Test One Flashcards
Strategy
A firm’s theory about how to gain competitive advantages
Define Mission
Long-term purpose of a firm
Define Strategic Management Process
Sequential set of analyses and choices that can increase the likelihood that a firm will choose a good strategy that generates competitive advantages
Visionary Firm
Firms whose central mission is central to all they do and they earn higher returns
Objectives
Specific measurable targets a firm uses to evaluate the extent to which it is realizing its mission
External Analysis
The firm identifies the critical threats and opportunities in its environment
Internal Analysis
Helps a firm identify its organizational strengths and weaknesses and helps the firm identify which of its resources and capabilities are likely to be sources of competitive advantage.
Business-Level Strategies
Actions taken by the firm to gain competitive advantage in a single market or industry.
Corporate-Level Strategies
Actions firms take to gain competitive advantages by operating in multiple markets or industries simultaneously.
Competitive Advantage
Creation of more economic value than rival firms
Economic Value
The difference between the perceived benefits gain by a customer that purchases a firm’s products or services and the full economic cost of these products or services.
Competitive Parity
Firms that create the same economic value as their rivals
Competitive Disadvantage
Firms that generate less economic value than their rivals
Accounting Performance
Measure of competitive advantage calculated by using information from a firm’s published profit and loss and balance sheet statements.
Accounting Ratios
Numbers taken from a firm’s financial statements that are manipulated in ways that describe various aspects of a firm’s performance.
Profitability Ratios
Measure of profit in the numerator and some measure of firm size or assets in the denominator
Liquidity Ratios
Focus on the ability of a firm to meet its short-term financial obligations
Leverage Ratios
Focus on the level of a firm’s financial flexibility
Activity Ratios
Focus on the level of activity in a firm’s business
Cost of Capital
Rate of return that a firm promises to pay its suppliers of capital to induce them to invest in the firm
Economic Measurements of Competitive Advantage
Compare a firm’s level of return to its cost of capital instead of to the average level of return in the industry.
Cost of Debt
Interest firm must pay its debt holders
Cost of Equity
Rate of return a firm promises its equity holders in order to induce these individuals and institutions to invest in the firm.
Weighted Average Cost of Capital
% of the firm’s total capital
Mission statements must create what for the company
value
High quality objectives are tied to what?
mission statement
The size of the competitive advantage is equal to what?
the difference in economic value between the two firms
define privately held firm
has stock that is not traded on public stock market or it is a division of a larger company
When would a firm have above average accounting performance but below normal economic performance?
when a firm is not earning its cost of capital but has above industry average accounting performance
When would a firm have below average accounting performance but high economic performance
happens when a firm has a very low cost of capital and is earning at a rate in excess of this cost but is still below the industry average
define emergent strategies
theories of how to gain competitive advantage in an industry that emerge over time or that have been radically reshaped once they are initially implemented
Define the General Environment
broad trends in the context within which a firm operates that can have an impact on a firm’s strategy choices
What are the six elements of the General Environment?
Technological Change Demographic Trends Cultural Trends Economic Climate Legal and Political Conditions Specific International Events
Define technological change
exploring the use of technology to create new products and services
define demographics
distribution of individuals in a society in terms of age, sex, marital status, income, ethnicity, etc.
define culture
values, beliefs, and norms that guide behavior in society
define economic climate
overall health of the economic systems within which a firm operates
what is the legal and political environment
laws and legal systems’ impact on business together with the general nature of the relationship between government and business
what are specific international events?
civil wars, political coups, terrorism, wars, famines, etc.
What is the structure-conduct-performance model?
measures relationship among a firm’s environment, behavior, and performance
What is industry structure in the SCP model?
# of competing firms homogeneity of products cost of entry and exit
What is firm conduct in the SCP model?
strategies firms pursue to gain competitive advantage
What is performance in the SCP model?
firm level: competitive disadvantage, parity, temporary or sustained CA
Society: productive and allocative efficiency, level of employment, progress
what is the five forces framework?
identifies the five most common threats faced by firms in their local competitive environments and the conditions under which these threats are more or less likely present
what are the five threats in the FF framework?
entry, suppliers, rivalry, substitutes, buyers
define environmental threat
any individual or group outside a firm that seeks to reduce the level of that firm’s performance
define threat of entry
firms that have started operating in an industry or that threaten to begin operations in an industry soon
barriers to entry
attributes of an industry’s structure that increase the cost of entry
what are the 4 barriers to entry identified by the SCP model?
economies of scale
product differentiation
Cost advantages independent of scale
government regulation of entry
define economies of scale
a firm’s costs rise as a function of its volume of production
define diseconomies of scale
firm’s costs rise as a result of its volume of production
define product differentiation
incumbent firms possess brand identification and customer loyalty that potential entrants do no.