Poor commercialization occurs when there is definite customer demand for a new
product, but the product is not well adapted to customer needs because of factors such
as poor design and poor quality.
An international strategy may not be viable in the long term and to survive, companies
that can pursue it need to shift toward a global standardization strategy.
Close integration between research and development (R&D), production and marketing
can help a company avoid innovation failures.
A major problem with a differentiation strategy centers on the long-term ability to
maintain a product’s perceived difference or distinctness in customers’ eyes.
A technological change such as the rise of the Internet can represent either an
opportunity or a threat.
Intense rivalry lowers prices and raises costs.
Broad cost leadership is the most appropriate generic strategy for a fragmented industry.
Anheuser Busch, because it dominates the mass-market beer segment, does not
complete with micro-brewers.
Which of the following is not a generic competitive strategy?
A.Cost leadership
B.Differentiation
C.Focused cost leadership
D.Focused differentiation
E.Innovation
When a company successfully implements Six Sigma quality, how many units will be
defective?
A.17% (one-sixth of the units)
B.6%
C.0.6%
D.Three per million
E.Three per 10 million
Beverage makers are finding that water sales are increasing due to consumers’
preferences for healthy drinks. Which part of the macroenvironment does this
represent?
A.Economic forces
B.Demographic forces
C.Embryonic forces
D.Political forces
E.Social forces
Microsoft released its latest operating system, Windows Vista, and intended it to replace
earlier versions of Windows. Buyers of Vista had to learn how to use the features of the
new software; thus, buyers were facing
A.a first-mover disadvantage.
B.outmoded technology.
C.a positive feedback loop.
D.a format war.
E.switching costs.
Information technology (IT) would be least helpful to managers who are addressing
issues of
A.behavior control.
B.output control.
C.integration.
D.organizational culture.
E.standardization.
Which of the following is not a product attribute?
A.Form
B.Features
C.Style
D.Price
E.Reliability
Which of the following reasons can make a diversification strategy an unwise course of
action for a company to pursue?
A.Changing industry conditions
B.Changing firm-specific conditions
C.Diversification for the wrong reasons
D.Increasing bureaucratic costs of diversification
E.All of these
A business model based on differentiation requires a company to
A.make strategic choices that reinforce each other and increase the value of a good or
service in the eyes of customers.
B.serve several market segments simultaneously to take full advantage of
differentiation.
C.systematically raise its prices at stipulated times.
D.develop a functional organization structure.
E.all of these.
Traditional manufacturing
A.is no longer used.
B.requires a tradeoff between unit costs and product variety.
C.has higher unit costs than does flexible manufacturing.
D.produces a variety of products in high volume.
E.has higher unit costs than does flexible manufacturing and requires a tradeoff
between unit costs and product variety.
The main difference between companies following a cost leadership strategy and those
following a focused cost leadership strategy is
A.standardized market price.
B.industry life cycle stage.
C.degree of market segmentation.
D.age of the market.
E.market trajectory.
Factors leading to the slow growth of demand in embryonic industries include all of the
following except the
A.poor quality of the first products.
B.lack of complementary products.
C.lack of venture capital for innovative products.
D.high production costs of the products.
E.lack of distribution channels for the products.
Which of the following structures is the flattest?
A.Functional
B.Geographic
C.Market
D.Matrix
E.Product
Holly owns a landscape company and is thinking about expanding her services to
include outdoor water features (waterfalls, streams, ponds). If, before making this
decision, she looks at the experience of similar firms that have added outdoor water
features, she is employing
A.wishful thinking.
B.aqua-evaluation.
C.devil’s advocacy.
D.outside view.
E.dialectic inquiry.
CEO compensation packages are most frequently criticized because of their
A.apparent lack of relationship to company performance.
B.life insurance benefits.
C.features.
D.cost to the company.
E.lack of motivation.
Learning effects
A.result in unit manufacturing costs declining by a certain amount each time output is
doubled.
B.result in unit manufacturing costs declining by a certain amount each time
accumulated output is reduced.
C.are more significant when simple steps in an assembly process are repeated.
D.are more significant when a technologically complex task is repeated.
E.lead to economies of scale.
A market segment consists of a group of
A.similar products.
B.customers who have similar needs.
C.companies who produce similar products.
D.diverse products produced by one manufacturer.
E.customers who have diverse needs.
Which of the following is not one of the company levels where strategic control
systems measure performance?
A.Board of directors
B.Corporate
C.Divisional
D.Functional
E.Individual
The razor-and-blade strategy was pioneered by
A.Procter & Gamble.
B.Sony.
C.Toyota.
D.Ford.
E.Gillette.