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ADMN232v9 - AthabascaU > Chapter 9 - Organizational strategy > Flashcards

Chapter 9 - Organizational strategy Flashcards

1
Q

Strategy is:

A

a term used frequently when discussing the behaviour of corporations.

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2
Q

Strategies often fail because:

A
  • strategies are carried out within competitive environments.
  • are designed by humans, and thus subject to our own inherent frailties.
  • can occur at different levels and take different forms.
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3
Q

Resources

A

the assets, capabilities, processes, information and knowledge that an organization uses to improve its effectiveness and efficiency and to create and sustain an advantage over competitors.

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4
Q

Competitive advantage

A

providing greater value for customers than competitors can.

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5
Q

Sustainable competitive advantage

A

a competitive advantage that other companies have tried unsuccessfully to duplicate and have, for the moment, stopped trying to duplicate.

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6
Q

Four conditions to achieving a sustainable competitive advantage with resources

A

The resources must be:

  • valuable
  • rare
  • imperfectly imitable
  • nonsubstitutable
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7
Q

Valuable resources

A

a resource that allows companies to improve efficiency and effectiveness

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8
Q

Rare resources

A

a resource that is not controlled or possessed by many firms

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9
Q

Imperfectly imitable resource

A

a resource that is impossible or extremely costly or difficult for other firms to duplicate

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10
Q

Nonsubstitutable resources

A

a resource, without equivalent substitutes or replacements, that produces value or competitive advantange

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11
Q

Companies use a strategy-making process to:

A

create strategies that produce sustainable competitive advantage

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12
Q

Three steps of the strategy-making process

A
  1. Assess need for strategic change
  2. Conduct situational analysis
  3. Choose strategic alternatives
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13
Q

Assessing the need for strategic change

A
  • Avoid competitive inertia

- Look for strategic dissonance (are strategic actions consistent with the company’s strategic intent?)

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14
Q

Competitive inertia

A

a reluctance to change strategies or competitive practices that have been successful in the past.

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15
Q

Strategic dissonance

A

a discrepancy between upper management’s intended strategy and the strategy actually implemented by lower levels of management.

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16
Q

Situational (SWOT) analysis

A

an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in an organization’s internal environment and the opportunities and threats in its external environment.

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17
Q

SWOT analysis can help a company by:

A

determining how to increase internal strengths and minimize internal weaknesses while simultaneously maximizing external opportunities and minimizing external threats.

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18
Q

Strengths (SWOT)

A
  • preferential access to natural resources
  • patents
  • facility locations that are advantageous
  • well-known brands
  • distinctive knowledge of production processes
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19
Q

Weaknesses (SWOT)

A
  • ineffective marketing
  • inconsistent access to distribution channels
  • corporate image problems
  • inferior goods and services
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20
Q

Opportunities (SWOT)

A
  • opening up of new international markets
  • the formation of strategic alliances
  • the existence of a weak market leader
  • legislation that weakens regulation
  • the reduction of international trade barriers
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21
Q

Threats (SWOT)

A
  • legislation that bring about new regulations
  • increased trade barriers
  • powerful new industry entrants
  • price wars among competitors
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22
Q

Competitive advantages can:

A

erode over time if internal strengths eventually become weaknesses.

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23
Q

Analyzing an organizations internal environment

A

begins with an assessment of distinctive competencies and core capabilities.

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24
Q

Distinctive competencies

A

what a company can make, do, or perform better at than competitors.

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25
Q

Core capabilities

A

the internal decision-making routines, problem-solving processes, and organizational cultures that determine how efficiently inputs can be turned into outputs.

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26
Q

Managers use environmental scanning

A

to identify specific opportunities and threats that can either improve or harm the company’s ability to sustain its competitive advantage.

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27
Q

Strategic groups

A

a group of companies within an industry that top managers choose to compare, evaluate, and benchmark strategic threats and opportunities.

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28
Q

Core firms

A

the central companies in a strategic group

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29
Q

Secondary firms

A

the firms in a strategic group that follow related but somewhat different strategies than do the core firms.

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30
Q

Shadow-strategy task force

A

a committee within the company that analyzes the company’s own weaknesses to determine how competitors could exploit them for competitive advantage.

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31
Q

Members of a shadow-strategy task force should:

A
  • be independent-minded
  • come from a variety of company functions and levels
  • have the access and authority to question the company’s current strategic actions and intent
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32
Q

Choosing strategic alternatives will:

A

help the company create or maintain a sustainable competitive advantage.

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33
Q

Strategic Reference Point Theory

A

managers can choose between two basic alternative strategies:

  1. A conservative, risk-avoiding strategy that aims to protect an existing competitive advantage
  2. An aggressive, risk-seeking strategy that aims to extend or create a sustainable competitive advantage
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34
Q

Strategic reference points

A

the strategic targets managers use to measure whether a firm has developed the core competencies it needs to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

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35
Q

The choice between risk-seeking vs risk-avoiding

A

typically depends on whether top management views the company as falling above or below strategic reference points.

