Strategic Management 492 chapter 4

Eco-efficiency

Company actions that produce more useful goods and services while continuously reducing resource consumption and pollution

External environment is made of

Remote environment Industry environment Operating environment

External Environment

The factors beyond the control of the firm that influence its choice of direction and action, organizational structure, and internal processes

Industry Environment

The general conditions for competition that influence all businesses that provide similar products and services

Economies of scale

The savings that companies achieve because of the increased volume

Structural attributes

are the enduring characteristics that give an industry its distinctive character

Barriers to entry

are the obstacles that a firm must overcome to enter an industry.

Economic Factors

concern the nature and direction of the economy in which a firm operates

Political Factors

define the legal and regulatory parameters within which firms must operate

Remote Environment

economic, social, political, technological and ecological factors that originate beyond and usually irrespective of any single firm's operating situation

Technological Factors

helps protect and improve the profitability of firms in growing industries.

Social Factors

involve the beliefs, values, attitudes, opinions and life-styles of persons in the firm's external environment as developed from culutral, ecological, demographic, religious and ethnic conditioning

industry

is a collection of firms that offer similar products or services

Technological Forecasting

quasi-science of anticipating environmental and competitive changes and estimating their importance to an organization's operations.

Concentration

refers to the extent to which industry sales are dominated by only a few firms.