strategy A comprehensive plan for accomplishing an organization's goals
strategic management A comprehensive and ongoing management process aimed at formulating and implementing effective strategies; it is a way of approaching business opportunities and challenges
effective strategy A strategy that promotes a superior alignment between the organization and its environment and the achievement of strategic goals
scope When applied to strategy, it specifies the range of markets in which an organization will compete
resource deployment How an organization distributes its resources across the areas in which it competes
business-level strategy The set of strategic alternatives that an organization chooses from as it conducts business in a particular industry or market
corporate-level strategy The set of strategic alternatives that an organization chooses from as it manages its operations simultaneously across several industries and several markets
strategy formulation The set of processes involved in creating or determining the strategies of the organization; it focuses on the content of strategies
strategy implementation The methods by which strategies are operationalized or executed within the organization; it focuses on the processes through which strategies are achieved
deliberate strategy A plan of action that an organization chooses and implements to support its mission and goals
emergent strategy A pattern of action that develops over time in an organization in the absence of mission and goals, or despite missions and goals
SWOT An acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
organizational strengths A skill or capability that enables an organization to conceive of and implement its strategies
common strength A skill or capability held by numerous competing firms
distinctive competence An organizational strength possessed by only a small number of competing firms
strategic imitation The practice of duplicating another organization's distinctive competence and thereby implementing a valuable strategy
sustained competitive advantage A competitive advantage that exists after all attempts at strategic imitation have ceased
organizational weakness A skill or capability that does not enable an organization to choose and implement strategies that support its mission
competitive disadvantage A situation in which an organization is not implementing valuable strategies that are being implemented by competing organizations
organizational opportunity An area in the environment that, if exploited, may generate high performance
organizational threat An area in the environment that increases the difficulty of an organization is achieving high performance
differentiation strategy A strategy in which an organization seeks to distinguish itself from competitors through the quality of its products or services
overall cost leadership strategy A strategy in which an organization attempts to gain a competitive advantage by reducing its costs below the costs of competing firms
focus strategy A strategy in which an organization concentrates on a specific regional market, product line, or group of buyers
prospector strategy A strategy in which the firm encourages creativity and flexibility and is often decentralized
defender strategy A strategy in which the firm focuses on lowering costs and improving the performance of current products
analyzer strategy A strategy in which the firm attempts to maintain its current businesses and to be somewhat innovative in new businesses
reactor strategy A strategy in which a firm has no consistent approach to strategy
product life cycle A model that portrays how sales volume for products changes over the life of products
diversification The number of different businesses that an organization is engaged in and the extent to which these businesses are related to one another
single-product strategy A strategy in which an organization manufactures just one product or service and sells it in a single geographic market
related diversification A strategy in which an organization operates in several businesses that are somehow linked with one another
unrelated diversification A strategy in which an organization operates several businesses that are not associated with one another
backward vertical integration An organization's beginning the business activities formerly conducted by its suppliers
forward vertical integration An organization's beginning the business activities formerly conducted by its customers
merger The purchase of one firm by another firm of approximately the same size
acquisition The purchase of a firm by a firm that is considerably larger
portfolio management technique A method that diversified organizations use to determine which businesses to engage in and how to manage these businesses to maximize corporate performance
BCG matrix A method of evaluating businesses relative to the growth rate of their market and the organization's share of the market
GE Business Screen A method of evaluating businesses along two dimensions: (1) industry attractiveness and (2) competitive position; in general, the more attractive the industry and the more competitive the position, the more an organization should invest in a business