“TQM” refers to
A) Total Questioning Methods.
B) Terrible Quantitative Management.
C) Tremulous Qualitative Methodology.
D) Total Quality Management.
E) Total Quality Methods.
Answer:
The concept that suggests that unit production costs decline by some fixed percent each
time the total accumulated volume of production in units doubles is referred to as
A) the experience curve.
B) the R&D mix.
C) technological competence.
D) economy of scale.
E) economy of scope.
Answer:
During Stage V of the organizational life cycle, the popular strategy is
A) concentration in a niche.
B) horizontal and vertical growth.
C) liquidation or bankruptcy.
D) concentric and conglomerate diversification.
E) profit strategy followed by retrenchment.
Answer:
Which of the following is true in regards to competitive intelligence?
A) The Economic Espionage Act makes it illegal to steal any material that a business
has taken “reasonable efforts” to keep secret.
B) The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals urges strategists to stay within
the law and to act ethically when searching for information.
C) The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals states that illegal activities are
foolish because the vast majority of worthwhile competitive intelligence is available
publicly via annual reports, websites, and libraries.
D) A number of firms hire consultants with questionable reputations who do what is
necessary to get information when the selected methods do not meet SPIC ethical
standards or are illegal.
E) all of the above
Answer:
Incentives based on meeting strict quantitative targets is a common organizational
requirement for which of Porter’s generic competitive strategies?
A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) cost leadership focus
D) differentiation focus
E) collusion
Answer:
An emphasis on monitoring those few things which must go well to ensure corporate
success is reflected in
A) the 60/40 rule.
B) the 30/70 rule.
C) the 80/20 rule.
D) success factors.
E) key performance measures.
Answer:
The term used in strategic implementation that describes a system of sequential steps or
techniques that describe in detail how a particular task or job is to be done is
A) program.
B) guidelines.
C) budgets.
D) course of action.
E) procedures.
Answer:
Which type of chief executive officer with a conservative style, a production or
engineering background, and experience with controlling budgets, capital expenditures,
inventories, and standardization procedures would be appropriate for a corporation
following a stability strategy?
A) professional liquidator
B) dynamic industry expert
C) turnaround specialist
D) analytical portfolio manager
E) cautious profit planner
Answer:
Which one of the following is included in the firm’s societal environment?
A) competitors
B) economic forces
C) resources
D) governments
E) special interest groups
Answer:
Which of the following is NOT one of the eight current sociocultural trends mentioned
in the text?
A) increasing environmental awareness
B) growth of the seniors market
C) decline of the mass market
D) increasing food consumption
E) impact of Generation Y boomlet
Answer:
A secret salary cap was the contention in a 2012 collusion lawsuit filed against
A) KFC.
B) the National Football League.
C) GE.
D) Major League Baseball.
E) ESPN.
Answer:
As defined by the text, synergy is the concept
A) that involves adding different products or divisions to the corporation.
B) that supports divestiture of one corporation by another.
C) that two firms can generate more profits together than separately.
D) that a corporation can enter one or more businesses that are necessary to
manufacture its own product.
E) that two functional areas of a corporation can coordinate their work as a team.
Answer:
What characterizes the planning mode of strategy formulation?
A) Top management believes that the environment is a force to be used and controlled.
B) It assumes the environment is too complex to be completely comprehended.
C) It involves the systematic gathering of appropriate information for situation analysis,
the generation of feasible alternative strategies, and the rational selection of the most
appropriate strategy.
D) Rather than utilizing a proactive search for new opportunities, it only has the
opportunity for reactive behavior.
E) It is based on vision and large-picture strategy.
Answer:
The formula which predicts the likelihood of a corporation going bankrupt is called
A) the return on investment.
B) the CAPM.
C) the index of sustainable growth.
D) operating cash flow.
E) the Z-value.
Answer:
Which method of managing disparate cultures is the most common and most
destructive method of dealing with two different cultures because one company
imposes its demands at the expense of another company’s culture?
A) separation
B) deculturation
C) integration
D) assimilation
E) segmentation
Answer:
Which of the following is NOT one of the advantages of portfolio analysis?
A) The graphic depiction facilitates communication.
B) It provides the basis for impartial objectivity from which to make decisions.
C) It encourages top management to evaluate each of the corporation’s businesses
individually.
