Systemic barriers to change refer to elements of organization design, structure, and
reporting relationships that impede the flow of information.
Managing virtual structures requires new and difficult-to-acquire managerial skills.
Successful learning organizations have a proactive, creative approach to the unknown.
The Internet heightens the threat of substitutes because it creates new ways to
accomplish the same task.
Frito-Lay uses crowdsourcing to make its Super Bowl ads. This is an example of a
primary activity in the value chain.
Five-Forces analysis implicitly assumes a zero-sum game, a perspective that can be
short-sighted.
Corporate-level strategy addresses how firms compete and outperform their rivals as
well as achieve and sustain competitive advantages.
Inspiring and motivating people with a mission or purpose is a necessary and sufficient
condition for developing a learning organization.
According to Peter Drucker, successful entrepreneurs typically are risk takers.
Stock analysts generally issue more sell recommendations than buy recommendations.
The more attractive the price/performance ratio of substitute products, the tighter it
constrains the ability of an industry to charge high prices.
In the context of competitive dynamics, tactical actions involve major commitments of
distinctive and specific resources to strategic initiatives.
The more reliance a firm has on intellectual capital, the closer its book value will be to
its market value.
Process innovations are often associated with a low cost leadership strategy.
Modular companies can achieve rapid growth because they do not require large
investments in fixed assets.
According to the text, corporate restructuring includes
A. capital restructuring, asset restructuring, and technology restructuring
B. global diversification, capital restructuring, and asset restructuring
C. management restructuring, financial restructuring, and procurement restructuring
D. capital restructuring, asset restructuring, and management restructuring
When launching a new venture, finding a way to begin doing business must
______________ generate cash flow, build credibility, attract good employees, and
overcome the liability of newness.
A. slowly
B. quickly
C. steadily
D. painlessly
Advantages of effective social networks for career success include all of the following
EXCEPT _____.
A. access to private information
B. access to diverse skill sets
C. greater redundancy in knowledge sources
D. greater power
Effectiveness is often defined as:
A. doing things right
B. stakeholder satisfaction
C. doing the right thing
D. productivity enhancement
When an opportunity is attractive long enough for it to be successfully developed and
deployed, it is said to be _____________.
A. value creating
B. affordable
C. achievable
D. durable
Ratios that reflect whether or not a firm is efficiently using its resources are known as
A. leverage ratios
B. turnover ratios
C. liquidity ratios
D. profitability ratios
A simple structure is characterized by _____________.
A. high specialization and low centralization
B. low specialization and high centralization
C. low formality and low creativity
D. high formality and low centralization
Which of the following is not a potential pitfall of an integrated overall low cost and
differentiation strategy?
A. Firms that fail to attain both strategies may end up with neither and become
stuck-in-the-middle.
B. Firms that underestimate the challenges and expenses associated with coordinating
value-creating activities in the extended value chain.
C. Firms that target too large a market that causes unit costs to increase.
D. Firms that miscalculate sources of revenue and profit pools in the company industry.
Transaction costs include all of the following costs EXCEPT
A. search costs
B. negotiating costs
C. agency costs
D. monitoring costs
The aging of the population, changes in ethnic composition, and effects of the baby
boom are ____.
A. macroeconomic changes
B. demographic changes
C. global changes
D. sociocultural changes
Important advantages of a holding company structure include _____________.
A. savings in personnel and overhead expenses associated with a small corporate office
B. a high level of awareness at the corporate office of issues facing individual divisions
C. a high level of control of division executives by executives at the corporate level
D. gaining synergistic benefits across businesses
__________ may be considered the advance work that must be done in order to
effectively formulate and implement strategies.
A. Goal setting
B. Corporate entrepreneurship
C. Strategy analysis
D. Organizational design
Which of the following is not a common source of new business opportunities?
A. current or past work experiences
B. suggestions by family or friends
C. chance event
D. future work
Effective boundaries and constraints _____________.
A. tend to inhibit efficiency and effectiveness
B. distract employees who are trying to focus on organizational priorities
C. minimize improper and unethical conduct
D. tend to limit organizational growth
In general, the threat of substitutes is heightened because the Internet ____________.
A. introduces new ways to accomplish the same task
B. lowers switching costs
C. lowers barriers to entry
D. increases output per unit of cost
In assessing its primary activities, an airline would examine ___________.
A. baggage handling
B. employee training programs
C. criteria for lease versus purchase decisions
D. the effectiveness of its lobbying activities
Which of the following does not explain why organizations are prone to inertia and
slow to change?
A. personal time constraints
B. political barriers
C. vested interests in the status quo
D. entry barriers
Explain the differences between strategic alliances and joint ventures, providing an
example of each.
What are the primary benefits and risks associated with unrelated diversification?
A mission statement encompasses the purpose of the company as well as the basis of
competition and competitive advantage. Compare the purpose of a mission statement to
that of a vision statement and a strategic objective.
Explain the Porter Diamond of National Advantage framework and provide an example
to illustrate your discussion.
Identify at least three external control mechanisms. Discuss the role played by each of
these.
What are the five dilemmas that most firms face, when trying to determine the best way
to manage the innovation process?
Briefly discuss how organization reward and evaluation systems can be used to promote
organizational ethics.
Leadership is a topic that is often discussed in the management literature. The text
suggests that leaders should be at all levels in an organization. Discuss why it is
important to have leaders throughout an organization.