MGT 405 Chpt 3

firm-specific strengths that allow a company to differentiate its products from those offered by rivals and/or achieve substantially lower costs than its rivals

assets of a company, both tangible and intangible

physical entities, such as land, buildings, plant, equipment, inventory, and money

nonphysical entitites that are created by managers and other employees, such as brand names, the reputation of the company, the knowledge that employees have gained through experience, and the intellectual property of the company, including that protected through patents, copyrights, and trademarks

company's skills at coordinating its resources and putting them to good use

the happiness or satisfaction gained from consuming or owning the product

the price a company charges for goods or service is typically less than the utility value placed on goods or service by the customer

the idea that a company is a chain of activities for transforming inputs into outputs that customers value

the design, creation, and delivery of the product, its marketing, and its support and after-sales service

concerned with the design of products and production process

concerned with the creation of a good or service

provide inputs that allow the primary activities to take place

controls the transmission of physical materials through the value chain, from procurement through production and into distribution

this function ensures that the company has the right mix of skilled people to perform its value creation activities effectively

largely electronic systems for managing inventory, tracking sales, pricing products, selling products, dealing with customer service inquiries, and so on

company-wide context within which all the other value creaton activities take place; the organizational structure, control systems, and company culture

quantity of inputs that it takes to produce a given output

the output produced per employee

when customers perceive that a products attributes provide them with higher utility than the attributes of products sold by rivals

the important attributes are things such as product's design and styling, its aesthetic appeal, its features and functions, the level of service associated with the delivery of the product, and so on

when a product consistently does the job it was designed for, does it well, and rarely, if ever, breaks down

an influential management strategy making increasing product reliability the central goal

development of a new process for producing products and delivering them to customers

development of products that are new to the world or have superior attributes to existing products

the time that it takes for a good to be deliver or a service to be performed

net profits over invested capital

factors that make it difficult for a competitor to copy a company's distinctive competencies

a company's commitment to a particular way of doing business, that is, to developing a particular set of resources and capabilities

the ability of an enterprise to identify, value, assimilate, and use new knowledge

A dynamic industry environment is....

companies find it difficult to change their strategies and structures when adapting to changing competitive conditions

the way a company makes decisions and manages it's processes

your greatest assest can cause your greatest demise

enable a company to earn a profit rate that is above the industry average

The source of a competitive advantage is...

To create superior value a company must...

The 4 building blocks of competitive advantage are...

The durability of a company's competitive advantage depends on...

Three factors seem to contribute to failure:

What are the primary activities of a Value Chain?

What are the primary support activities of a Value Chain?