Term
| Name the 3 elements of elements of intellectual capital? |
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Definition
1. Human Capital: The talents, skills and abilities of a company's workforce
2. Structural Capital: The accumulated knowledge and experience that a company 's workforce possesses including software, patents, and copyrights.
3. Customer Capital: The established customer base, positive reputation, ongoing relationships and goodwill a company builds up over time with it's customers. |
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Term
| What kind of economy does the United States have- industrial based or knowledge based? |
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Definition
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Term
| What countries are currently industrial based? |
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Definition
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Term
| What countries are knowledge based? |
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Definition
United States,
(A knowledge based economy favors small businesses because the cost of managing and transmitting knowledge and information is very low and computer information technologies are driving these costs lower still) |
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Term
| Do you think that it is possible to go from an industrial based to a knowledge based economy and then go back to industrial? |
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Definition
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Term
| What factors contribute to this shift from industrial to knowledge based? |
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Definition
1. Productivity Gains in recent years have made it possible for companies to accomplish more with fewer people, thus massive downsizing. This has led to an increase in small businesses which support knowledge based economies.
2. Entrepreneurship has become mainstream
3. What matters now is not so much the traditional factors of production but knowledge and information. |
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Term
| What is Michael Porter's concept of The Value Chain? |
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Definition
| Separates a firm by It's strategically relevant activities to understand interdependent relationship of costs and differentiation as sources of development of a competitive strategy. A company's value chain is part of the overall value system. The main purpose of the value chain is to define the appropriate industry in which youvare involved, determine the activities in which you engage, and pinpoint the focus for analysis of competitors. |
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Term
| What are the primary value chain activities and what depends on them? |
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Definition
1. Inbound Logistics: The receiving and warehousing of raw materials, and their distribution to manufacturing
2. Operations: The process of transforming inputs into finished products and services
3. Outbound Logistics: The warehousing and distribution of finished goods
4. Marketing & Sales
5. Service: The support of customers after the products and/or services have been sold to them.
Each company's profitability depends on how successfully and efficiently they perform these activities. A competitive advantage may be achieved by reconfiguring the value chain to provide lower cost or better differentiation. |
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Term
| What supports these primary value chain activities? |
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Definition
1. The infrastructure of the firm: It's organizational structure, control systems, and company culture
2. Human resource management: Employee recruiting, hiring, training, development and compensation
3. Technology Development: Technologies to support value- creating activities
4. Procurement: Purchasing inputs such as materials, supplies, and equipment |
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Term
| What are the distinctions between Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy? |
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Definition
The main difference of these 3 companies owned by Gap, Inc. Is the affordability and quality of the merchandise.
Banana Republic is the most expensive and is the most sophisticated, gap is moderately priced and more sportswear and casual wear based, and old navy is affordable and more generic. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Who is the Banana Republic customer? |
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Definition
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Term
| Who is the Old Navy customer? |
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Definition
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Term
| Who is the Zara customer? |
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Definition
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Term
| Who is the Uniqlo customer? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Who is the Mango customer? |
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Definition
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Term
| What are the 5 competitive forces at work within an industry? |
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Definition
1. Threat of substitution
2. Bargaining power of buyers
3. Bargaining power of suppliers
4. Rivalry among competitors
5. Threat of new entrants |
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Term
| The value chain model is useful for defining a firm's core competencies and the activities in which it can pursue a competitive advantage are? |
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Definition
1. Cost Advantage: By better understanding costs and adding value
2. Differentiation: By focusing on those activities associated with core competancie |
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Term
| What are the 3 consistent generic strategies that can help to create a defendable position in an industry? |
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Definition
1. Cost Leadership
2. Differentiation
3. Focus |
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Term
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Definition
| It became popular in the 1970s and it requires the construction of efficient facilities, rigid pursuit of cost reductions, tight cost and overhead control, and strong managerial attention to control costs. |
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Term
| Name some popular brands and retailers that seek to achieve cost leadership? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Differentiation strategy involves differentiation of the product or service offering of the business so that it is perceived as being unique. Ultimately differentiation creates brand loyalty. Differentiation often involves higher development costs. |
