The Millennial generation expects employers to provide incentives to attract and retain
them. A company that does this will have a competitive advantage.
The power of suppliers will be enhanced if they are able to maintain a credible threat of
forward integration.
Restructuring requires the corporate office to find either poorly performing firms with
unrealized potential or firms in industries on the threshold of significant, positive
change.
Opportunity recognition involves two phases of activity: discovery and execution.
The term skunkworks is used to refer to a type of in-house facility that corporations use
to develop entrepreneurial ideas.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 does not provide legal protection to employee
whistleblowers of publicly traded companies.
Entrepreneurship refers to new value creation and can include activities in major
corporations.
Reverse innovation occurs when a company develops a product that meets the needs of
a developed country and then adapts it to the needs of the developing country.
Boundaries and constraints, when used properly, can minimize improper and unethical
conduct.
Given the attractiveness of premium pricing during the growth stage of the market life
cycle, managers should emphasize short-term results to increase profits.
Pandora, launched in 2000, radically changes the radio business with its Music Genome
Project system that analyzes music for its underlying traits. This is an example of a
pioneering new entry strategy.
Policies and procedures guide employee behavior, but are effective only if they are
reinforced with specific corporation action such as enforcement and monitoring.
Through joint ventures, firms can directly acquire the assets and competencies of other
firms.
For a core competency to create value and provide a viable basis for synergy among the
businesses in a corporation it must at least create superior customer value and it must be
difficult to imitate.
Shareholders rely on CEOs to adopt policies and strategies that maximize the value of
their shares. To motivate CEOs to maximize the value of their companies, boards of
directors can consider all of the following options except one. Which one is it?
A. Boards can require that the CEOs become substantial owners of company stock.
B. Salaries, bonuses, and stock options can be structures to provide rewards for superior
performance.
C. Salaries can be structured to provide penalties for poor performance.
D. Dismissal for poor performance is not an option.
An organization such as ConAgra that has dozens of different divisions with similar
products will probably have the greatest success with which form of organization
structure?
A. functional structure
B. matrix structure
C. strategic business unit structure
D. holding company structure
In the __________ stage of the industry life cycle, the emphasis on product design is
very high, the intensity of competition is low, and the market growth rate is low.
A. growth
B. maturity
C. introduction
D. decline
Cooperative relationships such as __________ have potential advantages such as
entering new markets, reducing manufacturing (or other) costs in the value chain, and
developing and diffusing new technologies.
A. joint ventures
B. mergers
C. acquisitions
D. joint ventures and strategic alliances
Which of the following is not a reason for merger and acquisition failures?
A. The acquiring company pays too high a premium for the common stock of the target
company.
B. Top executives act in their best interests rather than those of the shareholders.
C. The acquired company assets are poorly integrated into the acquiring company
business lines.
D. The acquisition leads to value creation.
Square provides a means for small businesses to process credit and debit card sales
without signing up for a traditional credit card arrangement of monthly fees and
minimum charges. It used which new entry strategy to enter the market initially?
A. imitative
B. pioneering
C. adaptive
D. differentiated
Advertising is a __________ activity. Supply of replacement parts is a __________
activity.
A. support; primary
B. support; secondary
C. primary; support
D. primary; primary
Financial reasons for undertaking internal corporate venturing include _____________.
A. strengthening competitive position
B. obtaining above average returns
C. adding to the resource base of the corporation
D. reducing stakeholder commitment
What advantages does outsourcing not provide an organization?
A. accessing best in class goods and services
B. enabling rapid expansion with relatively low capital investment
C. focusing scarce resources on core competencies
D. improved buyer positioning
High pressure for local adaptation combined with high pressure for lower costs would
suggest what type of international strategy?
A. global strategy
B. multidomestic strategy
C. transnational strategy
D. differentiation strategy
What type of organization is defined as a central hub surrounded by networks of outside
suppliers and specialists?
A. matrix organization
B. virtual organization
C. modular organization
D. barrier-free organization
In the Five-Forces model, conditions under which a supplier group can be powerful
include all the following EXCEPT:
A. lack of importance of the buyer to the supplier group
B. high differentiation by the supplier
C. dominance by a few suppliers
D. readily available substitute products
Which of the following statements about the introduction stage of the market life cycle
is TRUE?
A. It produces relatively large, positive cash flows.
B. Strong brand recognition seldom serves as an important switching cost.
C. Market share gains by pioneers are usually easily sustained for many years.
D. Products or services offered by pioneers may be perceived as differentiated because
they are new.
The hierarchy of organizational goals is in this order (least specific to most specific):
A. vision statements, strategic objectives, mission statements
B. mission statements, strategic objectives, vision statements
C. vision statements, mission statements, strategic objectives
D. mission statements, vision statements, strategic objectives
In the knowledge economy, if a large portion of company value is in intellectual and
human assets, the difference between the market value and book value of the company
should ___________ a company with mostly physical and financial assets.
A. be equal to
B. be larger than
C. be smaller than
D. not be correlated with
Individual rationality ______________ organizational rationality.
A. is a good indicator of
B. will ensure
C. is often the opposite of
D. does not always guarantee
An antitakeover tactic in which existing shareholders have the option to buy additional
shares of stock at a discount to the current market price is called ______.
A. greenmail
B. a golden parachute
C. a poison pill
D. scorched earth
Which of the following is not a primary source of financing for entrepreneurial
start-ups?
A. investments by family and friends
B. personal savings
C. private investors
D. public equity
Lack of a clear understanding of organizational goals and objectives is a probable cause
of _____________.
A. productive behavior
B. counterproductive motivation
C. counterproductive behavior
D. motivated self-interest
Explain how competitor intelligence can be improved by gathering information about
competitors in the public domain. Provide examples.
Discuss the uses and limitations of the modular organizational structure. What is the
role of outsourcing in the modular organization?
Discuss the competitive advantage of a resource that is difficult to imitate, using an
example from a real business that supports your argument.
Is CEO duality good or bad? Summarize the two schools of thought that represent
alternate positions on this issue.
Identify the five components of emotional intelligence (EI). Discuss how each of these
factors contributes to the success of a leader or manager.
Successful boundaryless organizations rely heavily on the relational aspects of
organizations. Discuss the benefits and costs of what must be considered, when
choosing to develop such relationships with internal and external stakeholders.