Management CH 6 Loes
Distinctive Competence
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company has doubled its wind energy capacity by installing windmills and high-tech batteries to make it a "cleaner" utility company. In high-tech renewable energy, this company has a
The purpose of a strategy
Take advantage of what the organization does well, or hopes to do well.
Business Level Strategy
The area of responsibility usually assigned to the divisional-level managers
Product life cycle
The cycle of birth, growth, maturity, and decline of a product
portfolio analysis
a technique allowing for managers to visualize their businesses as a set or portfolio using certain common criteria, such as profitability or growth potential
Limited Resources
At even the largest and most affluent corporation, the strategic management process begins with
Contingency Plan
Alternate courses of action to be undertaken if certain organizational or environmental conditions change
Mission Statement
"Improving people's lives by providing gas and electric services in a sustainable way -- affordable, reliable and clean" is an example of
Focus
A business strategy in which the business concentrates on one part or segment of the market and tries to meet the demands of that segment
Mission Statement
A formal written declaration of the organization's mission that often includes the firm's philosophy, its primary products and markets, the intended geographic scope, and the nature of the relationships between the firm, its stakeholders, and society
Strategic Goals
Goals set by higher managers that deal with such general topics as the firm's growth, new markets, or new goods and services
Strength
In SWOT analysis, an ability or attribute that a company possesses that may give it a distinctive competence is called
Birth
The initial stage of the product life cycle when the product is introduced.
Decline
The product life cycle stage marked by decreases in the product's market share
Corporate Strategy
The scope and resource deployment components of strategy for the enterprise as a whole
Differentiation
What name is given to a business strategy in which the strategic business unit offers a unique good or service to a customer at a premium price?
SWOT analysis
What name is given to the evaluation of the organization's internal strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities and threats associated with the business's external environment
Goal
What name is given to the final result that a firm wishes to achieve
Maturity
What name is given to the product life cycle stage when the product's market share either slows or has no growth?
Cost leadership
What term describes a business-level strategy aimed at achieving the overall lowest cost structure in an industry
Distinctive Competence
What term describes what a firm does well relative to its competitors?
Focus
When a company produces a high-tech, expensive bicycle aimed at serious and affluent bike enthusiasts, it is using the business-level strategy called
Differentiation
When a firm offers a unique good or service to a customer at a premium price, it is following the business-level strategy of
Maturity
When a product has been on the market for many years, such as the automobile, and its growth is slow at best, what stage of the product life cycle is it said to be in?
Focus
You sell Gourmet Mushrooms (GMs) at $100 an ounce. You have a secret source of supply, jealously guarded. Your GMs are better than your competitors' mushrooms, and only the very wealthiest Americans buy them. You are using the business strategy called
Distinctive Competence
Your saltwater taffy, which you produce right next to the Pacific Ocean in Orchard Park, Oregon, has a national reputation. You sell all you can make, and people drive hundreds of miles to your shop to buy it. You have a
strategic business unit
a separate division within a company that has its own mission, goals, strategy and competitors
plan
a set of activities intended to achieve goals, whether for an entire organization, department, or an individual
dogs
businesses that have only minimal profits or even losses due to their low market share in slow growing markets
operational goals
short-term goals that are addressed to first-line managers and usually apply to specific work operations that lead to the production of goods or services
divestment
strategy of selling off businesses that the company no longer wishes to maintain, either because they are failing or because the company has changed its corporate strategy and does not wish to be in those businesses any longer
tactical goals
the intermediate goals of the firm, which are designed to stimulate actions necessary for achieving the strategic goals
growth
the product life cycle stage characterized by dramatic increases in the product's market share
question marks
those businesses that are viewed positively in the sense that they are located in attractive, fast-growing markets, but for which there is a question as to their ability to compete, given their low market share
stars
those businesses that have high market shares and operate in industries experiencing major growth
cash cows
those businesses that tend to generate excess cash over what is needed for their continued growth due to their high market share in a slow-growing market