56) Through its cutting-edge point-of-sale inventory management technology and highly
efficient shipping practices, Walmart is able to keep its inventory expenditure extremely low and
to pass these savings on to consumers in the form of low prices. Walmart’s strategy is best
described as ________.
A) a focused approach
B) integrative growth
C) differentiation
D) market development
E) overall cost leadership
57) When a firm aims to underprice competitors and win market share, it is using a(n) ________
strategy that requires relatively less marketing skills as compared to other strategies.
A) product differentiation
B) overall cost leadership
C) focus
D) domestic customer relationship
E) price skimming
58) After analyzing their company’s strengths and weaknesses, top managers at Loan Bright
decided that they would serve individual loan officers who typically only wanted to purchase
small sets of homebuyer data, rather than bigger institutional clients. To meet the needs of this
segment, Loan Bright simplified its sales contract, restructured its advertising efforts to focus on
Google ads, and created a separate customer-service department. Loan Bright’s strategy is best
described as a(n) ________ strategy.
A) overall cost leadership
B) focus
C) differentiation
D) diversification
E) promotional
59) Unlike its competitors in the online air travel industry, Travelocity provides its customers
with a greater variety of services such as cruise reservations, package tours, hotel bookings, and
car rentals. This is an example of a(n) ________ strategy.
A) overall cost leadership
B) focus
C) differentiation
D) diversification
E) promotional
60) McDonald’s has often teamed up with Disney to offer products related to current Disney
films as part of its meals for children. The best description of this form of alliance would be a(n)
________.
A) product alliance
B) logistics alliance
C) pricing collaboration
D) network alliance
E) promotional alliance
61) Abbot Laboratories warehouses and delivers 3M’s medical and surgical products to hospitals
across the United States. The best description of this form of alliance would be a(n) ________.
A) product alliance
B) logistics alliance
C) pricing collaboration
D) indirect collaboration
E) promotional alliance
62) MasterCard and Visa may team up with university alumni associations to offer affinity credit
cards that typically display an iconic image associated with the university on the card itself and
may include an incremental donation program associated with purchases made using the card.
The best description of this form of alliance would be a ________.
A) product alliance
B) logistics alliance
C) pricing collaboration
D) network alliance
E) promotional alliance
63) When a business gets to know market segments intimately and pursues either cost leadership
or differentiation within the target segment, it is employing a ________.
A) defined strategy
B) focused strategy
C) value-added strategy
D) competitive advantage strategy
E) customer-focused strategy
64) When one company licenses another to produce its offerings, or two companies jointly
market their complementary offerings, it is called a ________.
A) pricing collaboration
B) product or service alliance
C) promotional alliance
D) logistics collaboration
E) total quality management
65) To keep their strategic alliances thriving, corporations have begun to develop organizational
structures to support them and have come to view the ability to form and manage strategic
alliances as core skills. This is called ________.
A) value managed partnership
B) decentralized partnership
C) centralized partnership
D) partner relationship management
E) intensive growth management
66) Which of the following statements is true of marketing plans?
A) They can be independently developed without worrying about other functional areas.
B) They provide direction and focus for a brand, product, or company.
C) They are usually profit-oriented.
D) They are of limited use to non-profit organizations.
E) They are typically five-year plans and they lay out the strategies required to achieve targets in
those five years.
67) Which of the following elements of a marketing plan permits senior management to grasp
the plan’s major thrust?
A) the situation analysis
B) the marketing strategy
C) the executive summary
D) the financial projections
E) the short-term targets
68) The most frequently cited shortcomings of current marketing plans, according to marketing
executives, are lack of realism, insufficient competitive analysis, and a ________ focus.
A) long-term
B) profit
C) short-run
D) product
E) price
69) The ________ is the last section of the marketing plan and spells out the goals and budget for
each month or quarter, so management can review each period’s results and take action as
needed.
A) executive summary
B) situation analysis
C) marketing strategy
D) financial projections
E) implementation and controls
70) The traditional view of marketing is that the firm makes something and then sells it.
71) Marketing goods that are currently in short supply would require significant marketing talent.
72) The traditional view of marketing works best in economies with many different types of
people, each with individual wants, perceptions, preferences, and buying criteria.
73) In the communication stage of the value creation and delivery sequence, marketing must
determine specific product features, prices, and distribution channels.
74) The customer relationship management process involves all the activities related to receiving
and approving orders, shipping the goods on time, and collecting payment.
75) The new-offering realization process involves all activities in defining target markets and
prospecting for new customers.
76) A principle of the value chain is that every firm is a synthesis of activities performed to
design, produce, market, deliver, and support its product.
77) Another name for a company’s value delivery network is “distribution chain.”
78) Competitors in a given industry can be identified by the similarities in their core
competencies.
79) A firm’s core competency has applications only in the specific market in which the firm
operates.
80) Holistic marketing focuses on the integration of value exploration, value creation, and value
delivery as a means to build long-term relationships with consumers.
81) When a manager is trying to identify how the company can efficiently create promising new
offerings , he is addressing the question of value delivery.
82) The marketing plan is the central instrument for directing and coordinating the marketing
effort.
83) A strategy is a game plan for achieving what the business unit wants to achieve.
84) Mission statements that express unrealistic visions are usually unable to inspire employees to
achieve their targets.
85) Good mission statements should be long and clear, should emphasize on a wide range of
goals, and stress on the company’s major policies and values.
86) If Xerox Corporation defined its scope of business as “making copying equipment”, it can be
classified as a marketing definition.
87) An intensive growth strategy involving marketing current products to new markets is a
market-development strategy.
88) A company seeking to expand the number of existing products sold to its current markets,
would be using a “market-penetration strategy.”
