Management

Business Strategy: Goal-directed actions managers take to gain and sustain competitive advantage in a single product market.
Strategic Position: A firm’s profile based on value creation and cost.
Differentiation Strategy: Increases perceived value while keeping costs at a reasonable level.
Cost-Leadership Strategy: Reduces the firm’s cost below competitors while offering similar value.
Value Driver: A factor that increases perceived value (e.g., product features, service).
Cost Driver: A factor that impacts a firm’s cost structure (e.g., economies of scale).
Learning Curve: Drop in cost per unit as cumulative output increases.
Experience Curve: Cost drops when innovation allows greater efficiency with scale.
Blue Ocean Strategy: Combines differentiation and cost leadership to create a new market space.
Stuck in the Middle: Failure to choose between cost or differentiation, leading to underperformance.

Corporate Strategy: Where to compete — decisions on industry, markets, and geography.
Vertical Integration: A firm’s ownership of its inputs or distribution channels.
Product Diversification: Expansion into new product markets.
Geographic Diversification: Expansion into new regions or countries.
Product-Market Diversification: Competes in multiple products and geographic markets.
Single Business: >95% revenue from one business.
Dominant Business: 70–95% revenue from one business.
Related-Constrained Diversification: All businesses share competencies.
Related-Linked Diversification: Some businesses share competencies.
Unrelated Diversification: No significant links between businesses.
Economies of Scale: Cost advantages from increased output.
Economies of Scope: Cost savings from using shared resources across businesses.
Restructuring: Reorganizing to boost performance.
BCG Matrix – Star: High market growth, high market share.
BCG Matrix – Cash Cow: Low growth, high market share.
BCG Matrix – Question Mark: High growth, low share.
BCG Matrix – Dog: Low growth, low share.

Organizational Design: Creating structure, culture, and controls to execute strategy.
Organizational Structure: Defines formal relationships and work roles.
Specialization: Degree to which tasks are divided.
Formalization: Extent to which rules and procedures are used.
Centralization: Where decision-making power is located.
Span of Control: Number of people reporting to a manager.
Mechanistic Organization: Rigid, centralized, structured; suited for cost leadership.
Organic Organization: Flexible, decentralized, adaptive; suited for innovation.
Functional Structure: Divides by function (e.g., marketing, finance).
Multidivisional Structure (M-Form): Divides by product, region, or customer segment.
Cooperative M-Form: Related diversification, centralized decisions.
Competitive M-Form: Unrelated diversification, decentralized decisions.
Matrix Structure: Combines functional and product/geographic dimensions.
Organizational Culture: Values, norms, and behaviors shared by members.
Input Controls: Rules and procedures to shape behavior before action (e.g., budgets).
Output Controls: Define expected results and reward based on outcomes.

Corporate Governance: Mechanisms to ensure the firm acts legally and strategically.
Agency Theory: Explains misalignment between principals (owners) and agents (managers).
Agency Problem: When managers pursue personal interests over shareholders’.
Board of Directors: Elected individuals overseeing executive decisions.
Insiders: Executives inside the firm (e.g., CEO).
Outsiders: Independent from the firm.
Related Outsiders: Have a relationship with the firm but are not employees.
Ownership Concentration: Degree of ownership held by large shareholders.
Executive Compensation: Aligns interests through pay, stock, and performance incentives.
Market for Corporate Control: External pressure through potential takeovers.
Business Ethics: Norms and behaviors accepted in business settings.
Code of Conduct: Guidelines for ethical behavior in the organization.
Stakeholder Perspective: Considering all parties impacted by decisions.
Long Tail: Business model focused on selling many niche products.
Business Model Innovation: New ways of creating, delivering, and capturing value (e.g., subscription model).