Chapter 2: Competitiveness, Strategy, and Productivity

Vocabulary flashcards covering essential terms from Chapter 2 on competitiveness, strategy, and productivity.

Competitiveness

How effectively an organization meets customer wants and needs relative to competitors, achieved through marketing and operations.

Product and service design

A major way organizations compete; the design of products and services to meet customer needs.

Cost

A competitive factor relating to price and cost efficiency.

Location

Geographic placement of operations; a factor affecting competitive advantage.

Quality

The degree to which products/services meet customer expectations; a basis for competition.

Quick response

Ability to process and deliver products/services rapidly to satisfy customers.

Flexibility

Capacity to adapt products, services, or processes in response to changes.

Inventory management

Controlling inventory levels to balance costs with customer service.

Supply chain management

Coordinating the flow of goods, information, and finances from suppliers to customers.

Service

The service component of offerings; essential in competition and operations.

Managers and workers

People who plan, organize, and implement operations and are critical to success.

Mission

The reason for an organization’s existence.

Mission statement

States the organization’s purpose and answers what business the organization is in.

Goals

Detailed targets that define the scope of the mission and guide strategies.

Strategy

A plan for achieving organizational goals and serving as a roadmap to destinations.

Tactics

The methods and actions used to accomplish strategies; the how-to part.

Operations

The actual doing part of the process of producing goods/services.

Core competencies

Special attributes giving an organization a competitive edge; should align with strategies.

Time-based strategies

Strategies that focus on reducing time to improve costs, quality, productivity, and time-to-market.

Agile operations

A strategic approach that uses flexibility to adapt to change; blends cost, quality, reliability, and flexibility.

Balanced Scorecard

Top-down system to clarify vision and strategy and turn them into action across perspectives.

Productivity

A measure of the effective use of resources, usually output divided by input.

Productivity measures

Partial, multifactor, or total measures depending on which inputs are included.

Partial productivity

Output per unit of a single input (e.g., labor or capital).

Multifactor productivity

Output divided by a combination of inputs (e.g., labor, materials, overhead).

Total productivity

Output divided by all inputs used in production.

Process yield

For goods: ratio of output of good product to input; for services: process-dependent measure.

Environmental scanning

Identifying internal strengths/weaknesses and external opportunities/threats.

SWOT

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats; a framework for strategic analysis.