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Term
| What are some popular brands that you feel create differentiation and how do they do this? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Focus strategy involves focusing on a particular buyer group, segment of the population, or segment of the product line. It is built around servicing a narrow target market. |
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Term
| What is an example of a focus strategy? |
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Definition
(From Judy's notes)
Worldwide is a pet company located in San Rafael whose core customers are Target and Wal-Mart. While their growth has been very strong, the inherent risk is that when 2 customers control 80% of your sales revenue, when one of those customers decides to go elsewhere it can be disastrous for the company. This is a very risky strategy as you are not spreading out your risk. |
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Term
| Are there other businesses or brands that you feel go this way? (Mossimo for Target?) |
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Definition
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Term
| Is there a direct correlation between profitability and market share? |
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Definition
| No- A company may be far more profitable if they have les market share. The business may have a demand for it's products but if they undercut profits to appeal to a larger market share, this can dilute their profits. This sometimes happens with new businesses who expand too quickly or try to undersell the competition. In general, using cost as a competitive strategy is not successful for long-term brand building. |
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Term
| What are the 9 steps of the strategic management process? |
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Definition
1. Develop a clear vision and translate it into a meaningful mission statement
2. Assess the company's strengths and weaknesses accurately
3. Scan the environment for significant opportunities and threats facing the business
4. Identify the key factors for success in the business
5. Analyze the competition
6. Create company goals and objectives
7. Formulate strategic options and select the appropriate strategies
8. Translate strategic plans into action plans
9. Establish accurate controls |
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Term
| What is a mission statement? |
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Definition
| A mission statement is the basic blueprint for the business. It represents both to the founders and to the potential investors what is envisioned for the company and the brand. |
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Term
| What 3 questions should the mission statement address? |
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Definition
1. What are the opportunities or needs that we address? (the purpose of the organization);
2. What are we doing to address those needs? (the business of the organization); and
3. What principles or beliefs guide our work (the values of the organization)
*A SUCCESSFUL MISSION STATEMENT COMMUNICATES THE VALUES OF THE VISION IN CONCRETE TERMS THAT EVERYONE IN THE COMPANY AND MARKETPLACE CAN UNDERSTAND.* |
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Term
| What is a Vision Statement? |
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Definition
| A vision statement is very similar to a mission statement and is often used interchangeably with a mission statement. It seeks to answer the essential questions of "what do we stand for" and "what do we want to become." It encompasses the higher purposes and ethical values of the business. |
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Term
| What are the elements of a mission statement? |
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Definition
1. Basic beliefs and values of the organization and what it stands for;
2. Target Customers;
3. Core products and services and what customer needs and wants they satisfy;
4. How the company can best satisfy those needs and wants;
5. Competitive advantage and source;
6. Value to customer;
7. Target Market;
8. Key stakeholders and strategic positioning within the company;
9. Long-term benefits for customers; and
10. Long-term goals and objectives. |
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Term
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Definition
| Strengths are positive internal factors that contribute to the accomplishment of a company's mission, goals, and objectives. A company's strengths could be their personnel, the patented technology, or a logo (like Louis Vuitton). Whatever these strengths may be, they can be built into a competitive advantage for your business. |
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Term
| Each of you, by choosing the MFA in Fashion Merchandising have come to this school for a reason. What are the competitive advantages that this program holds for you? What personal strengths lead you to the decision to pursue this degree over another? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Weaknesses are negative internal factor that inhibit the realization of the company's missions, goals, and objectives. For a new brand, newness and lack of history are both considered weaknesses. |
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Term
| What are Nike's core competencies? What areas of business are they currently engaged in that are not part of those core competencies? |
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Definition
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Term
| What are your core competencies? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is enviornmental scanning? What do you you typically use this for? |
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Definition
Environmental scanning is a process of gathering, analyzing, and dispensing information for tactical or strategic purposes. The environmental scanning process entails obtaining both factual and subjective information on the business environments in which a company is operating or considering entering. A business unit has to monitor key macroenvironmental forces (demographic-economic, natural, technological, political-legal, and social-cultural) and significant microenvironmental actors (customers, competitors, suppliers, distributors, dealers) that affect its ability to earn profits. The business unit should set up a marketing intelligence system to track trends and important developments. For each trend or development, management needs to identify the associated opportunities and threats.
