The school of ethical universalism holds that:
A. concepts of right and wrong are not absolute and leave room for deviation from
country to country or circumstance to circumstance.
B. concepts of right and wrong are universal within countries but not across countries
and cultures.
C. concepts of right and wrong are governed by the Global Code of Ethical and Social
Morality.
D. the most fundamental conceptions of right and wrong are universal and apply to
members of all societies, all companies, and all businesspeople.E. there are multiple
sets of standards concerning what is ethically right or wrong that are universally
applicable to citizens of a country.
Which of the following does NOT qualify as potential driving forces capable of
inducing fundamental changes in industry and competitive conditions?
A. Changes in who buys the product and how they use it, and changes in the long-term
industry growth rate
B. Changes brought about by the entry or exit of major firms, product innovation, and
marketing innovation and cost efficiency
C. Changes in the economic power and bargaining leverage of customers and suppliers,
growing supplier-seller collaboration, and growing buyer-seller collaboration
D. Changes in buyer preferences for differentiated products instead of mostly
standardized or identical products
E. Changes in economies of scale and experience curve effects brought on by changes
in manufacturing technology and new Internet capabilities
A strategy to be the industry’s overall low-cost provider tends to be more appealing than
a differentiation or best-cost or focus/market niche strategy when:
A. there are many ways to achieve product differentiation that buyers find appealing.
B. buyers use the product in a variety of different ways and have high switching costs in
changing from one seller’s product to another.
C. the offerings of rival firms are essentially identical, standardized, commodity-like
products.
D. entry barriers are high and competition from substitutes is relatively weak.
E. the market is composed of many distinct segments with varying buyer needs and
expectations.
Which of the following is NOT generally a “driving force” capable of producing
fundamental changes in industry and competitive conditions?
A. Changes in the long-term industry growth rate
B. Increasing globalization of the industry
C. Product innovation and technological change
D. Movement in the economy and in interest rates
E. Regulatory influences and government policy changes
Telsteer Mobil, a smartphone manufacturer, is working on developing its
next-generation products. It has decided on a strategy of focusing on a narrow buyer
segment and outcompeting rivals by offering buyers customized product features for
specialized needs and tastes. What basic strategic approach has Telsteer decided upon?
A. Focused differentiation
B. Best-cost provider
C. Low-cost provider
D. Broad differentiation
E. Focused low-cost
Which of the following is NOT likely to be an effective management action (making a
compelling case to employees) about culture-remodeling efforts that can create a better
strategy-culture fit?
A. Citing reasons why and how certain behavioral norms and work practices in the
current culture pose obstacles to good execution of new strategic initiatives
B. Explaining how new behaviors and work practices that are to be introduced and have
important roles in the new culture will be more advantageous and produce better results
C. Calling upon first-level supervisors and rank-and-file employees to identify cultural
barriers to good strategy execution and then to lead the cultural change effort
D. Granting pay raises to individuals who step out front, lead the adoption of the
desired work practices, display the new-style behaviors, and achieve pace-setting
results
E. Revising policies and procedures in ways that will help drive cultural change
Which of the following is NOT a risk of cross-border alliances between domestic and
foreign firms?
A. Overcoming language and cultural barriers
B. Launching new initiatives to stay abreast of shifting market conditions
C. Developing mutually agreeable ways of dealing with key issues or differences
D. Disengaging from the alliance once its purpose has been served
E. Becoming overly dependent on foreign partners for essential expertise
A diversified company’s business units exhibit good resource fit when:
A. each business is a cash cow.
B. its businesses add to a company’s overall resource strengths and have matching
resource requirements and/or when the parent has adequate corporate resources to
support its business needs and add value.
C. each business is sufficiently profitable to generate an attractive return on invested
capital.
D. each business unit produces large internal cash flows over and above what is needed
to build and maintain the business.
E. the resource requirements of each business exactly match the company’s available
resources.
In which of the following instances is retrenching to a narrower diversification base
NOT likely to be an attractive or advisable strategy for a diversified company?
A. When a diversified company has struggled to make certain businesses attractively
profitable
B. When a diversified company has too many cash cows
C. When one or more businesses are cash hogs with questionable long-term potential
D. When businesses in once-attractive industries have badly deteriorated
E. When a diversified company has businesses that have little or no strategic or
resource fits with the “core” businesses that management wishes to concentrate on
Which of the following is NOT part of a senior executive’s agenda in big organizations
with geographically scattered operating units?
A. Communicating the case for change
B. Directing resources to the right places
C. Building consensus for how to proceed
D. Establishing deadlines and measures of progress
E. Orchestrating the action steps and implementation sequence
Each of the following is likely to help a company’s low-cost provider strategy succeed
EXCEPT:
A. resources and capabilities to keep costs below those of its competitors.
B. cost-effective management of value chain activities better than rivals.
C. effective leveraging of cost drivers.
D. having the innovative capability to bypass certain value chain activities being
performed by rivals.
E. capabilities to simultaneously deliver lower cost and higher-quality/differentiated
features.
The difference between a company’s strategy and a company’s business model is that:
A. a company’s strategy is management’s game plan for achieving strategic objectives
while its business model is management’s game plan for achieving financial objectives.
B. the strategy concerns how to compete successfully and the business model concerns
how to operate efficiently.
C. a company’s strategy is management’s game plan for realizing the strategic vision,
whereas a company’s business model is the game plan for accomplishing its corporate
responsibility goals.
D. strategy relates broadly to a company’s competitive moves and business approaches
while its business model relates to whether the revenues flowing from the strategy are
sufficient to cover costs and realize a profit.
E. a company’s strategy is solely concerned with how to please customers while its
business model is solely concerned with how to please shareholders.
The extent to which a firm’s internal activities encompass one, some, many, or all of the
activities that make up an industry’s entire value chain system is known as:
A. horizontal scale.
B. vertical scope.
C. outsourcing scope.
D. cooperative scaled scope.E. focal scope.
Which one of the following is NOT an important aspect of evaluating the merits of a
diversified company’s strategy?
A. Assessing the competitive strength of each business the company has diversified into
B. Determining which business units are cash cows and which ones are cash hogs, and
then evaluating how soon the company’s cash hogs can be transformed into cash cows
C. Evaluating the strategic fits and resource fits among the various sister businesses
D. Assessing the attractiveness of the industries the company has diversified into, both
individually and as a group
E. Ranking the performance prospects of the businesses from best to worst and deciding
what priority to give each of the company’s business units in allocating resources