Loose coupling helps organizations reap significant synergies by being tightly
integrated.
Qualitative methods of analyzing new projects usually entail converting projects into
some estimate of future cash returns from a project.
Modular products become more valuable when customers have heterogeneous
demands.
The evaluation of members of a heavyweight team is done by the project manager
rather than the functional manager.
Ammunition can be considered a complement for firearms.
Collaborative research is prohibited in high-technology sectors.
Formalization increases the need for direct managerial oversight.
The innovation process is often conceived of as a funnel, because most potential new
product ideas make it through the development process.
According to Porter’s value chain, firm infrastructure is a primary activity.
One of the drawbacks of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is that it hinders
cross-functional communication.
If a firm’s product is undifferentiated, buyers will typically experience lesser bargaining
power.
The science-push approach to research and development argued that innovation was
driven by the perceived demand of potential users.
If multiple firms benefit from a technology’s success, the developer of that technology
has a much greater incentive to invest in further developing the technology.
If a firm invests in continuous innovation and willingly cannibalizes its existing
products with more advanced products, the firm can:
a. lose a significant number of customers to competitors.
b. make its products more backward compatible.
c. prevent competitors from achieving a significant technological lead.
d. gain greater trust from distributors who have huge stocks of the existing product.
The discounted cash inflows of a project minus the discounted cash outflows is referred
to as the _____.
a. internal rate of return
b. net present value
c. real option
d. screening value
In the _____method, in order to establish scales of customer preferences, individuals in
a group are each given a stack of cards with an object or idea on each card.
a. derivative
b. conceptual
c. DEA
d. Q-sort
Self-enforcing norms based on goodwill, trust, and reputation of the partners is known
as _____.
a. capability complement
b. alliance contract
c. equity ownership
d. relational governance
When users are comparing the value of a new technology to an existing technology,
they are said to be using objective information when the comparison is based on:
a. anticipated technological benefits.
b. future prediction regarding the availability of complementary goods.
c. advertisements of vaporware.
d. actual technological benefits.
When Faslow Medical Center changed its name to Faslow Hospital, it also unveiled a
plan to build a medical tower doubling its physical facilities by 100% within the next 10
years. It also announced that its goal was to not only serve Exeter County, but the entire
region including the 5 contiguous counties. This is an expression of:
a. vertically integration.
b. strategic intent.
c. core competencies.
d. supplier bargaining power.
Which of the following is true of interfirm collaborative research and development
networks?
a. Collaborative research networks are not important and viable in high-technology
sectors.
b. Interfirm networks enable firms to achieve much more than they can achieve
individually.
c. The flow of information and other resources through a network is independent of the
network’s size.
d. Information diffusion is fairly slow and limited in collaborative research networks
with dense structures.
Modern Woods Furniture Company uses a limited number of components to make
several different types of tables by configuring them in many possible ways. Customers
can mix and match a number of components to meet their specific needs. Modern
Woods is said to be applying:
a. product modularity.
b. mass standardization.
c. architectural innovation.
d. component parallelism.
A marketing research company categorized Jane as an early adopter. Which of the
following is true of Jane in the context of early adopters?
a. She will wait until uncertainty about a new product is resolved before buying it.
b. She will be well integrated into her social system.
c. She will have a skeptical attitude toward new ideas.
d. She will have a low potential for opinion leadership.
_____ is a distributed problem-solving model whereby a design problem or production
task is presented to people who voluntarily contribute their ideas and effort in exchange
for compensation, intrinsic rewards, or a combination thereof.
a. Championing
b. Crowdsourcing
c. Partly parallel development
d. Sequential development
Which of the following is true of the different advertising media?
a. Magazines have a short ad purchase lead time.
b. Yellow pages have low believability and are expensive.
c. Newsletters have a narrow reach, but provide high selectivity.
d. Telephone advertising has relatively low cost.
Piezo Tech Solutions supplies hospitals with software to track insurance claims. Since
insurance regulations and policies are always changing, its software needs to have the
ability to be agile and responsive to change. In other words the software needs:
a. dynamic capabilities.
b. tacit resources.
c. rigid competencies.
d. to be path dependent.
BioSense Prosthetics was a leader in the prosthetic arm market and profits from it were
very high. The firm developed a new computerized prosthetic arm that would render its
previous prosthetics obsolete. It decided to withhold the new computerized prosthetic
arm from the market. This will allow the firm to:
a. minimize its return on investment in developing each generation of the product.
b. make its products backward compatible.
c. avoid cannibalization of the sales of its current prosthetics.
d. build a larger installed base for the new computerized prosthetic.