89) If a company sought to grow by starting new businesses that have no relation to its current
technology, products, or markets, the company would be using a market penetration strategy.
90) “What will we do if it happens?” is a question that managers typically ask while conducting a
scenario analysis.
91) An environmental threat is a challenge posed by an unfavorable trend or development that, in
the absence of defensive marketing action, would lead to lower sales or profit.
92) Internal analysis in SWOT involves analyzing the possible opportunities and threats that can
come from the market.
93) Once a SWOT analysis has been completed, the strategic planner is ready to proceed to the
goal formulation stage of the strategic-planning process model.
94) In applying MBO (management by objectives) all objectives are treated as being equally
important.
95) For an MBO (management by objectives) system to work, one of the four criteria that the
unit’s objectives must meet is that objectives must be stated quantitatively whenever possible.
96) Contrary to popular belief, it is not possible to maximize sales and profits simultaneously.
97) A firm that is always working to improve its product offerings such that consumer needs are
addressed more efficiently is following a differentiation strategy.
98) A firm employing a focus strategy concentrates on achieving superior performance in an
important customer benefit area valued by a large part of the market.
99) Partner relationship management is now considered as a core skill fundamental to the
development and maintenance of strategic alliances.
100) Firms directing the same strategy to the same target market constitute a strategic group.
101) A written document that summarizes what the marketer has learned about the marketplace
and indicates how the firm plans to reach its marketing objectives is called a vision statement.
102) Marketing plans are becoming more production oriented because of the high costs of doing
business in today’s economy.
103) A marketing plan should open with a situation analysis.
104) Definitions of a firm’s mission as well as its marketing and financial objectives are included
in the marketing strategy section of the marketing plan.
105) Sales forecasts, expense forecasts, and break-even analysis are usually found in the section
on financial projections in the marketing plan.
106) A marketing plan is evaluated on the basis of how simple, specific, realistic, and complete it
is.
107) Good marketing plans are usually short and to the point.
108) Most marketing plans conclude with a section that indicates how the plan will be
implemented.
109) The marketing strategy section of the marketing plan spells out goals and budgets for each
month or quarter so the management can review each period’s results and take corrective action
as needed.
110) Briefly summarize the two views of the value delivery process that may be followed by
organizations.
111) The firm’s success depends not only on how well each department performs its work, but
also on how well the various departmental activities are coordinated to conduct core business
processes. List and briefly describe the five core business processes.
112) Describe the characteristics a core competency should possess.
113) A holistic marketing orientation can provide insight into the process of capturing customer
value and is designed to address three key management questions. Describe each of these key
management questions in brief.
114) Indicate the differences and similarities between the following terms: marketing plan,
strategic marketing plan, and tactical marketing plan.
115) Good mission statements are essential to being a success in business. Describe the three
major characteristics that good mission statements should have.
116) During the planning process, if there is a gap between future desired sales and projected
sales, corporate management will need to develop or acquire new businesses to fill it. Identify
and describe the three strategies that can be used to fill the strategic gap.
117) Outline the steps involved in business unit strategic-planning process.
118) Identify and give examples of the four major categories of strategic alliances.
119) Characterize a marketing plan.
120) Briefly summarize the contents of a marketing plan.
121) Hot Topic, a chain that sells rock-band-inspired clothes for teens, recently launched Torrid
to give plus-size teens the same fashion options. Identify the three parts of the value delivery
process and their function for Hot Topic.
122) Critics of Nike often complain that its shoes cost almost nothing to make, yet they are
priced so high. Identify the elements of providing and communicating value that add to Nike’s
cost structure and result in the high price of Nike shoes.
123) Over the past 10 years, Cisco Systems has drastically reduced its number of suppliers and
aligned itself more closely with its remaining suppliers for each of its product-based teams. How
might this have helped Cisco improve its new-offering realization process?
124) In the central role of strategic planning, only a handful of companies stand out as master
marketers—Procter & Gamble, Southwest Airlines, Nike, Disney, Nordstrom, Wal-Mart, and
McDonald’s to name a few. From a consumer’s perspective why do you think they stand out?
Explain.
125) Identify the elements of a tactical marketing plan for a new kind of cola.
126) Goodwin’s Grocery has decided to purchase a meat-processing plant to gain more control of
its beef supply and improve its profits. Which form of integrative growth strategy has Goodwin’s
employed?
127) From its origins as an animated film producer, Walt Disney Company has moved into
licensing characters for merchandised goods and developed theme parks and vacation and resort
properties. What strategy best describes Disney’s growth?
128) When Yahoo! began to flounder in 2001, CEO Terry Semel imposed a more conservative,
buttoned-down atmosphere on the freewheeling Internet start-up. At the new Yahoo!,
spontaneity is out and order is in. Identify this organizational phenomenon.
129) Describe what happens in scenario analysis and explain why firms such as Royal
Dutch/Shell Group use the technique.
130) Explain what happens in a SWOT analysis during the strategic planning process.
131) Good marketing is the art of finding, developing, and profiting from marketing
opportunities. What are the three primary methods for uncovering possible product or service
improvements?
132) What questions would typically be asked during a market opportunity analysis (MOA)?
133) For an MBO system (manage by objectives) to work, the business unit attempting to
implement the process must meet four criteria. What are those criteria?
134) Michael Porter draws a firm distinction between operational effectiveness and a strategy.
Briefly describe this distinction and identify when a company can claim that it has a strategy.
135) When two service businesses, H&R Block and Hyatt Legal Services, combined their
efforts, they also joined marketing forces to create a strong alliance. This would classify as
which type of strategic alliance? Explain your answer.