MQM ch2

complement

a potenital opportunity because customers buy more of a given product if they also demand more of the complementary product

substitue

a potential threat; customers use as an alternative, buying less of one kind of product but more of another

flexible processes

allowing for adapation in thier techincal core

scenarios

alternatives combinations of different factors that form a total picture of the environment and the firm

open systems

organizations that are affected by and in turn affect thier external environment

forecasting

predicts exactly how some variables will change in the future

buffering

putting buffers on both inputs and inputs

environmental scanning

searching out information that is unavailable to most people and sorting through tha information to interpret what is important and what is not

demographics

measures of various characteristics of the people who make up groups or other social units

external environment

more than the organization's clients & customers, but all revlant forces outside the organization's boundaries

strategic maneuvering

not just hcanging thier own company but also changing their environment(environmental adaptation)

final consumer

buying a pair of american eagle jeans

intermediate consumers

buying raw materials or whole sale products and then sell to final consumers

defenders

companies that stay within a more limited stable product domain

prospectors

compnaies that are more likley than others to engage in strategic maneuvering

environmental uncertianty

managers do not have enough information about the environment to understand or predict the future

switching costs

fixed costs buyers face if they changevsuppliers

empowerment

giving lower level managemnt more power

inputs

goods or services from thier environments

internal environment

how culture influences the firm on the inside

benchmarketing

identifying the best in class performance by a company in a given area

macroenvironment

includes legal, political economic, technological, demographic and soical and natural factor that generally affect organizations

smoothing

leveling normal flucuations at the boundaries of the environment

Domain selection

the entrance by a company into another suitable market or industry

competitive environment

the firm and its rivals suppliers customers new entrants and substitute or complementary products

competitive intelligence

the inofrmation necessary to decide how best to manage in the competive environment they have indentified

supply chain management

the managment of the entire network of facilities and people that obtain raw materials from the outside the organization, transform them into products and distribute them to customers

organization culture

the set of important assumptions about the organization adn its goals and practices that memebers of the company share

barriers to entry

the threat of new entrants

cooperative strategies

tow or more companies owrking together to influence the environment

outputs

what you put out into the environment

merger/acquisition

whe ntow or more firms comibne or when one firm buys another

independent strategies

when a company acts on its own to hcange some aspect of its current environment

diverstiture

when a company sells one or more businesses

diversification

when a firm invests in differnet types of businesse or products or when it expands geographically to reduce its dependence onsingle market or technology