69) A company that seeks to increase its sales and profits through backward, forward, or
horizontal integration within the industry is said to be employing a(n) ________ growth strategy.
A) diversification
B) intensive
C) target
D) integrative
E) conglomerate
70) Which of the following is an example of intensive growth?
A) a company improves its market share with its current products in the current markets
B) a company enters a new market with current products
C) a company develops new products for its existing markets
D) a company improving sales by integrating backward
E) a company developing new products for new markets
71) If you were the CEO of a company that was looking to implement strategies to fill a
perceived strategic-planning gap, you would most likely explore ________ strategy first because
it is easier to improve an existing business than to build a new one.
A) market-penetration
B) market-development
C) diversification
D) product-development
E) exclusive
72) Once Starbucks established its presence in thousands of cities internationally, the company
sought to increase the number of purchases by existing customers with a ________ strategy that
led to new in-store merchandise, including compilation CDs and high-speed wireless access.
A) product-development
B) market-penetration
C) diversification
D) market-development
E) conglomerate
73) A(n) ________ is when a company might seek new businesses to purchase that have no
relationship to its current technology, products, or markets.
A) concentric strategy
B) conglomerate strategy
C) horizontal strategy
D) intensive growth strategy
E) integrative strategy
74) Which of the following terms can be defined as “the shared experiences, stories, beliefs, and
norms that characterize an organization”?
A) organizational dynamics
B) a business mission
C) an ethical/value statement
D) customer relationships
E) corporate culture
75) A strategy is a game plan for achieving what the business unit wants to achieve.
76) Mission statements that express unrealistic visions are usually unable to inspire employees to
achieve their targets.
77) 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.
78) If Xerox Corporation defined its scope of business as “making copying equipment,” it can be
classified as a marketing definition.
79) An intensive growth strategy involving marketing current products to new markets is a
market-development strategy.
80) A company seeking to expand the number of existing products sold to its current markets,
would be using a “market-penetration strategy.”
81) 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.
82) “What will we do if it happens?” is a question that managers typically ask while conducting a
scenario analysis.
83) When ESPN found new products for its existing markets by expanding into 10 cable
channels, a Web site, and a magazine, it was using a product-development strategy.
84) If SanDisk demonstrates the benefits of using its flash memory storage/USBs for data storage
in addition to music storage as a way to encourage its current customers to buy more of its
existing product offering, it is using a diversification strategy.
85) Indicate the differences and similarities between the following terms: marketing plan,
strategic marketing plan, and tactical marketing plan.
86) Good mission statements are essential to being a success in business. Describe the three
major characteristics that good mission statements should have.
87) 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.
88) Outline the steps involved in business unit strategic-planning process.
89) Identify and give examples of the four major categories of strategic alliances.
90) In the central role of strategic planning, only a handful of companies stand out as master
marketers — Procter & Gamble, Southwest Airlines, Nike, Disney, Nordstrom, Walmart, and
McDonald’s to name a few. From a consumer’s perspective why do you think they stand out?
Explain.
91) 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?
92) 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?
93) When Yahoo! began to flounder in 2001, CEO Terry Semel imposed a more conservative
atmosphere on the freewheeling Internet start-up. At the new Yahoo!, spontaneity is out and
order is in. Identify this organizational phenomenon.
94) Describe what happens in scenario analysis and explain why firms such as Royal Dutch/Shell
Group use the technique.
95) Qantas, the Australian national airline carrier, introduces flights to the Middle East. This is
an example of ________.
A) product development
B) diversification
C) market development
D) market penetration
E) differentiation
96) The first step in the business unit strategic-planning process deals with which of the
following?
A) formulate goals
B) define business mission
C) implement strategies
D) execute programs
E) conduct SWOT analysis
97) 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
98) 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
99) 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
100) 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
101) 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
________.
A) product alliance
B) logistics alliance
C) pricing collaboration
D) network alliance
E) promotional alliance
102) 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
103) 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
104) When a business gets to know market segments intimately and pursues either cost
leadership or differentiation within the target segment, it is employing a ________ strategy.
A) defined
B) focused
C) value-added
D) competitive advantage
E) customer-focused
105) 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
106) 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
107) 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.
108) Internal analysis in SWOT involves analyzing the possible opportunities and threats that
can come from the market.
109) 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.
110) In applying MBO (management by objectives) all objectives are treated as being equally
important.
111) 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.
112) Contrary to popular belief, it is not possible to maximize sales and profits simultaneously.
113) A firm that is always working to improve its product offerings such that consumer needs are
addressed more efficiently is following a differentiation strategy.
114) 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.
115) Partner relationship management is now considered as a core skill fundamental to the
development and maintenance of strategic alliances.
116) Firms directing the same strategy to the same target market constitute a strategic group.
117) 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.
118) The final step in the business unit strategic-planning process is strategy formulation.
119) Explain what happens in a SWOT analysis during the strategic planning process.
120) 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?
121) What questions would typically be asked during a market opportunity analysis (MOA)?
122) 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?
123) 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.
124) 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.
125) 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 nonprofit organizations.
E) They are typically five-year plans and they lay out the strategies required to achieve targets in
those five years.
126) 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
127) 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
128) The ________ is the last section of the marketing plan. It 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 controls
129) How does a marketing plan affect relationships?
A) It influences how marketing staff work with each other.
B) It influences how marketing staff work with other departments.
C) It affects how the company works with suppliers.
D) It influences the company’s dealings with other stakeholders.
E) All of the above
130) Which financial projections include three estimates (optimistic, pessimistic, and most
likely)?
A) sales forecasts
B) risk analyses
C) expense forecasts
D) break-even analyses
E) per-unit variable costs
131) Pegasus writes about its target market and demographics in the ________ section of its
marketing plan.
A) executive summary
B) implementation
C) situation analysis
D) strategy
E) tactics
132) Major cell manufacturers have released phones with digital photo and video capabilities and
GPS. This is an example of converging industry trends to introduce hybrid products that are new
to the market.
133) Marketing plans are becoming more production oriented because of the high costs of doing
business in today’s economy.
134) A marketing plan should open with a situation analysis.
135) 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.
136) Sales forecasts, expense forecasts, and break-even analysis are usually found in the section
on financial projections in the marketing plan.
137) A marketing plan is evaluated on the basis of how simple, specific, realistic, and complete it
is.
138) Good marketing plans are usually short and to the point.
139) Most marketing plans conclude with a section that indicates how the plan will be
implemented.
140) 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.
141) Describe a marketing plan.
142) Briefly list the contents of a marketing plan.
143) Explain how risk analysis is used to estimate profits.