D) It raises the issue of cash flow availability for use in expansion and growth.
E) It stimulates the use of externally oriented data to supplement management’s
judgment.
Answer:
Which of the following is NOT a reason why the growth strategy is so desirable?
A) There are more opportunities for advancement and promotion.
B) A corporation that experiences successful growth is thought of positively by the
marketplace and potential investors.
C) A large and growth-oriented corporation has more clout and influence.
D) A growing firm can cover up mistakes and inefficiencies because of the increase in
cash flow revenue.
E) A large and growing firm attracts more acquisition offers.
Answer:
Which financial indicator measures the number of one day’s worth of inventory that a
company has on hand at any given time?
A) days of cash
B) days of inventory
C) average collection period
D) fixed asset turnover
E) inventory turnover
Answer:
The concept that proposes private corporations have responsibilities to society that
extend beyond making a profit is known as
A) flexible responsibility.
B) social responsibility.
C) social flexibility.
D) managerial responsibility.
E) profit maximization.
Answer:
Under Stage III, when various units of the company optimize their sales and profits
without regard to the overall corporation, the organization may be experiencing a
A) crisis of leadership.
B) crisis of control.
C) crisis of autonomy.
D) crisis of decentralization.
E) crisis of empowerment.
Answer:
When AT&T acquired NCR Corporation, the NCR managers were replaced with an
AT&T management team. Which management strategy was employed in terms of
culture?
A) integration
B) separation
C) deculturation
D) assimilation
E) segmentation
Answer:
When components are standardized and each machine functions like a job shop but is
positioned in the same order as the parts are processed, this setup is known as
A) mass customization.
B) connected line batch flow.
C) connected job flow.
D) mass batch flow.
E) mass job flow.
Answer:
Which of the following is NOT one of the four major issues researched by the S & P
Corporate governance Scoring System?
A) ownership structure and influence
B) research and development initiatives
C) financial stakeholder rights and relations
D) financial transparency and information disclosures
E) board structure and processes
Answer:
As an industry becomes hypercompetitive, firms initially respond by
A) raising entry barriers.
B) moving into untapped markets.
C) attacking the strongholds of other firms.
D) competing on cost and quality.
E) working their way to a situation of perfect competition.
Answer:
Which of the following is NOT descriptive of the “threat of new entrants”?
A) depends on the presence of entry barriers
B) have a desire to gain market share
C) depends on the reaction of existing competitors
D) does not impact industry attractiveness
E) brings new capacity and substantial resources
Answer:
All of the following criteria reflect survey findings of the characteristics of a good
director EXCEPT
A) willing to challenge management when necessary.
B) expertise on global business issues.
C) understands the firm’s key technologies and processes.
D) available for outside meetings to advise management.
E) willing to always agree with executive decisions.
Answer:
Which one of the following is NOT descriptive of the experience/learning curve?
A) It is very useful because it is consistent for all organizations within a particular
industry.
B) It is used to estimate the production cost of a product produced by newly introduced
techniques or processes.
C) The experience curve varies by industry and is based on many variables.
D) The concept was first applied in the airframe industry.
E) It shows that production costs decline by some fixed percentage as production in
units doubles.
Answer:
A global MNC should use what type of controls over its foreign units?
A) Management should be given considerable latitude, but be required to meet some
predetermined performance targets.
B) Management should use a matrix structure allowing some limited autonomy of the
foreign unit.
C) Management needs to exert tight controls over its many units using a centralized
strategic operational decision-making format.
D) Management should use a functional approach assigning distinct and separate
responsibilities to each department throughout the MNC.
E) Management should use a divisional approach assigning goals and targets for each
product-group on all its foreign units collectively.
Answer:
Strategic planning in a multidivisional corporation
A) should be informal to allow complete understanding by the many participants.
B) should be instigated only from the main corporate office.
C) should be accomplished quickly to decrease the likelihood of it becoming outdated.
D) should encourage a clear delineation between top management and lower-level
managers.
E) should be a formalized and sophisticated system.
Answer:
The origin of competitive advantage lies in the ability to
A) gain major stockholders.
B) identify and respond to environmental change well in advance of competition.
C) launch products quickly.
D) serve customers faster.
E) create surprise for others.
Answer: