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Essay Questions
76.
What is strategy and why is it important?
77.
Briefly define each of the following terms.
a. Sustainable competitive advantage
b. Deliberate strategy
c. Emergent strategy
d. Realized strategy
e. Abandoned strategy
78.
What are the three tests of a winning strategy?
79.
Identify and briefly describe the four most frequently used strategic approaches to achieving a
sustainable competitive advantage. Provide examples.
80.
What is the connection between a company's strategy and its quest for sustainable competitive
advantage?
81.
Provide at least two examples of a company's competitively valuable capabilities.
82.
What are the three questions that managers can use to distinguish a winning strategy from a so-so or
flawed strategy? Briefly explain why each question is important.
83.
Should a company's strategy be tightly connected to its quest for competitive advantage? Why or why
not? What difference does it make whether a company has a sustainable competitive advantage or not?
84.
During a recession, a high-end beverage producer facing strong competition in a saturated market has
decided to phase out all its flagship products and introduce a new line of second-label beverages at
lower price points in reaction to its falling market share. Would this type of a reactive strategy revive its
position? Why or why not?
85.
Describe two aspects of a company's business model.
86.
Why are capabilities needed to build a sustainable competitive advantage so important to a winning
business strategy? Cite one of the company examples in the chapter to illustrate your answer.
87.
Why is a company's strategy typically a blend of proactive and reactive approaches?
88.
Can an organization succeed by pursuing strategies that are "proactive" and "reactive"? Explain.
89.
Explain why a company's strategy cannot be completely planned out in advance and why crafting a
company's strategy cannot be a one-time, once-and-for-all managerial exercise. Identify at least three
factors that account for why company strategies evolve.
90.
Explain in detail what a company's business model entails.
91.
What factors determine whether a strategy can be called a winning strategy?
92.
How can one tell a winning strategy from a strategy that is mediocre or a loser?
93.
Why is sustainable competitive advantage so important to a winning business strategy?
94.
Why is it appropriate to argue that good strategy-making combined with good strategy execution are
valid signs of good management?
95.
Mediocre execution of a powerful strategy is a proven recipe for winning in the marketplace. True or
false? Explain your answer.
96.
Good strategy + good strategy execution = good management. True or false? Justify and explain your
answer.
97.
A company's strategy represents a managerial commitment to an integrated array of considered choices
about how to compete. This includes the choice about how to capitalize on attractive opportunities to
grow the business. Why is opportunity recognition a vital component of the company's strategy?
98.
A new entrant in a market dominated by established players introduces itself with copycat products of
another competitor. Would this strategy work in the long term for the firm? Justify your answer.
99.
An established manufacturer and marketer of apparel and equipment for competitive sports is fast losing
market share to companies that not only offer similar products, but also are upgrading their research and
development capabilities to produce better products. List a few general actions and approaches that
would help the established company revive its position.
100.
A well-established brewery offers lower-priced beer to powerful supermarket buyers at widespread
locations and has loyal distributors that supply mass goods to supermarket retailers. With fewer ways to
achieve differentiation in the market, most new microbrewery entrants offer similar products but lack
sufficient funding to compete against the well-established brewery. Which strategy could new
microbrewers employ? Explain your answer.
101.
A mobile phone manufacturing and marketing company acquires an overseas display manufacturing
company to gain a strong market position. Which of the five generic strategies has the mobile phone
manufacturer used to gain competitive advantage?
102.
A mobile on-demand transportation company with an established brand name uses a unique mobile app
and GPS mapping technology to reduce the time for drivers to pick up passengers and take them to their
destinations. It then gives the mobile apps away free to all riders. Which of the five generic strategies is
this company using?
103.
A dining facility with multiple branches caters to newlywed couples only. The ambience, special live
music arrangements for each couple, and privacy of the dining sections have become a rage among
newlyweds. Which of the five generic strategies has the company used?
104.
A beauty products giant that manufactures quality makeup products observes a lot of its hits by college
students on its makeup tutorials. It opens another sub-brand that provides low-priced makeup services to
college partygoers. Which of the five generic strategies has the company used?
105.
An electronic chip manufacturer has a quarterly release of its products. What can you say about its
strategy?
106.
A data storage company realizes that its facilities are used most by financial institutions. It capitalizes
on the opportunity and starts storing specific financial information only and is now one of the most
sought-after financial databases. What strategy has the company employed?
107.
An established company in a market decides to donate a part of its profits to a children's charity to
improve its market image. Soon after it launched a website that offers new clothes, accessories, and
books that could be donated to various children's charities by interested parties. The company gained
positive publicity and its sales went up. What would you say about this strategy?
108.
A coffee machine manufacturer sells high-quality espresso machines at a very low price but provides
low-cost refills of varietal coffee pods at a relatively higher price. Explain this business model.
109.
A pizza maker manufactures thin-crust pizzas and offers free soft drinks with a pack of four pan pizzas.
What can you say about its Value-Price-Cost Framework?
110.
A new entrant into the mobile phone market imitates its rivals cellphones feature for feature, but offers
its products at a twenty percent discount over its rivals' prices. What can you say about the new entrant's
prospects for long-term success?
111.
A fashion magazine plans to cuts down on its fashion-related content and provides the space instead for
high-priced advertisements, but somehow fails to convince giant fashion brands to advertise in its
magazine. What do we understand from this failure?
112.
Explain why some companies get to the top of industry rankings and stay there, while others do not.
