5 Flashcards
What is the SWOT analysis?
The SWOT analysis is a framework that allows managers to synthesise insights obtained from an internal analysis of a company’s strengths and weaknesses with those from an analysis of exernal opportunities and threats.
What can be gleaned from the SWOT insights?
- Identify company resource strength and competitive capabilities
- identify company resource weaknesses and competitive deficiencies
- identify the company’s market opportunities
- identify external threats to the company’s future well-being.
What are the implications from improving the company strategy?
- Use company strength and capabilities as cornerstones of strategy
- pursue those market opportunities best suited to company strengths and capabilities
- correct weaknesses and deficiencies which impair pursuit of important market opportunities or heighten vulnerability to external threats
- use company strength to lessen the impact of important external threats.
How do I use these strengths to take advantage of these opportunities?
Matching strategies.
Hoe do I overcome the weaknesses that prevent me taking advantage of these opportunities?
Change strategies.
How do I use my strengths to reduce the likelihood and impact of these threats?
Neutralizing strategies.
How do I dress the weaknesses that will make the threats a reality?
Defensive strategies.
What is part of the internal analysis?
Resources, core competencies, value chain.
What is part of the external analysis?
Macro environment, industry and competitive environment, strategic groups.
What are the requirements for imitation in a sustainable competitive advantage?
- Identification
- incentives for imitation
- diagnosis
- resource acquisition.
What is the isolating mechanism of identification?
Obscure superior performance.
What is the isolating mechanism of incentives for imitation?
Deterrence: signal aggressive intentions to imitators.
Preemption: exploit all available investment opportunities.
What is the isolating mechanism of diagnosis?
Rely on multiple sources of competitive advantage to create causal ambiguity.
What is the isolating mechanism of resource acquisition?
Base competitive advantage on resources and capabilities that are immobile and costly to replicate.
What are the possible elements of cost advantage?
- Cost control
- product/service standardization
-economies of scale and scope - learning effects
- outsourcing/vertical integration
-bargaining power