Business Communication

Lecture 5

Chapter 3- strategic management and the entrepreneurs

Intellectual capital- it’s a key source of a company’s competitive advantage that is comprised of human capital, structural capital, and customer capital.

• Human capital – the talent, skills, and abilities of a company’s workforce.

• Structural capital- the accommodated knowledge and experience that a company possesses. Software, patent or experience.

• Customer capital- the established customer base, positive reputation, ongoing relationship and goodwill a company builds up over time with its customer.

Strategic management- it’s the process of developing a game plan to guide a company as strives to accomplish its, vision, mission, goal, and objectives and to keep it from straying off course

Competitive advantage- the aggregation of factors that sets a small business apart from its competitors and gives it a unique position in the market superior to competition.

Core competencies- a unique set of lasting capabilities that a company develops in key operational areas that allow it to vault past competitors.

The strategic management process-

Step 1- develop a clear vision.

• Vision provides direction

• Vision determines decisions

• Vision motivates people.

Mission statement- an enduring declaration of a company’s purpose that addresses the first question of any business venture, what business are we in?

Step 2- assess the company’s strength and weaknesses

• Strength- positive internal factors that a company can use to accomplish its mission, goals, and objectives.

• Weaknesses- negative internal factors that inhibit the accomplishment of a company’s mission, goals, and objectives.

Step 3- scan the environment for significant opportunities and threats facing the business

• Opportunities- positive external factors that a company can exploit to accomplish its mission, goals, and objectives.

• Threats - negative...