Flashcards on External Assessment in Strategic Management

External Assessment in Strategic Management: A Student Guide

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Why are assumptions necessary in strategic planning?

Assumptions are needed because planners face many variables and imponderables that cannot be predicted or controlled with 100% accuracy; reasonable as

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Strategic Forecasting

11 cards

Card 1

Question: Why are assumptions necessary in strategic planning?

Answer: Assumptions are needed because planners face many variables and imponderables that cannot be predicted or controlled with 100% accuracy; reasonable as

Card 2

Question: What kind of assumptions should strategists avoid when forecasting?

Answer: Strategists should avoid wild guesses and instead make reasonable assumptions based on available information.

Card 3

Question: For which future occurrences should assumptions be made?

Answer: Assumptions should be made only for future trends and events that are most likely to have a significant effect on the company’s business.

Card 4

Question: How do assumptions function as checkpoints in strategic forecasting?

Answer: Based on the best information at the time, assumptions let strategists monitor validity of strategies; if future occurrences deviate significantly fro

Card 5

Question: How can better information affect the accuracy of assumptions and competitive position?

Answer: Firms with the best information generally make the most accurate assumptions, which can lead to major competitive advantages.

Card 6

Question: What is business analytics (in the context of strategic forecasting)?

Answer: Business analytics is a MIS technique using software (predictive analytics, machine learning, data mining) to mine large data volumes to help executiv

Card 7

Question: What kinds of organizational interactions can business analytics tap to build predictive models?

Answer: It can use the firm's history of interactions with customers, suppliers, distributors, employees, rival firms, and more.

Card 8

Question: Why is business analytics important for risk management in forecasting?

Answer: Every business is a risk-management endeavor, and business analytics helps measure and manage risk by learning from past data to inform current and fu

Card 9

Question: How does business analytics contribute to competitive advantage as products become commoditized?

Answer: As products commoditize, competitive advantage increasingly depends on improving business processes; business analytics provides proprietary intellige

Card 10

Question: What is a key distinguishing feature of business analytics for strategic forecasting?

Answer: It enables a firm to learn from experience and make current and future decisions based on prior information.