Computers In Management Ch. 2 Strategy & Technology

Front 1

sustainable competitive advantage

Back 1

financial performance that consistently outperform industry averages

Front 2

operational effectiveness

Back 2

performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them

Front 3

fast follower problem

Back 3

exists when savvy rivals watch a pioneer's efforts, learn from their successes and missteps, then enter the market quickly with a comparable or superior product at a lower cost before the first mover can dominate

Front 4

strategic positioning

Back 4

performing different tasks than rivals, or the same tasks in a different way

Front 5

straddling

Back 5

when a firm attempts to match benefits of a successful position while maintaining its existing position

Front 6

resource-based view of competitive advantage

Back 6

strategic thinking approach suggesting that if a firm is to maintain sustainable competitive advantage, it must control an exploitable resource, or set of resources, that have 4 characteristics:
resources must be 1) valuable, 2) rare, 3) imperfectly imitable, 4) non substitutable

Front 7

dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM)

Back 7

technology that increases the transmission capacity (speed) of fiber optic cable; transmit light inside "glass" cables; light inside fiber is split into different wavelengths similar to how a prism splits light into different colors

Front 8

imitation-resistant value chain

Back 8

a way of doing business that competitors struggle to replicate & that frequently involves technology in a key enabling role

Front 9

brand

Back 9

symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service

Front 10

viral marketing

Back 10

leveraging consumers to promote a product or service

Front 11

scale advantages

Back 11

advantages related to size

Front 12

economies of scale

Back 12

when costs can be spread across increasing units of production or in serving multiple customers

Front 13

switching costs

Back 13

cost a consumer incurs when moving from one product to another; can involve actual money spent as well as investments in time, data loss, etc.

Front 14

network effects

Back 14

Metcalfe's Law, or network externalities; when the value of a product or service increases as its number of users expands

Front 15

distribution channels

Back 15

path through which products or services get to customers

Front 16

affiliates

Back 16

third parties that promote a product or service, typically in exchange for a cut of any sales

Front 17

Porter's Five Forces

Back 17

Industry & Competitive Analysis; 1) intensity of rivalry among existing competitors, 2) threat of new entrants, 3) threat of substitute goods/services, 4) bargaining power of buyers, 5) bargaining power of supplies

Front 18

price transparency

Back 18

degree to which complete information is available

Front 19

information asymmetry

Back 19

decision situation where one party has more or better information than its counterparty

Front 20

value chain

Back 20

set of activities through which a product or service is created and delivered to customers