capstone

process by which an organization manages the formulation & implementation of its overall strategy

overarching means by which an organization seeks to achieve its goals & objectives

ways a firm goes about achieving its objectives w/in a particular industry or industry segment

strategy for guiding a firm's entry & exit from different businesses, for determining how a parent company adds value to & manages its portfolio of bussiness, & for creating value through diversification

process of deciding what to do

process of performing all the activities necessary to do what has been planned

area (product, service, distribution channels, geographic markets, technology, etc) in which a firm participates

features & attributes of a company's products/services (image, customization, technical superiority, price, quality, & reliability) that help it beat its competitors in the marketplace

timing & pace of strategic moves

how the firm will earn a profit; how the firm will generate positive returns over & above its cost of capital

firm's ability to create value in a way that its rivals cannot

exists to the extent that firm can earn higher profits than competitors over long period of time

task of exerting influence on other people's pursuit of goals in an organizational context

managing an overall enterprise & influencing key organizational outcomes, such as companywide performance, competitive superiority, innovation, strategic change, & survival.

performs ceremonial activities that have symbolic benefits

maintains relationships w/key external stakeholders, thus strengthening the company's link w/its external environment

collects/filters of information about the firm & its competitive environment

communications understandings to internal constituents (employees)

communicates understandings to external stakeholders

designs overall firm strategy

handles unanticipated strategic issues

executes non-routine transactions involving other organizations

collection of ties between people & the strength of those ties

advantage created by a person's location in a structure of relationships

typically overseen by the board, often w/an outside consulting firm & usually involve the current CEO

simple statement of where the firm is going, & what the firm's leaders want it to be in the future

Declaration of what the firm stands for in relation to key organizational stakeholders like employees, customers, investors, government, & the environment

combination of a broad indication of organizational intentions

specific, measurable steps

how effectively a company uses the money (borrowed or owned) invested in its operations

overarching reference point for other goals & objectives

managers track their strategic process against goals & objective with this tool; it's a system for bridging vision & strategy

simplified, widely shared model of the organization & its future, including anticipated changes in its environment

symmetrical co-alignment of the 5 elements of a firm's strategy

individuals or groups who have an interest in an organization's ability to deliver intended results & maintain the viability of its products & services

key asset or requiste skill that all firms in an industry must possess in order to be a viable competitor

• Rivalary/competition is intense
• Barriers to entry are low
• Threat of substitutes is high
• Buyers of industry firms' products/services are powerful
• Suppliers are powerful

• Many competitors
• Industry concentration is low & competitors are of more/less equal size
• Market growth is slow
• Product differentiation is low
• Brand image/equity is low
• Switching costs are low
• Fixed costs are high
• Exit barriers are high

• Capital requirements are relatively low
• Product differentiation is low
• Customers aren't concerned w/brand
• Switching costs are low
• Access to distribution channels is relatively easy
• Incumbent firms do NOT have significant cost advantages

• Few suppliers
• What is being supplied is critical to industry firms
• They control such factors as price, delivery lead times, etc
• Costs to switch between suppliers is high
• Industry firms would have hard time backward integrating
• Firms in supply industry present a threat of forward integration

• Few buyers & many industry firms
• What industry firms provide is NOT critical to buyers
• Easy for buyers to switch between industry firms
• Buyers could readily backward integrate
• Buyers know a lot about the product
• Buyer group has numerous choices

firm in one industry that provides products or services which tend to increase sales in another industry.

condition whereby the difficulty of identifying or understanding a resource or capability makes it valuable, rare, & inimitable.

firm's ability to modify, reconfigure, & upgrade resources & capabilities in order to strategically respond to or generate environmental changes

ways that managers of a company situate (position) that company relative to its rivals along important competitive dimensions.

strategic position designed to reduce the effects of rivalry, including low-cost, differentiation, focused cost leadership, focused differentiation, & integrated positions

producing a good or offering a service while maintaining total costs that are lower than what it takes to offer the same product or service

strategic position that enables a firm to be a low-cost leader in a narrow segment of the market

strategic position based on targeting products to relatively small segments

elements of one position support strong standing in another

exist during a period of time if the average total cost for a unit of production is lower at higher levels of output

average total cost per unit of production increases as higher levels of input

output level that delivers the lowest total average cost