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Chapter 09 - Multibusiness Strategy
50. (p. 265) Skills in achieving differentiation characterize winners in ________ businesses
51. (p. 265) The two dimensions in the BCG’s Strategic Environments matrix are ____ and
_____ of competitive advantage.
52. (p. 266) The only relationship between business units with the portfolio matrix is:
53. (p. 266) Which of the following is NOT a limitation of the portfolio approaches?
54. (p. 266) The ______ portrays the notion that firms need to be self-sufficient in capital.
55. (p. 270) Opportunities to build value via diversification, integration or joint venture strategies
are usually NOT found in which of the following?
56. (p. 269) __________ is concerned with whether or not the potential competitive advantages
expected to arise from each value opportunity have materialized.
57. (p. 269) The most compelling reason companies should diversify can be found in situations
where _______ can be leveraged with other products or into markets that are not a part of
where they were created.
58. (p. 270) Enhanced bargaining power with distributors and retailers to gain shelf space, shelf
positioning, stronger push, more dealer attention and better profit margins represents which of
the following sources of value building in multi-business companies?
59. (p. 271) Which of the following represents an operating opportunity to build value or
sharing?
60. (p. 269) The most compelling reason companies should diversify can be found in situations
when:
61. (p. 273) The core competency must represent a major source of value to be a basis for
competitive advantage. Furthermore, the core competence:
62. (p. 273) _______ is those that rely on the same or similar capabilities to be successful and
attain competitive advantage in their respective product markets.
63. (p. 273) Situations that involve _______ occur when no real overlapping capabilities or
products exist other than financial resources.
64. (p. 273) The least profitable firms are:
65. (p. 273) For competitive advantage to be sustainable, any combination of competencies must
be:
66. (p. 274) Realizing ____ from shared capabilities and core competencies is a key way value is
added in multibusiness companies.
67. (p. 274) In the parenting framework, the corporate office of a multibusiness company is the
68. (p. 274) The _________ perspective sees multi-business companies as creating value by
influencing the businesses they own.
69. (p. 275) Ensuring that certain issues are addressed, objectively assessed and assisting in any
resolution may be a parenting opportunity that could add value. These issues--like attracting
and keeping people with specialized skills--are:
70. (p. 275) Consider Vepco, a company that began as a rocket propulsion development firm and
grew through vertical integration. The firm is trying to figure out how to keep pace with the
accelerated trends toward outsourcing that has developed in the last 10 years. Which type of
71. (p. 275) Lengthy product life cycles can lead to over reliance on old products. This is an
example of:
72. (p. 275) Whether apparent or not, _______ among business units within or outside the parent
company may be complex or difficult to establish without parent company help.
73. (p. 275) Governments, regulators, unions and suppliers represent ________ who potentially
could be managed more effectively by the parent, than by the individual business units.
74. (p. 275) The fact that ______ may exist in classifying sources of parenting opportunity is a
minor consideration, relative to the value of the parenting framework for strategic analysis in
multi-business companies.
75. (p. 278) The duration of an advantage in patching is:
76. (p. 278) _______ is the process by which corporate executives routinely remap businesses to
match rapidly changing market opportunities.
77. (p. 278) When markets are turbulent and rapidly changing, _______ is seen as critical to the
creation of economic value in a multi-business company.
78. (p. 278) The strategic logic of patching is to:
79. (p. 279) Under the ________ approach, establishing a vision, building resources and
leveraging across markets are all strategic steps to be taken by the firm.
80. (p. 278) According to the patching approach, strategic analysis should:
81. (p. 278) Eisenhardt and Sull suggest that managers should flexibly seize opportunities:
82. (p. 279) The position-based approach to strategy works best in:
83. (p. 279) Which type of simple rules help managers rank the accepted opportunities?
84. (p. 279) _________ focus on which opportunities can be pursued and which ones are beyond
pursuing.
85. (p. 279) Firms should use _______ to help managers decide when to pull out of old
opportunities that are no longer promising.
86. (p. 279) Gizmo Co. has rules for product development. Its project teams must know when a
product has to be delivered to the customer and total product development time must be less
than 1 year. This represents an example of:
87. (p. 279) Spelling out key features of how a process is executed is the purpose of which type
of simple rules?
88. (p. 279) Simple rules need to:
89. (p. 279) _______ need to be brief, be axiomatic and convey fundamental guidelines to
decisions or actions.
90. (p. 279) The fundamental argument of the _______ approach is that no one can predict how
long a competitive advantage will last, particularly in turbulent markets.
Chapter 09 - Multibusiness Strategy
Essay Questions
91. What are portfolio techniques? How do they help multibusiness firms?
Learning Objective: 2
92. Describe the elements of the BCG growth-share matrix.
Learning Objective: 2
93. What is the industry attractiveness-business strength matrix? How does this improve upon
the BCG matrix?
Learning Objective: 2
94. Identify and describe the four industry environments defined by the two dimensions of
BCG's strategic environments matrix.
95. Identify some critical limitations and shortcomings of the portfolio approach to strategic
analysis.
Learning Objective: 3
96. What two elements are critical in meaningful shared opportunities? Identify each and give
an example.
Learning Objective: 4
97. Why must each core competency provide a relevant competitive advantage to the intended
businesses when pursuing a synergy approach?
Learning Objective: 4
98. What does it mean to leverage core competencies?
99. What is the parenting framework? Briefly describe this perspective.
Learning Objective: 5
100. Describe size, age, management, business definition, linkages and other factors as the
focus of strategic analysis and choice across multiple businesses and their interface with a
Learning Objective: 5
101. What is patching? Describe patching and its corporate focus.
