The higher the switching costs for industry members, the more it can:
A. limit supplier bargaining power.
B. enhance supplier bargaining power.
C. enhance the quality of parts and components being supplied, and in effect reduce
defect rates.
D. provide important cost savings for the collaborative supplier-seller relationship.
E. limit the supply of products and/or services.
Which of the following does NOT represent a potential core competence?
A. Skills in manufacturing a high-quality product at a low cost
B. Know-how in creating and operating systems for cost-efficient supply chain
management
C. The capability to fill customer orders accurately and swiftly
D. Having a sprawling factory
E. The capability to speed new or next-generation products to the marketplace
When are multiple subcultures MOST problematic?
A. When they are compatible with the overarching corporate culture and are supportive
of strategy-execution
B. When they don’t clash and coordinating efforts to craft and execute strategy within
each subculture is relatively easy
C. When they foster teamwork and support a collaborative approach to strategy
execution
D. When they embrace conflicting business philosophies that are inconsistent with
superior strategy execution
E. When they guide management in coming up with consistent approaches to executing
company strategies
Which of the following firms uses a deliberate strategy?
A. A popular downtown theater that has been staging plays decides to begin booking
rock and roll acts.
B. An airline company cuts frills in order to cope with increasing fuel prices.
C. An IT firm trims jobs during a recession.
D. A smartphone company divests its tablet production branch after not gaining market
share.E. An online jewelry site discontinues its line of turquoise rings due to lack of
demand.
The risks of a focused strategy based on either low-cost or differentiation include the:
A. chance that niche customers will bargain more aggressively for good deals than
customers in the overall marketplace.
B. potential for the preferences and needs of niche members to shift over time toward
product attributes desired by buyers in the mainstream portion of the market.
C. potential for the segment to be highly vulnerable to economic cycles.
D. potential for segment growth to race beyond the production or service capabilities of
incumbent firms.
E. potential for the segment to become too specialized for other multi-segmented rivals
to enter.
Assessments of how a diversified company’s subsidiaries compare in competitive
strength should be based on such factors as:
A. vulnerability to seasonal and cyclical downturns, vulnerability to driving forces, and
vulnerability to fluctuating interest rates and exchange rates.
B. relative market share, the ability to match or beat rivals on key product attributes,
brand image and reputation, costs relative to competitors, and the ability to benefit from
strategic fits with sister businesses.
C. the appeal of its strategy, the relative number of competitive capabilities, the number
of products in each business’s product line, which businesses have the highest/lowest
market shares, and which businesses earn the highest/lowest profits before taxes.
D. the ability to hurdle barriers to entry, value chain attractiveness, and business risk.
E. cost reduction potential, customer satisfaction potential, and comparisons of annual
cash flows from operations.
The two approaches that can make the process of uncovering and identifying a firm’s
capabilities more systematic are:
A. resources assessment and the functional approach.
B. strengths valuations and weaknesses estimations.
C. sustainability resource allocation and resource bundling.
D. cross-functional analysis and collaborative resource methodology.
E. financial statement analysis and management support analysis.
A company’s corporate culture is BEST defined and identified by:
A. the integration of the strategy and business model that a company has adopted.
B. the company’s shared values, ingrained attitudes, core beliefs and company traditions
that determine norms of behavior, accepted work practices of “how we do things around
here,” and styles of operating.
C. its ingrained statement of core values and its internal code of ethics.
D. its internal politics that influence the dedication to ethical conduct and accepted
work practices.
E. the formal traditions that company executives are committed to maintaining to
ensure the company strategy-supportive culture is change resistant.
What is it called when a company sells its goods in foreign markets at prices that are
below the prices at which it normally sells in its home market or well below its full
costs per unit?
A. Dumping practices
B. Price-clearing system
C. Clearance sale
D. Discounting practices
E. Competitive advantage
The key duties of a company’s board of directors in the strategy-making,
strategy-executing process include:
A. coming up with compelling strategy proposals of their own to debate against those
put forward by top management.
B. overseeing the company’s financial accounting and financial reporting practices and
evaluating the caliber of senior executives’ strategy-making/strategy-executing skills.
C. taking the lead in developing the company’s business model and strategic vision.
D. taking the lead in formulating the company’s strategic plan but then delegating the
task of implementing and executing the strategic plan to the company’s CEO and other
senior executives.
E. approving the company’s operating strategies, functional-area strategies, business
strategy, and overall corporate strategy.
Which of the following is NOT a technique that companies employ to embed core
values and ethical standards?
A. Incorporating the statement of values and the code of ethics into orientation
programs for new employees and training courses for managers and employees
B. Making the display of core values and ethical principles a factor in evaluating each
person’s job performance
C. Encouraging everyone to use their influence in helping enforce observance of core
values and ethical standards
D. Using ceremonial occasions to recognize individuals and groups who display the
values and ethical principles
E. Instituting standard practices and procedures for employees to follow as a foundation
for maintaining ethical and cultural norm conflict clashes and behavioral lapses
Identify and discuss the basic tenets, the chief advantages, and the chief disadvantages
of centralized organizational structures.
What factors determine whether a strategy can be called a winning strategy?
Identify the six questions to consider in evaluating a company’s ability to compete
successfully against market rivals.
Company strategies cannot be implemented or executed well without a number of
real-time state-of-the-art support and control information systems to carry out business
operations. Discuss the benefits of real-time systems by industry.
What are the pitfalls to be avoided in pursuing a broad differentiation strategy?