Management of Technology
GLOSSARY
Acquisition The purchase of one company by another
Adoption process The mental process through which an individual passes from first hearing about an innovation to final adoption.
Advertising Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.
Behavioral segmentation Dividing a market into groups based on consumer knowledge, attitude, use, or response to a product.
Benchmarking The process of comparing the company’s products and processes to those of competitors or leading firms in other industries
to find ways to improve quality and performance.
Benefit segmentation Dividing the market into groups according to the different benefits that consumers seek from the product.
Brand A name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of these intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of
sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.
Brand equity The value of a brand, based on the extent to which it has high brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality, strong brand
associations, and other assets such as patents, trademarks, and channel relationships.
Break-even pricing An approach to pricing in which the price of a unit of the product is set high enough to cover the variable costs of
producing that unit as well as the fixed costs of producing the product.
Benchmarking Process by which a company implements the best practices from its own past performance and those of other companies to
improve its own products
Branding Process of using symbols to communicate the qualities of a product made by a particular producer
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Management of Technology
Business ethics Ethical or unethical behaviors by a manager or employer of an organization
Catalog marketing Direct marketing through print, video, or electronic catalogs that are mailed to select customers, made available in stores,
or presented online.
Co-branding The practice of using the established brand names of two different companies on the same product.
Competitive advantage An advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either through lower prices or by
providing more benefits that justify higher prices.
Countertrade International trade involving the direct or indirect exchange of goods for other goods instead of cash. Forms include barter,
compensation (buyback), and counter purchase.
Consumer behavior Various facets of the decision process by which customers come to purchase and consume products
Corporate culture The shared experiences, stories, beliefs, and norms that characterize an organization
Demarketing Marketing to reduce demand temporarily or permanently; the aim is not to destroy demand but only to reduce or shift it.
Differentiated marketing A market-coverage strategy in which a firm decides to target several market segments and designs separate offers
for each.
Direct marketing An approach to marketing that uses one or more advertising media to affect a measurable response.
Dumping Practice of selling a product abroad for less than the cost of production
Early adopters Consumers who buy a product early in its life cycle and influence other people to buy it.
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Management of Technology
Early majority Consumers who wait and watch others before adopting a new product.
Enlightened marketing A marketing philosophy holding that a company’s marketing should support the best long-run performance of the
marketing system; its five principles include consumer oriented marketing, innovative marketing, value marketing, sense-of-mission
marketing, and societal marketing.
Exclusive distribution Strategy by which a manufacturer grants exclusive rights to distribute or sell a product to a limited number of
wholesalers or retailers in a given geographic area
Extranet Intranet allowing outsiders access to a firm's internal information system
Flat organizational structure Characteristic of decentralized companies with relatively few layers of management and relatively wide spans
of control
Futures contract Agreement to purchase specified amounts of a commodity at a given price on a set future date
Focus group Market research technique in which a group of people is gathered, presented with an issue, and asked to discuss it in depth
Foreign direct investment Arrangement in which a firm buys or establishes tangible assets in another country
Franchise A legal contractual relationship between a supplier and one or more independent retailers. The franchisee gains an established
brand name while the franchisor gains financial remuneration as well as some control over how the business is run.
Firewall Software and hardware system that prevents outsiders from accessing a company's internal network
Functional departmentalization Departmentalization according to group’s functions or activities
Goodwill Amount paid for an existing business above the value of its other assets
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Management of Technology
General partnership Business with two or more owners who share in both the operation of the firm and in financial responsibility for its
debts
Hybrid marketing channel Multichannel distribution system in which a single firm sets up two or more marketing channels to reach one or
more customer segments
Innovators Consumers who are ready and willing to adopt a new idea.
Intranet Private network of internal Web sites and other sources of information available to a company's employees
Interactive marketing Nonstore retailing that uses a Web site to provide real time sales and customer service
Industrial Revolution Major mid-eighteenth century change in production characterized by a shift to the factory system, mass production,
and the specialization of labor
International Monetary Fund (IMF) United Nations agency consisting of about 150 nations that have combined resources to promote
stable exchange rates, provide temporary short-term loans, and serve other purposes
Joint venture Strategic alliance in which the collaboration involves joint ownership of new venture
Just-in-time (JIT) production Production method that brings together all materials and parts needed at each production stage at the precise
moment they are required
Local area network (LAN) Network of computers and workstations, usually within a company, that are linked together by cable
Laggards Consumers who are strongly oriented toward the past and very suspicious of new concepts, they are the last to adopt a new product.
Market penetration A strategy for company growth by increasing sales of current products to current market segments without changing the
product.
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Management of Technology
Marketing mix The set of controllable tactical marketing tools-product, price, place, and promotion that the firm blends to produce the
response it wants in the target market.
Mission statement A statement of the organizations purpose what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment.
Marketing The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create
exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives
Marketing research The study of consumer needs and wants and the ways in which sellers can best meet them
Mission statement Organization's statement of how it will achieve its purpose in the environment in which it conducts its business
Monopoly Market or industry in which there is only one producer, which can therefore set the prices of its products
Niche marketing Focusing on sub segments or niches with distinctive traits that may seek a special combination of benefits.
Perfect competition A competitive situation in which there are many buyers and sellers, perfect market information, few or no barriers to
entry, and homogeneous products.
Personal selling Person-to-person communication in which the receiver provides immediate feedback to the source’s message.
Positioning A process in which a marketer communicates with consumers to establish a distinct place for its product or brand in their minds.
Product life cycle (PLC) The course of a product's sales and profits over its lifetime. It involves five distinct stages: product development,
introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
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Management of Technology
Pull strategy A promotion strategy that calls for spending a lot on advertising and consumer promotion to build up consumer demand. If the
strategy is successful, consumers will ask their retailers for the product, the retailers will ask the wholesalers, and the wholesalers will ask the
producers.
Push strategy A promotion strategy that calls for using the sales force and trade promotion to push the product through channels. The
producer promotes the product to wholesalers, the wholesalers promote to retailers, and the retailers promote to consumers.
Penetration pricing Setting an initial low price to establish a new product in the market
Promotion Aspect of the marketing mix concerned with the most effective techniques for selling a product
Pricing Process of determining what a company will receive in exchange for its products
Product Good, service, or idea that is marketed to fill consumer needs and wants
Strategic planning The process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organization's goals and capabilities and its
changing marketing opportunities. It involves defining a clear company mission, setting supporting objectives, designing a sound business
portfolio, and coordinating functional strategies.
Scenario analysis A forecasting technique in which researchers develop a subjective picture of several possible futures by identifying
cause-and-effect relationships and following them to their logical conclusions.
Strategic alliance (or joint venture) Arrangement in which a company finds a foreign partner to contribute approximately half of the
resources needed to establish and operate a new business in the partner's country
Target market A set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve.
Total quality management (TQM) Programs designed to constantly improve the quality of products, services, and marketing processes.
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Management of Technology
Telemarketing Nonstore retailing in which the telephone is used to sell directly to consumers
Vertical marketing system (VMS) A distribution channel structure in which producers, wholesalers, and retailers act as a unified system.
One channel member owns the others, has contracts with them, or has so much power that they all cooperate.
Word-of-mouth influence Personal communication about a product between target buyers and neighbors, friends, family members, and
associates.
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