EXIL-NEGOCIOS key terms

An attribute or combination of attributes that lets a firm create more value for customers than rivals do, or create similar value at lower cost, in a way competitors find hard to copy.

A structured review of a firm's internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats, used to frame strategic choices. It is usually summarized in a four-quadrant grid.

A framework for judging how attractive an industry is by examining five pressures: rivalry among existing firms, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, and the bargaining power of buyers and of suppliers.

A deeply embedded capability, such as skill in a technology or a way of coordinating work, that a company performs better than rivals and that underpins several of its products or services.

The sequence of activities a firm performs to design, produce, market, deliver and support a product, from inbound inputs to after-sales service. Analysing it shows where cost or differentiation is created.

Dividing a broad market into smaller groups of buyers with similar needs, behaviour or characteristics, so that offers and messages can be tailored to each group rather than aimed at everyone.

The place a brand or product occupies in the minds of target buyers relative to competitors, shaped by the benefits it stresses, the price it sets and the image it projects.

The set of controllable elements a firm combines to serve a target market, traditionally product, price, place and promotion, and often extended with people, process and physical evidence for services.

An estimate of the total profit a customer is expected to generate over the whole relationship with the firm, usually combining purchase frequency, average spend, margin and expected retention time.

The added commercial value a product or company gains from having a recognized name, because buyers trust it, pay more for it or choose it more readily than an unbranded equivalent.

A measure of how strongly the quantity buyers purchase responds to a price change, calculated as the percentage change in quantity divided by the percentage change in price. High values mean demand is sensitive.

Revenue from sales minus the direct cost of the goods or services sold, expressed either as an amount or as a percentage of revenue. It shows profitability before overheads such as administration and marketing.

The money tied up in day-to-day operations, calculated as current assets such as inventory and receivables minus current liabilities such as supplier payables and short-term debt. Positive amounts mean operations absorb cash.

The sales volume or revenue level at which total revenue equals total costs, so the business makes neither profit nor loss. It is derived from fixed costs divided by contribution per unit.

The sum of a project's expected future cash flows discounted back to today at a required rate of return, minus the initial investment. A positive figure suggests the project adds value.

A financial report showing money actually entering and leaving a business over a period, split into operating, investing and financing activities. It explains changes in the cash balance and reveals solvency strain.

An operating approach in which materials and components arrive only as they are needed in production, minimizing inventory. It requires reliable suppliers, short lead times and reasonably stable, predictable demand to work well.

The tendency for small changes in end-customer demand to grow into large swings in orders further up a supply chain, caused by forecasting, order batching, price promotions and rationing during shortages.

Extra inventory held beyond expected demand to cover uncertainty in demand or in supply lead times, protecting service levels at the cost of higher holding costs.

The step in a process with the least capacity, which limits the output of the whole operation. Improving non-bottleneck steps usually does not raise total throughput.

A management approach in which every employee pursues continuous improvement in quality, using data, customer feedback and process control, on the principle that preventing defects costs less than fixing them.

The shared values, beliefs, norms and unwritten rules that shape how people in an organization behave, decide and treat one another, learned by newcomers as the way things are done here.

The number of people who report directly to one manager. Wide spans produce flatter structures and more autonomy; narrow spans produce taller hierarchies with closer supervision.

The rate at which employees leave an organization and are replaced, usually expressed as leavers over a period divided by average headcount. High voluntary turnover raises recruitment and training costs.

The unwritten set of mutual expectations between an employee and an employer about effort, loyalty, development and job security. Breaches damage trust and engagement even when formal contracts are respected.

The smallest version of a new product that lets a team test its core value proposition with real users and gather learning, before investing further in features and refinement.

The stage at which a product clearly satisfies a real need for a defined group of customers, shown by strong retention, word of mouth and willingness to pay, so growth efforts start to pay off.

A one-page template that describes how a business creates, delivers and captures value, using nine building blocks including customer segments, value propositions, channels, revenue streams and cost structure.

Financing a new venture from personal savings, early customer revenue and retained earnings rather than outside investors, which preserves ownership but limits how fast the firm can grow.

An innovation that initially serves a modest or overlooked segment with a simpler, cheaper offer, then improves until it displaces established competitors who focused on their most demanding customers.

The core steps in forming a contract: one party makes a definite proposal, and the other agrees to it on the same terms. A counter-offer replaces the original offer rather than accepting it.

A situation in which a person's personal interests, relationships or outside roles could improperly influence decisions they make in a professional capacity, requiring disclosure or withdrawal from the decision.

Reporting wrongdoing such as fraud, safety breaches or harassment by someone with inside knowledge, either through internal channels or to a regulator, often legally protected when done in good faith.

Legal rights over creations of the mind, including patents, trademarks, copyright and trade secrets, which let owners control use and exclude others for a limited time or, for secrets, indefinitely.

A measurable value chosen to track how well an organization or team is progressing toward a specific objective, ideally few in number, linked to strategy and reported regularly.

A controlled experiment comparing two versions of a page, message or offer by randomly showing each to different groups of users and measuring which performs better on a chosen metric.

The proportion of customers or subscribers who stop using or paying for a service during a period, a key driver of growth because high churn offsets new customer acquisition.

Using historical data and statistical or machine-learning models to estimate future outcomes such as demand, churn risk or credit default, so decisions can be taken in advance rather than after the fact.

The deep redesign of processes, products and business models around digital technology and data, rather than simply installing new software while leaving existing ways of working unchanged.