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36
Q

When “falling above” strategic reference points

A 
Current situation
- satisfied
- sitting on top of the world
Perception of new issues
- threats
- potential loss
- negativity
Response to behaviour
- risk-averse
- conservative 
- defensive
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37
Q

When “falling below strategic reference points

A 
Current situation
- dissatisfied
- at the bottom looking up
Perception of new issues
- opportunity
- gain
- positivity
Response to behaviour
- risk-taking
- daring
- offensive
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38
Q

Changing strategic reference points

A

managers can influence the choice of strategic alternatives by actively changing and adjusting the strategic reference points they use to judge strategic performance.

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39
Q

Corporate-level strategy

A

the overall organizational strategy that addresses the question “what business or businesses are we in or should we be in?”

40
Q

Corporate-level strategies

A
  • portfolio strategy

- grand strategies

41
Q

Diversification

A

a strategy for reducing risk by buying a variety of items (stocks or, in the case of corporation, types of businesses) so that failure of one stock or one business does not doom the entire portfolio.

42
Q

Portfolio strategy - corporate level strategy

A

corporate-level strategy that minimizes risk by diversifying investment among various businesses or product lines.

43
Q

Different strategies in the portfolio strategy

A
  • acquisitions, unrelated diversification, related diversification, single businesses
  • Boston Consulting Group Matrix
    • stars
    • question marks
    • cash cows
    • dogs
44
Q

Acquisitions - portfolio strategy

A

The purchase of a company by another company (The more businesses in which a corporation competes, the smaller its overall chance of failing.)

45
Q

Unrelated diversification - portfolio strategy

A

creating or acquiring companies in completely unrelated businesses

46
Q

BCG matrix - portfolio strategy

A

a portfolio strategy, developed by the Boston Consulting Group, that managers use to categorize the corporation’s businesses by growth rate and relative market share, helping them decide how to invest corporate funds.

47
Q

Four categories of the BCG matrix - portfolio strategy

A
  • star
  • question mark
  • cash cow
  • dog
48
Q

Star - BCGM - portfolio strategy

A

a company with a large share of a fast-growing market

49
Q

Question mark - BCGM - portfolio strategy

A

a company with a small share of a fast-growing market

50
Q

Cash cow - BCGM - portfolio strategy

A

a company with a large share of a slow-growing market

51
Q

Dog - BCGM - portfolio strategy

A

a company with a small share of a slow-growing market

52
Q

Problems with portfolio strategy

A
  • unrelated diversification does not reduce risk
  • uses present performance to predict future performance
  • assessments of a business’s growth potential are often inaccurate
  • cash cows fail to aggressively pursue opportunities and defend themselves from threats
  • labeling a top performer as a cash cow can harm employee morale
  • companies often overpay to acquire stars
  • acquiring firms often treat acquired stars as “conquered foes.” Key stars’ managers, who once controlled their own destinies, often leave because they are now treated as relatively unimportant middle managers
53
Q

Recommendations for making portfolio strategy work

A
  • don’t be so quick to sell dogs or question marks. Instead, management should commit to the markets in which it competes by strengthening core capabilities
  • put your “eggs in similar (not different) baskets,” by acquiring companies in related businesses
  • acquire companies with complementary core capabilities
  • encourage collaboration and cooperation between related firms and businesses within the company
  • “date before you marry.” Work with a business before deciding to acquire it
  • when in doubt, don’t acquire new businesses. Mergers and acquisitions are inherently risky and difficult to make work. Acquire only firms that can help create or extend a sustainable competitive advantage.
54
Q

Related diversification - portfolio strategy

A

creating or acquiring companies that share similar products, manufacturing, marketing, technology, or cultures.

55
Q

Grand strategies - corporate level strategy

A
  • growth strategy
  • stability strategy
  • retrenchment strategy/recovery
56
Q

Grand strategy

A

a broad corporate-level strategic plan used to achieve strategic goals and guide the strategic alternatives that managers, individual businesses or subunits may use.

57
Q

Growth strategy - grand strategy

A

strategy that focuses on increasing profits, revenues, market share, or the number of places in which the company does business

58
Q

Stability strategy - grand strategy

A

strategy that focuses on improving the way a company sells the same products or services to the same customer

59
Q

Retrenchment strategy - grand strategy

A

strategy that focuses on turning around very poor company performance by shrinking the size or scope of the business

60
Q

Recovery - grand strategy

A

the strategic actions taken after retrenchment to return to a growth strategy

61
Q

First step(s) of a typical retrenchment strategy might include: (4)

A
  • significant cost reductions
  • layoffs of employees
  • closing of poorly performing stores, offices, or manufacturing plants
  • closing or selling entire lines of products or services
62
Q

Industry-level strategies

A
  • five industry forces
  • positioning strategies
  • adaptive strategies
63
Q

Industry-level strategy

A

corporate strategy that addresses the question “how should we compete in this industry?”