There are three ways of scanning the business environment:
Ad-hoc scanning - Short term, infrequent examinations usually initiated by a crisis
Regular scanning - Studies done on a regular schedule (e.g. once a year)
Continuous scanning (also called continuous learning) - continuous structured data collection and processing on a broad range of environmental factors |
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Term
| Why is enviornmental scanning important for entrepreneurs? |
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Definition
| Entrepreneurs must constantly monitor the enviornment for new competitors and new opportunities that may arise. It does not have to do with new products, it can be a new method of delivery or a way of connecting with your customers that is currently not being utilized. |
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Term
| What are key factors for success? |
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Definition
Controllable variables that will add to your successful score card that will lead to success in business. These include the following:
1. Plant size;
2. Size of sales force;
3. Business location;
4. Distribution system;
5. Product Packaging.
*COMPANIES THAT LEVERAGE THESE VARIABLES TEND TO BECOME INDUSTRY LEADERS* |
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Term
| What are the primary goals of competitive intelligence/enviornmental scanning & competitive analysis? |
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Definition
1. Avoid surprises from existing competitors;
2. Identify potential new competitors;
3. Improve reaction time to competitor's moves; and
4. Anticipate rival's next strategic moves. |
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Term
| Name some low-cost guerilla research techniques used by small businesses. |
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Definition
1. Reading industry trade publications for announcements from competitors (all you need is a library card);
2. Asking questions of customers and suppliers for news of the competitors (people really do like to talk);
3. Talking with your own employees, most especially sales representatives who also may rep your competitor;
4. Attending trade shows and collecting the literature from competitors;
5. Conducting patent searches for patents that may have been filed by your competitors;
6. If possible, compare competitors' products against yours;
7. Obtain credit reports from firms such as Dun & Bradstreet or Hoovers to evaluate their financial conditions;
8. Checking out magazines and periodicals from the library;
9. Use the internet; and
10. Visiting competing businesses periodically to observe their operations in action. |
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Term
| What is Knowledge Management? |
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Definition
| It is the practice of gathering, organizing, and disseminating the collective wisdom and experience of a company's employees for the purposes of strengthening its competitive position |
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Term
| What do you feel are the strengths of Louis Vuitton vs Gucci? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Business goals provide targets to aim for as well as providing a basis for evaluation of the company's performance. |
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Term
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Definition
| Goals are the broad, long-range attributes that a business seeks to accomplish. |
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Term
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Definition
| Objectives are specific targets of performance; they are quantifiable and measurable. Some common objectives are profitability, productivity, growth, efficiency, markets, financial resources, and social responsibility. They are specific and precise as well as being achievable. They are realistic. They are also able to be assigned to a group or person. |
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Term
Goal Or Objective?--
A sales manager needs to improve his sales by 10%. |
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Definition
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Term
Goal Or Objective?--
The company would like to increase market share. |
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Definition
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Term
Goal or Objective?--
The product developer needs to cut 5% off the costs of a product. |
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Definition
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Term
Goal or Objective?--
The brand wants to become the dominant player in their market? |
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Definition
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Term
| Name the attributes of a successful strategic plan. |
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Definition
1. Purpose: What is the project designed to accomplish?
2. Scope: Which areas of the company will be involved in the project?
3. Contribution: How is the project related to other projects and to the overall strategic plan?
4. Resource requirements: What human and financial resources will be needed to complete the project successfully?
5. Timing: Which schedules and deadlines will ensure successful completion. |
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Term
| 4 Perspectives that the "Customer Scorecard" examines businesses upon? |
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Definition
1. Customer Perspective: Customers judge companies by at least 4 standards:
A. Time;
B. Quality;
C. Performance; and
D. Service.
2. Internal Business Perspective: The internal factors that managers should focus on are those that have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction and retention, and on a company effectiveness and efficiency.
3. Innovation and Learning Perspective: A company's ability to innovate, learn, and improve determines its future; and
4. Financial Perspective: This measure focuses on profitability, growth, and shareholder value.
Companies will then sub-divide their financial objectives into three categories:
1. Survival;
2. Success; and
3. Growth. |
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