TMC Vocabulary
Compiled by Chris Halliwell, TMC Director
Expected Product
Expected Product service and product attributes which reduce total cost and cycle time associated with use of the Generic Product. Expected elements reflect concessions in the cost of doing business typically available from all suppliers in the category. Benchmark metrics for Expected Product performance are set by the category's best-in-class supplier, and are typically associated with investments in manufacturing, delivery and support infrastructure. Failure of the supplier to perform to benchmark metrics will result in loss of market share, product margin, or both.
Flanking Strategy
Flanking Strategy, the most innovative maneuver available to fight a marketing war, must be executed in an emerging market without an established Market Leader. The success of a flanking maneuver is dependant upon the traditional market share leader's reluctance to acknowledge and invest in the emerging market, and upon the rate of emerging market growth. Since success depends on the capture of new growth opportunity against an established competitor, the element of stealth, and then surprise, are critical to Flanking Strategy success.
Generic Product:
Generic Product elements that deliver the inherent value of the technology category upon which your products or services are based. Technology category benefits are expressed as measures of price/performance value versus alternative methods and technologies. As the technology category matures, benchmarks for Generic Product price/performance measures advance, forcing continuous investment in the core technology. However large these continuous investments by suppliers may be, Generic Product elements are just "table stakes" to be considered a viable supplier in the category.
