as well as between firms and various local governmental agencies.

technological segment

the arena in which organizations and interest groups compete for attention, resources, and a voice in overseeing the body of laws and regulations guiding interactions among nations as well as between firms and various local governmental agencies.

sociocultural segment

concerned with a society’s attitudes and cultural values.

economic enviroment

refers to the nature and direction of the economy in which a firm competes or may compete.

global segment

includes relevant new global markets and their critical cultural and institutional characteristics, existing markets that are changing, and important international political events.

industry

a group of firms producing products that are close substitutes.

sustainable physical environment segment

refers to potential and actual changes in the physical environment and business practices that are intended to positively respond to those changes in order to create a sustainable environment.

strategic group

A set of firms emphasizing similar strategic dimensions and using a similar strategy

competitor intelligence

the set of data and information the firm gathers to better understand and anticipate competitors’ objectives, strategies, assumptions, and capabilities.

complementors

companies or networks of companies that sell complementary goods or services that are compatible with the focal firm’s good or service.

Value

is measured by a product’s performance characteristics and by its attributes for which customers are willing to pay.

global mind-set

is the ability to analyze, understand, and manage an internal organization in ways that are not dependent on the assumptions of a single country, culture, or context.

Intangible resources

are assets that are rooted deeply in the firm’s history, accumulate over time, and are relatively difficult for competitors to analyze and imitate

tangible resources

are assets that can be observed and quantified.

valuable capabilities

allow the firm to exploit opportunities or neutralize threats in its external environment.

rare capabilities

are capabilities that few, if any, competitors possess.

value chain activities

are activities or tasks the firm completes in order to produce products and then sell, distribute, and service those products in ways that create value for customers.

Non substitutable capabilities

are capabilities that do not have strategic equivalents.

support functions

include the activities or tasks the firm completes in order to support the work being done to produce, sell, distribute, and service the products the firm is producing.

Costly-to-imitate capabilities

 

are capabilities that other firms cannot easily develop

outsourcing

is the purchase of a value-creating activity or a support function activity from an external supplier.