Chapter 2 Flashcards
(32 cards)
surveillance of a firm’s external environment to predict environmental changes and detect changes already under way.
environmental scanning
a firm’s analysis of the external environment that tracks the evolution of environmental trends, sequences of events, or streams of activities.
environmental monitoring
a projection based on measurable facts, events, or objects. It is something that will happen.
hard trend
something that might happen and for which the probability that it might happen can be estimated
soft trend
a firm’s activities of collecting and interpreting data on competitors, defining and understanding the industry, and identifying competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.
competitive intelligence
the development of plausible projections about the direction, scope, speed, and intensity of environmental change.
environmental forecasting
an in-depth approach to environmental forecasting that involves experts’ detailed assessments of societal trends, economics, politics, technology, or other dimensions of the external environment.
scenario analysis
a framework for analyzing a company’s internal and external environment and that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
SWOT analysis
factors external to an industry, and usually beyond a firm’s control, that affect a firm’s strategy.
general environment
genetic and observable characteristics of a population, including the levels and growth of age, density, sex, race, ethnicity, education, geographic region, and income.
demographic segment of the general environment
of the general environment the values, beliefs, and lifestyles of a society.
sociocultural segment
how a society creates and exercises power, including rules, laws, and taxation policies.
political/legal segment of the general environment
innovation and state of knowledge in industrial arts, engineering, applied sciences, and pure science; and their interaction with society.
technological segment of the general environment
characteristics of the economy, including national income and monetary conditions.
economic segment of the general environment
influences from foreign countries, including foreign market opportunities, foreign-based competition, and expanded capital markets.
global segment of the general environment
practice wherein the Internet is used to tap a broad range of individuals and groups to generate ideas and solve problems
crowdsourcing
a group of firms that produce similar goods or services.
industry
factors that pertain to an industry and affect a firm’s strategies.
competitive environment
a tool for examining the industry-level competitive environment, especially the ability of firms in that industry to set prices and minimize costs.
porter’s five-forces model of industry competition
the possibility that the profits of established firms in the industry may be eroded by new competitors.
threat of new entrants
decreases in cost per unit as absolute output per period increases.
economies of scale
the degree that a product has strong brand loyalty or customer loyalty.
product differentiation
one-time costs that a buyer/supplier faces when switching from one supplier/buyer to another.
switching cost
the threat that buyers may force down prices, bargain for higher quality or more services, and play competitors against each other.
bargaining power of buyers
