Week 1 Flashcards
How do you gain a competitive advantage?
You gain competitive advantage by being better than your competitors at doing valuable things for your customers. But what does this mean, specifically?
To succeed, what must managers deliver? The fundamental success drivers are innovation, quality, speed, and cost competitiveness.
What is innovation?
The introduction of new goods and services.
What is quality?
quality
The excellence of your product (goods or services).
Fast and timely execution, response, and delivery of results.
speed
Speed context
often separates the winners from the losers. How fast can you develop and get a new product to market? How quickly can you respond to customer requests? You are far better off if you are faster than the competition—and if you can respond quickly to your competitors’ actions.
Why is speed important?
Speed is no longer just a goal of some companies; it is a strategic imperative. Regarding quick delivery, Bruce Birnback, president of Rowe Furniture, said in November 2004, “Today it’s not critical, but 18 to 24 months from now, I believe it will be the difference between being in business and not.” 57
Cost Competitiveness
Keeping costs low in order to achieve profits and be able to offer prices that are attractive to consumers.
cost competitiveness
What is the most important factor concerning performance?
Don’t forget: Don’t focus on one aspect of performance and neglect the others. You might be better at or more interested in one than the others, but you should strive for all four.
The process of working with people and resources to accomplish organizational goals.
management
The management function of systematically making decisions about the goals and activities that an individual, a group, a work unit, or the overall organization will pursue.
planning
The management function of assembling and coordinating human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals.
organizing
The management function that involves the manager’s efforts to stimulate high performance by employees.
leading
The management function of monitoring performance and making needed changes.
controlling
Practices aimed at discovering and harnessing an organization’s intellectual resources.
knowledge management
How do you be an effective manager?
To be effective is to achieve organizational goals.
How do you become an efficient manager?
To be efficient is to achieve goals with minimal waste of resources, that is, to make the best possible use of money, time, materials, and people.
What are the four pillars of competitive advantage?
Innovation, speed,Quality, and cost.
What are the major way to change creating a competitive landscape?
Globalization, technical logical changes, knowledge management, and collaboration across organizational boundaries.
What are the four functions of management?
Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
What are the three aspects of planning?
Analyzing the situation, determining the goals, and deciding how to pursue those goals.
What are the two aspects to organizing?
Assembling the resources to complete the job,and coordinating employees and resources to maximum success.
What are the two aspects of leading?
Motivating people, and stimulating high performance.
What are the two aspects of controlling?
Controlling is monitoring the progress of the organization or the work unit toward goals, and then taking corrective action if necessary.
What are the three levels of management?
Top-level management, mid-level managers, and front-line managers.
What is the function of top-level managers?
Top-level, strategic managers are the senior executives and are responsible for the organization’s overall management.
What is the function of middle level managers?
Middle-level, tactical managers translate general goals and plans into more specific objectives and activities.
What is the function of front-line managers?
Frontline, operational managers are lower-level managers who supervise operations.
What are the three skills managers need to be effective?
Technical skills, conceptual and decision skills, and interpersonal and communication skills.
What are technical skills?
A technical skill is the ability to perform a specialized task involving a certain method or process.
What are conceptual and decision skills?
Conceptual and decision skills help the manager recognize complex and dynamic issues, analyze the factors that influence those issues or problems, and make appropriate decisions.
What are interpersonal and communication skills?
Interpersonal and communication skills enable the manager to interact and work well with people.
What are the hierarchy of managerial skills?
Technical skills are more important on the lower level. As managers rise in the organization technical skills become less important and conceptual decision making become more important. Conceptual and decision-making skills are needed on all levels.
What are the four goals to have a successful career?
Be both a specialist and a generalist;
be self-reliant but also connected;
actively manage your relationship with your organization;
and continuously improve your skills in order to perform in the ways demanded in the changing work environment
which includes legal, political, economic, technological, demographic, and social and natural factors that generally affect all organizations
macroenvironment
Organizations that are affected by, and that affect, their environment.
open systems
Goods and services organizations take in and use to create products or services.
inputs
The products or services organizations create.
outputs
The products or services organizations create.
All relevant forces outside a firm’s boundaries, such as competitors, customers, the government, and the economy.
external environment
The immediate environment surrounding a firm; includes suppliers, customers, competitors, and the like.
competitive environment
The most general environment; includes governments, economic conditions, and other fundamental factors that generally affect all organizations.
macro-environment
As competition increases what must managers focus on?
With increased competition, managers must pay particular attention to costs.
Conditions that prevent new companies from entering an industry.
barriers to entry
