Topic 3 business spec Flashcards
(20 cards)
Development of corporate strategy
o Ansoff’s Matrix
o Porter’s Strategic Matrix
SWOT analysis
o internal considerations: strengths and weaknesses
o external considerations: opportunities and threats
Impact of external
influences
a) PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, legal
and environmental)
b) The changing competitive environment
c) Porter’s Five Forces
Objectives of growth:
o to achieve economies of scale (internal and external)
o increased market power over customers and
suppliers
o increased market share and brand recognition
o increased profitability
Problems arising from growth
o diseconomies of scale
o internal communication
o overtrading
Small business survival in competitive markets:
o product differentiation and USPs
o flexibility in responding to customer needs
o customer service
o e-commerce
Calculation of time-series analysis:
o moving averages (three period/four quarter)
Critical Path
Analysis
Calculate:
o Earliest Start Time
o Latest Finish Time
o total float
Classification of company cultures:
o power
o role
o task
o person
Stakeholder and shareholder influences:
o stakeholder: that the business considers all of its
stakeholders in its business decisions/objectives
o shareholder: that the business should focus purely
on increasing share price and
dividends in its business decisions/objectives
Ethics of strategic decisions
o trade-offs between profit and ethics
b) Pay and rewards
c) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Interpretation of
financial statements
Statement of comprehensive income (profit and loss
account)
Statement of financial position (balance sheet)
Ratio analysis
o Gearing ratio
o Return on capital employed (ROCE)
Human resources
o labour productivity
o labour turnover and retention
o absenteeism
Human resource strategies to increase productivity and
retention and to reduce turnover and absenteeism
o financial rewards
o employee share ownership
o consultation strategies
o empowerment strategies
Causes of change:
o changes in organisational size
o poor business performance
o new ownership
o transformational leadership
o the market and other external factors (PESTLE)
Possible effects of change
o competitiveness
o productivity
o financial performance
o stakeholders
Key factors in
change
a) Organisational culture
b) Size of organisation
c) Time/speed of change
d) Managing resistance to change
Identifying key risks through risk assessment
o natural disasters
o IT systems failure
o loss of key staff
Planning for risk mitigation
o business continuity
o succession planning
