38. The World Resources Institute has defined:
39. A firm succeeds on its ability to deliver products to customers more quickly than rival
companies in its industry. This skill is an example of the firm’s:
40. SWOT analysis, a valuable analysis tool, stands for:
41. Which of the following perspectives of a Balanced Scorecard would most likely be the
ultimate goal in a strategy map for a public company?
42. Some of the indicators of a growing concern for sustainability include:
43. Patagonia, maker of clothing and gear for outdoor enthusiasts, is very conscious of
sustainability issues. The company chose not to produce a product because:
44. The increase of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies has caused firms in the U.S.to:
45. NAFTA and WTO refer to:
46. The five steps of strategic decision-making include all of the following steps except:
47. A final step in the SWOT analysis is to identify quantitative measures for the:
48. Which of the following is least likely to be a critical success factor for a cost leadership
firm?
49. All of the following are required resources for differentiation except:
50. All of the following are required resources for cost leadership except:
51. Which of the following is not a term used for a phase of the value chain?
52. Which of the following measures would likely be found on the financial perspective
section of a balanced scorecard?
53. A measure of research and development on the balanced scorecard could include:
54. Which of the following is not a reason why global companies choose to report on
corporate responsibility?
55. Which of the following is not an environmental performance indicator?
56. The Global Reporting Initiative is an independent group that partners with other groups to
address the measurement of sustainability, including a partnership with:
57. Michael Porter’s five competitive forces include which one of the following?
58. Effective execution of the cost leadership strategy requires all of the following except:
59. The differentiation strategy requires all of the following resources, except:
60. Automobile engines have become more complex over the past twenty years, partly as a
result of environmental concerns about exhaust contaminants. Engineers have developed two
basic approaches to solving the contaminant problem. The first emphasized the catalytic
converter, a modification of the automobile exhaust system designed to break down pollutants.
The second emphasized redesign of the automobile engine’s combustion process, which adds
more than twice the cost of the catalytic converter alone. However, redesigning the combustion
process usually results in improved full efficiency.
Required:
(a) Comment on the strategic advantage of redesigning the combustion process versus simply
adding a catalytic converter.
(b) What are the ethical questions, if any, that should be addressed in the above decision?
61. Studebaker Corporation, one of the earliest auto manufacturers, prospered in the late
1940’s and into the 1950’s. Its advertising after World War II emphasized quality of design and
production. The corporation also used the stability of its work force in its advertisements, often
featuring pictures of father and son working side by side in its factories.
Required:
(a) From just this brief description of Studebaker Corporation, which type of competitive
strategy-cost leadership or differentiation,-would you guess Studebaker was using? Explain your
choice.
(b) Given your answer in Part (a), speculate on what market factors might have caused the
corporation to go into bankruptcy and cease production in the mid-1960s.
62. Many products in the marketplace today are built from components designed and
manufactured by sub-contractors. While the extent of this practice is not well known to
consumers, manufacture and sale of multi-component units that use parts from many different
companies continues to grow.
Required:
If the assembling company is using value-chain analysis in its strategic planning, comment on the
following:
(a) The cost justification for subcontracting.
(b) The willingness of consumers to buy products they know contain subcontracted parts.
(c) The problems of quality control facing the assembling company.