Which of the following statements is true of customer preferences?
a. The importance of technological features to customers stays constant over time.
b. Customers can differ from producers in their understanding of a new technology.
c. All pioneers of new-to-the-world technologies face customer uncertainty.
d. Other things being equal, more customer uncertainty favors earlier timing of entry.
Greyer Co. manufactures surgical instruments. Systems Medico establishes a
contractual arrangement with Greyer Co., according to which the firm can use Greyer
manufacturing methods and management structure to produce and sell surgical
instruments. Systems Medico must pay a yearly fee to Greyer Co. for the use of its
trademark and manufacturing processes. In this scenario, Systems Medico is the _____.
a. licensor
b. contract manufacturer
c. licensee
d. intrapreneur
Members of a virtual team:
a. must be located in the same office.
b. may live great distances apart.
c. will be collocated.
d. must belong to the same country.
Sam’s Sugar Co. is a leading cane sugar manufacturer. The company faced a threat of
going out of business when a rival company introduced a zero-calorie sweetener to
replace the high-calorie cane sugar. According to Porter’s five-force model, the two
products are:
a. complements.
b. supplements.
c. intermediates.
d. substitutes.
Coolers Inc. has developed a new generation of air conditioners. It upgraded the old
technology by making the air conditioners work on voice sensors instead of remote
controls. Though the technology is new, Coolers has decided to introduce the product in
the market at a low cost. This project is a(n) _____ project for Coolers Inc.
a. platform
b. derivative
c. breakthrough
d. advanced R&D
Which of the following is an advantage of a functional team?
a. The team structure of a functional team is straightforward to implement.
b. The team structure of a functional team allows for greater cross-functional
coordination.
c. The team structure of a functional team increases the cross-fertilization of ideas.
d. The team structure of a functional team increases the possibility of social loafing.
After much research, Angela has designed a new automobile tire that has a unique
polycarbonate exterior which cannot be punctured. In the context of patenting this
invention, which of the following statements is true under U.S. patent law?
a. It can be patented as it is useful, novel, and not obvious.
b. It can only receive a plant patent.
c. It can be patented because tires are tangible products.
d. It cannot be patented as it is only eligible for a copyright protection.
The president of Mountain Home University has been asked by her board of trustees to
set up a separate unit to facilitate the commercialization of technology developed by the
research students at the university. Such a unit is typically called a _____.
a. strategic business unit
b. commercialization office
c. technology transfer office
d. science park
LiteShoes has recently obtained architectural control for its shoe glider technology. By
doing so, the company has:
a. improved its efficiency in controlling the rate at which the technology is upgraded or
refined.
b. limited its ability to measure the product’s compatibility with the complements
produced by others.
c. limited its potential to influence other firms in the industry.
d. eliminated the possibilities of ‘˜feature creep.’
Organizations that manufacture products such as light bulbs for lamps, or DVDs for
DVD players are examples of _____.
a. moderators
b. lead users
c. complementors
d. incubators
Which of the following is a primary advantage of lightweight teams?
a. Lightweight teams are typically permanent and as a result more stable.
b. Lightweight teams do not have any dedicated liaison personnel and the members
have more decision-making authority.
c. The team structure of lightweight teams increases the possibility of homophily.
d. It is easier to coordinate activities in a lightweight team as compared to a functional
team.
If you were in charge of a research and development (R&D) department for a large
pharmaceutical company, would you encourage the employees to perform basic
research or applied research? Provide the rationale for your answer.
Briefly explain the different types of innovation.
Explain what factors characterize the technology trajectory. Discuss the factors that
determine the success of a new technology, besides its quality and technical advantage.
George has come up with a new computer program to help online sellers manage online
auctions at sites such as eBay and others. It is superior to just using a spreadsheet to
track auctions. He would like his program to become the dominant design, but also
wants to earn a profit from all his hard work. What can George do to most effectively
meet both of these objectives?
Briefly define Roger’s five adopter categories and explain how a marketer might use
this knowledge.
When Clary Laboratories released Pearl Soft Shampoo in the late 1970s it was an
innovative hair care concept because it repaired split ends. Even though the new
product was an improvement on the previous one, Clary Laboratories entered the
market with low prices and dealer incentives. Discuss the possible reasons for this
marketing strategy.
Explain the reasons why other keyboards claimed to be more efficient were not able to
replace the QWERTY keyboard. Which principle is illustrated in this scenario?
What is partly parallel development process? Is it universally used?
Oxygenic is a company that uses photodynamic therapy to treat cancer and has major
divisions in Germany, Russia, and the United States. The scientists in Russia develop
the cancer treatment methods, treatment clinics are organized in Germany, and the U.S.
division gathers the finance and markets the treatment methods. What type of strategy is
being employed by Oxygenic and what are the advantages and disadvantages of this
type of strategy?