Business Strategy Flashcards
T/F Planning eliminates uncertainty
False
What are 3 functions of planning?
- Define the organization’s objectives/goals
- Establish an overall strategy for achieving the organizational goals/objectives
- Develop a hierarchy of plans to integrate and coordinate activities
T/F A Functional strategy is one that determines how capital will be allocated across various businesses (or SBUs)
False
T/F Operational plans address the “what ifs” of a business - incorrect strategic planning assumptions and realization of unknown risk
True
Developing a marketing strategy based on product, price, place and promotional considerations is an example of what kind of plan?
Functional
What are approaches can be used to obtain a strategic, sustainable, competitive advantage?
- Have consistent lower prices than competition (Price Leadership)
- Develop and patent new technology
- Leverage exclusive partnerships with famous people
- Create processes that lower manufacturing costs relative to the competition (Cost Leadership)
T/F Competitive advantage is always judges relative to other competitors or to the industry average
True
T/F a firm that under performs relative to other competitors in the same industry is said to have a temporary competitive advantage
False
From an economic value creation perspective, what does a firm need to do to achieve a competitive advantage
Create and capture more economic value than its rivals
What is something a firm using a cost leadership strategy would NOT have in its business model?
Large marketing expenses to promote product differentiation
Define a Business Model
A business model is the end result of decisions and tradeoffs made by management in formulating strategy.
What are the 3 parts of a Business Model?
Value creation
Value capture
Value Delivery
What are the 3 critical factors used to evaluate economic value creation and competitive advantage
Value
Price
Cost
What does it mean to be using a Cost Leadership Strategy
Cost leadership is about becoming the lowest COST producer in an industry. This puts them in a good position to charge the lowest price, but doesn’t mean they will
What is Scenario Planning?
Scenario planning is a strategic planning methodology that is used to develop plans in uncertain environments. Typically managers begin by identifying variables that can interact to significantly impact firm performance, then management develops alternative strategies for the mort plausible future environments
What provides a statement of how the organization intends to achieve its vision and the organization’s responsibilities to its key stakeholders.
Mission Statement
Describe traditional top-down strategic planning
A rational data driven process in which top management attempts to program future success
T/F Traditional approaches to strategic management (top-down) work best in dynamic environments where the future is highly uncertain
False
What is an example Strategy as Planned emergence?
The IKEA “flat boxes”
What is a strategic group?
direct competitors with similar business models and strategies
What industry characteristics would likely lead to fierce competitive rivalry?
- Very high fixed costs required for business infrastructure
- Industry products that are highly perishable
- Very high barriers to exit
- Low brand loyalty
What are tools for analyzing INTERNAL performance for a company?
Benchmarking
Ratio Analysis
SWOT analysis
What is part of a PESTEL analysis?
Political
Economic
Socio-Culture ( and Demographic)
Technological
Ecological
Legal (and Ethical)
What are some Political variables in a PESTEL analysis?
Subsidies
Tax policies
price controls
regulated access
grants
trade controls/import restrictions
tariffs
What are the impacts of political factors?
Underwrites emerging technologies and encourages R&D
Opens or restricts access to markets by creating or eliminating barriers to entry
What are some of the Economic variables in a PESTEL analysis?
Growth Rates
Interest Rates
Inflation Rates
Cost of Capital
Employment levels
Price stability
Currency exchange rates
Disposable and discretionary income
What are some Socio-Cultural variables in a PESTEL analysis?
Culture norms and values
life expectancies
aging population
immigration
work force diversity
rising affluence
increasing lifestyle changes
societal values
attitudes toward products, safety and the environment
What are the primary impacts of Socio-cultural variables?
Impacts what consumers want to buy
impacts market sizes
increasing management complexity of a diverse workforce
What are some Technological variables in a PESTEL analysis?
IP Protections
industrial spending on R&D
digital communications
emerging industries
technology transfer
innovations in product
technology
What are the primary impacts of technological variables
It’s an enabler of new business models, business processes, new products and services
can be efficiently driven, product sustainable or disruptive in character