146. Fred has been assigned to conduct a SWOT analysis for his organization, Acme, Inc. As part of this assignment,
Fred will:
a. conduct an external wage survey.
b. search for the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that impact his firm.
c. choose a grand strategy for his firm.
d. do a cost/benefit analysis.
e. develop a mission.
147. Techniques used to monitor external environments include:
a. hiring scanning organizations.
b. hiring the competitive intelligence professionals.
c. government reports.
d. professional journals.
e. all of these.
148. Classy Clay has extremely creative employees who, in the opinion of the organization, keep the company ahead of
the competition. The creativity of these employees would be classified as a(n) .
a. internal weakness
b. external opportunity
c. external strength
d. internal strength
e. neutral factor
149. Paramount, Inc. is particularly concerned about pending legislation in Congress that would further regulate their
organization. This legislation would be classified as a(n) .
a. external opportunity
b. internal strength
c. external threat
d. external weakness
e. congressional chaos
150. Sherri has been asked to participate on a cross-functional task force that is charged with performing an audit
checklist for her advertising firm. The task force will analyze organizational strengths and weaknesses as they
apply to the firm. Sherri’s task is to analyze management quality, staff quality, degree of centralization, and
organizational charts. This level of analysis pertains to which area of the audit?
a. Management and organization
b. Marketing
c. Human resources
d. Research and development
e. Production
151. Where does the information about opportunities and threats comes from?
a. An analysis of the organization’s internal environment
b. A department by department study of the organization
c. Scanning the external environments
d. Employee grievances
e. Financial ratios of the organization
152. The BCG matrix organizes along which of the following dimensions?
a. Market share and profit
b. Sales and market share
c. Business growth rate and market share
d. Business growth rate and profit
e. Sales and profits
153. Double Click, Inc. has a number of strategic business units. Their hand-held computer unit has a large market share
in this rapidly growing industry. Their hand-held computer business would be classified as:
a. a dog.
b. a star.
c. a question mark.
d. a cash cow.
e. stuck in the middle.
154. Which of these is true about the cash cow?
a. It generates tremendous profits in a rapidly growing industry.
b. It has a small market share in a rapidly growing industry.
c. It has a small market share in a slow growth industry.
d. It has a large market share in a slow growth industry.
e. It is generally a dead business that should be divested.
155. The star has a:
a. large market share in a rapidly growing industry.
b. large market share in a slow growth industry.
c. small market share in a rapidly growing industry.
d. small share of a slow growth market.
e. moderate market share in a slow growth industry.
156. Which of the following portfolio categories is made up of poor performers who command only a small share of a
slow growth market?
a. Star
b. Cash cow
c. Question mark
d. Dog
e. Cat
157. The question mark has a:
a. large market share in a rapidly growing industry.
b. large market share in a slow growth industry.
c. small market share in a rapidly growing industry.
d. small share of a slow growth market.
e. moderate market share in a slow growth industry.
158. Which of these is true about the dog division?
a. It has a large market share in a rapidly growing industry.
b. It has a large market share in a slow growth industry.
c. It has a small market share in a rapidly growing industry.
d. It has a small share of a slow growth market.
e. It has a moderate market share in a rapidly growing industry.
159. Gillette operates numerous strategic business units. Most of its units in the personal care division have low market
share but high business growth. These units are classified as .
a. dogs
b. question marks
c. stars
d. cash cows
e. none of these
160. According to the BCG Matrix, which of the following exists in a mature, slow-growth industry, but is a dominant
business in the industry, with a large market share?
a. Question mark
b. Asterisk
c. Dog
d. Star
e. Cash cow
161. Which of the following is a Porter’s competitive strategy?
a. Differentiation
b. Bargaining power of buyers
c. Bargaining power of suppliers
d. Threat of substitute products
e. Potential new entrants
162. Which of the following strategies involves rewarding an employee‘s innovation?
a. Cost leadership
b. Differentiation
c. Focus
d. Internal growth
e. Liquidation
163. The strategy involves seeking efficient facilities, cutting costs and using tight cost controls to be more
efficient than competitors.
a. cost leadership
b. differentiation
c. focus
d. internal growth
e. liquidation
164. With a(n) strategy, the organization concentrates on a specific regional market or buyer group.
a. cost leadership
b. differentiation
c. focus
d. internal growth
e. liquidation
165. Mingles, Inc. concentrates its efforts on its target market of 18 to 25 year olds. It is using a(n) strategy.
a. focus
b. differentiation
c. cost leadership
d. multidomestic
e. universal strategy
Scenario – Theresa Teutul
Theresa Teutul was an executive with Digital Industries, a leading manufacturer of color televisions. She
recognized that the color television market in the late 1970‘s was facing significant challenges. After two decades
of highly successful development and marketing, the sales of color televisions had slowed and replacing older color
television sets largely created her market.
166. Using the logic of the BCG grid, Theresa should recognize that her strategic business unit was in which quadrant?
a. Star
b. Cash Cow
c. Question Mark
d. Dog
e. None of these
167. The strategy that the BCG matrix suggests that Theresa should take for this SBU is:
a. invest and grow.
b. liquidate while still profitable.
c. ask her astrologer for advice.
d. keep the SBU healthy and use its excess earnings to invest in other SBU’s.
e. divestiture.
168. Swift Stock’s traditional brokerage business could be classified as a .
a. cash cow
b. dog
c. star
d. question mark
e. stuck in the middle business
169. SS.com subsidiary for Swift Stocks can be classified as a .
a. cash cow
b. dog
c. star
d. question mark
e. stuck in the middle business
170. If Swift Stock’s traditional brokerage business were to face a declining business growth, it may need to be
reclassified as a .
a. cash cow
b. dog
c. star
d. question mark
e. dead business
171. is the set of decisions and actions used to formulate and implement strategies that will provide a
competitively superior fit between the organization and its environment so as to achieve organizational goals.
172. The plan of action that prescribes resource allocation and other activities for dealing with the environment and
helping the organization attain its goals is called a(n) .
173. A business activity that an organization does particularly well relative to its competition is known as a(n) .
174. The use of managerial and organizational tools to direct resources toward accomplishing strategic results is known
as _____.
175. In the BCG matrix, the dog has market share and business growth rate.
176. In the BCG matrix, the star has a(n) market share in a rapidly growing industry.
177. With a(n) strategy, the organization aggressively seeks efficient facilities, pursues cost reductions, and uses
tight cost controls to produce products more efficiently than competitors.
178. With a(n) strategy, the organization concentrates on a specific regional market or buyer group.
179. List the four components of a SWOT analysis.
180. Briefly describe the Boston Consulting Group matrix, including its dimensions, quadrants, and strategic
recommendations.
181. Briefly discuss Porter’s three competitive strategies.