64
Q

Five industry forces - industry-level strategies

A
  • character of the rivalry
  • threat of new entrants
  • threat of substitute products or services
  • bargaining power of suppliers
  • bargaining power of buyers
65
Q

Character of the rivalry - five industry forces

A

a measure of the intensity of competitive behaviour between companies in an industry

66
Q

Threat of new entrants - five industry forces

A

a measure of the degree to which barriers to entry make it easy or difficult for new companies to get started in an industry

67
Q

Threat of substitute products or services - five industry forces

A

a measure of the ease with which customers can find substitutes for an industry’s products or services

68
Q

Bargaining power of suppliers - five industry forces

A

a measure of the influence that suppliers of parts, materials, and services to firms in an industry have on the prices of these inputs

69
Q

Bargaining power of buyers - five industry forces

A

a measure of the influence that customers have on a firm’s prices

70
Q

Positioning strategies - industry-level strategies

A
  • cost leadership
  • differentiation
  • focus strategy
71
Q

Cost leadership - positioning strategies

A

the positioning strategy of producing a product or service of acceptable quality at consistently lower production costs than competitors can, so that the firm can offer the products or service at the lowest price in the industy

72
Q

Differentiation - positioning strategies

A

the positioning strategy of providing a product or service that is sufficiently different from competitors’ offerings that customers are willing to pay a premium price for it

73
Q

Focus strategy - positioning strategies

A

the positioning strategy of using cost leadership or differentiation to produce a specialized product or service for a limited, specially targeted group of customers in a particular geographic region or market segment

74
Q

Adaptive strategies - industry-level strategies

A
  • defenders
  • prospectors
  • analyzers
  • reactors
75
Q

Adaptive strategy are - industry-level strategies

A

best suited to changes in the organizations’ external environment

76
Q

Defenders- adaptive strategies

A

an adaptive strategy aimed at defending strategic positions by seeking moderate, steady growth and by offering a limited range of high-quality products and services to a well-defined set of customers

77
Q

Prospectors- adaptive strategies

A

an adaptive strategy that seeks fast growth by searching for new market opportunities, encouraging risk-taking, and being the first to bring innovative new products to market

78
Q

Analyzers- adaptive strategies

A

an adaptive strategy that seeks to minimize risk and maximize profits by following or imitating the proven successes of prospectors

79
Q

Reactors- adaptive strategies

A

an adaptive strategy of not following a consistent strategy, but instead reacting to changes in the external environment after they occur

80
Q

Firm-level strategy

A

corporate strategy that addresses the question “how should we compete against a particular firm?”

81
Q

Firm-level strategies

A
  • direct competition
  • strategic moves of direct competition
  • entrepreneurial orientation
82
Q

Direct competition - Firm-level strategy

A

the rivalry between two companies that offer similar products and services, acknowledge each other as rivals, and act and react to each other’s strategic actions

83
Q

2 factors determine direct competition - Firm-level strategy

A
  • market commonality

- resource similarity

84
Q

Market commonality

A

the degree to which two companies have overlapping products, services, or customers in multiple markets

85
Q

Resource similarity

A

the extent to which a competitor has similar amounts and kinds of resources - assets, capabilities, processes, information, and knowledge

86
Q

Strategic moves of direct competition - Firm-level strategy

A
  • attack

- response

87
Q

Attack

A

a competitive move designed to reduce a rival’s market share or profits

88
Q

Response

A

a competitive counter move, prompted by a rival’s attack, to defend or improve a company’s market share or profit

89
Q

Entrepreneurial orientation - Firm-level strategy

A

the set of processes, practices, and decision-making activities that lead to new entry, characterized by five dimensions: autonomy, innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness

90
Q

Entrepreneurship

A

the process of entering new or established markets with new goods or services

91
Q

Autonomy - (new entrants)

A

fostering creativity among employees by giving them freedom and control to develop new ideas into a new products or services without interference from others

92
Q

Innovativeness - (new entrants)

A

supporting new ideas, experimentation and creative processes that might produce new products, services, or technological processes

93
Q

Risk-taking - (new entrants)

A

willingness to take some risks by making large resource commitments that may result in costly failure… a managers’ preferences for bold rather than cautious acts

94
Q

Proactiveness - (new entrants)

A

the ability to anticipate future problems, needs, or changes by developing new products or services that may not be related to their current business

  • by introducing new products or services before the competition does
  • by dropping products or services that are declining
95
Q

Competitive aggressiveness - (new entrants)

A

must be willing to use unconventional methods to directly challenge competitors for their customers and market share

96
Q

Industry level strategy- five industry forces is:

A

A strategy that determines an industry’s overall attractiveness and potential for long-term profitability.

97
Q

Industry level strategy- positioning strategies are used to:

A

Effectively protect your company from the negative effects of industry-wide competition and to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

ADMN232v9 - AthabascaU (12 decks)

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