Analyzing The External Environment Of The Firm (Chapter 2)

Front 1

environmental scanning

Back 1

surveillance of a firms' external environment to predict environmental changes and detect changes already under way

Front 2

environmental monitoring

Back 2

a firm's analysis of the external environment that tracks the evolution of environmental trends, sequences of events, or streams of activities

Front 3

hard trend

Back 3

a projection based on measurable facts, events, of objects. It is something that will happen

Front 4

soft trend

Back 4

something that might happen and for which the probability that it might happen can be estimated

Front 5

competitive intelligence

Back 5

a firm's activities of collecting and interpreting data on competitors, defining and understanding the industry, and identifying competitors' strengths and weaknesses.

Front 6

environmental forecasting

Back 6

the development of plausible projections about the direction, scope. Speed, and intensity of environmental change

Front 7

scenario analysis

Back 7

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

Front 8

SWOT analysis

Back 8

a framework for analyzing a company's internal and external environment and that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Front 9

general environment

Back 9

factors external to an industry, and usually beyond a firm's control, that affect a firm's strategy

Front 10

demographic segment of the general environment

Back 10

genetic and observable characteristics of a population, including the levels and growth of age, density, sex, race, ethnicity, education, geographic region, and income

Front 11

sociocultural segment of the general environment

Back 11

the values, beliefs, and lifestyles of a society

Front 12

political/legal segment of the general environment

Back 12

how a society creates and exercises power, including rules, laws, and taxation policies

Front 13

technological segment of the general environment

Back 13

innovation and state of knowledge in industrial arts, engineering, applied sciences, and pure science; and their interaction with society

Front 14

economic segment of the general environment

Back 14

characteristics of the economy, including national income and monetary conditions

Front 15

global segment of the general environment

Back 15

influences from foreign countries, including foreign market opportunities, foreign-based competition, and expanded capital markets

Front 16

crowdsourcing

Back 16

practice wherein the internet is used to tap a broad range of individuals and groups to generate ideas and solve problems

Front 17

industry

Back 17

a group of firms that produce similar goods of services

Front 18

competitive environment

Back 18

factors that pertain to an industry and affect a firm's strategies

Front 19

Porter's five-forces model of industry competition

Back 19

a tool for examining the industry-level competitive environment, especially the ability of firms in that industry to set prices and minimize costs

Front 20

(P5F-1) threat of new entrants

Back 20

the possibility that the profits of established firms in the industry may be eroded by new competitors

Front 21

economies of scale

Back 21

decreases in cost per unit as absolute output per period increases

Front 22

product differentiation

Back 22

the degree that a product has strong brand loyalty or customer loyalty

Front 23

switching cost

Back 23

one-time costs that a buyer/supplier faces when switching from one supplier/buyer to another

Front 24

(P5F-2) bargaining power of buyers

Back 24

the threat that buyers may force down prices, bargain for higher quality or more services, and play competitors against each other

Front 25

(P5F-3) bargaining power of suppliers

Back 25

the threat that suppliers may raise prices or reduce the quality of purchases goods and services

Front 26

(P5F-4) threat of substitute products and services

Back 26

the threat of limiting the potential returns of an industry by placing a ceiling on the prices that firms in that industry can profitably charge without losing too many customers to substitute products

Front 27

substitute products and services

Back 27

products and services outside the industry that serve the same customer needs as the industry's products and services

Front 28

(P5F-5) intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry

Back 28

the threat that customers with switch their business to competitors within the industry

Front 29

internet

Back 29

a global network of linked computers that use a common transmission format, exchange information and store data

Front 30

zero-sum game

Back 30

a situation in which multiple players interact, and winners win only by taking from other players

Front 31

complements

Back 31

products or services that have an impact on the value of a firm's products or services

Front 32

strategic groups

Back 32

clusters of firms that share similar strategies