Chapter 9 GB TEST 3

In analyzing the corporate controllable variables, management must address the question: A. Who are the company's target customers? B. What will be the costs that the company will incur in delivering value to its target customers? C. How much will the company be able to charge for the value it creates for its target customers? D. All of the above. E. Two of A, B, and C.

A. Who are the company's target customers?

Managers of international companies that are attempting to develop a competitive advantage face a formidable challenge because: A. all of B, C, and D. B. resources are always scarce. C. there are many alternative ways to use the company's scarce resources. D. managers are forced to make choices regarding what to do and what not to do. E. two of B, C, and D.

A. all of B, C, and D.

To create a competitive advantage that is sustainable over time, the international company should try to develop competencies that: A. create value for customers and for which they are willing to pay. B. are easy to imitate or substitute for. C. are expensive to develop and maintain. D. all of the above. E. two of A, B, and C.

A. create value for customers and for which they are willing to pay.

When a company faces strong pressures for reducing costs and limited pressure to adapt products for local markets, it should tend to use a: A. global strategy. B. multidomestic strategy. C. transnational strategy. D. differentiation strategy. E. home replication strategy.

A. global strategy.

According to the text, changes in the way corporate planning is done: A. include greater attention being paid to sociopolitical developments. B. include the use of advanced computing techniques to make detailed five-year forecasts. C. include heavy emphasis on the use of variables that can be quantified. D. all of the above are correct. E. two of A, B, and C.

A. include greater attention being paid to sociopolitical developments.

Policies: A. prescribe how certain activities will be carried out. B. are broad guidelines used to assist lower-level managers to handle recurring problems. C. ensure that all budgets will be prepared using the same format. D. all of the above. E. two of A, B, and C.

B. are broad guidelines used to assist lower-level managers to handle recurring problems

An itemized projection of revenues and expenses for a future time period is a: A. sales forecast. B. budget. C. marketing plan. D. strategic plan. E. none of the above.

B. budget.

Action plans to enable organizations to reach their objectives are known as: A. strategic plans. B. competitive strategies. C. policies. D. procedures. E. none of the above.

B. competitive strategies.

Scenarios: A. all of B, C, and D. B. have an objective of envisioning possible futures that might lie outside their traditional frame of reference. C. are based on stories about possible futures that are presented to line managers by the strategic planners. D. extrapolate from past data to make predictions. E. two of B, C, and D.

B. have an objective of envisioning possible futures that might lie outside their traditional frame of reference.

In the new strategic planning process: A. top management is assigning strategic planning to teams of line and staff managers from the same business. B. interaction with important customers and suppliers should be included. C. governments and other stakeholdersshould be direct participants. D. all of the above. E. two of A, B, and C.

B. interaction with important customers and suppliers should be included.

A broad statement that defines the organization's purpose and scope is known as a: A. strategic plan. B. mission statement. C. vision statement. D. values statement. E. none of the above.

B. mission statement.

When there is strong pressure for a company to adapt its products or services for local markets, it should tend to use a: A. global strategy. B. multidomestic strategy. C. regional strategy. D. differentiation strategy. E. home replication strategy.

B. multidomestic strategy.

According to the text, the strategic planning process provides a formal structure in which managers will: A. two of B, C, and D. B. set corporate objectives. C. implement strategies. D. manage relationships with government and society. E. all of B, C, and D.

B. set corporate objectives.

Tactical plans: A. are fairly broad compared to strategic plans. B. spell out in detail how objectives will be reached. C. are broad guidelines to assist in handling recurring problems. D. are less specific than strategic plans. E. two of the above.

B. spell out in detail how objectives will be reached.

In planning, there has recently been a decided move among many firms: A. to use advanced statistical techniques to help produce voluminous and detailed strategic plans. B. toward a less structured format and a shorter plan. C. to concentrate on factors that can be easily quantified. D. to make detailed forecasts and project them out at least five years. E. two of the above.

B. toward a less structured format and a shorter plan.

Plans for the best-or worst-case scenarios or for critical events that could have a severe impact on the firm are known as: A. scenario plans. B. strategic plans. C. contingency plans. D. emergency plans. E. none of the above.

C. contingency plans.

According to the text, competencies: A. are skills or abilities required in order to achieve competitive advantage. B. refer to the ability of a company to have higher rates of profits than its competitors. C. create value for customers and for which customers are willing to pay. D. two of the above. E. none of A, B, and C.

C. create value for customers and for which customers are willing to pay.

To set corporate objectives, management must first: A. select a viable market segment. B. quantify them. C. define the firm's mission. D. research the market. E. none of the above.

C. define the firm's mission.

Performance measures are done to: A. all of B, C, and D. B. measure the time the company takes to acculturate new employees. C. determine if the strategy and its implementation are proceeding successfully. D. assess assumptions about how the strategic lists affect the business. E. two of B, C, and D.

C. determine if the strategy and its implementation are proceeding successfully.

According to the text, the firm's ultimate manager of strategic planning is the: A. vice president for planning. B. chief operating officer. C. firm's chief executive officer. D. director of the strategic planning department. E. none of the above.

C. firm's chief executive officer.

The new directions in planning: A. two of B, C, D, and E. B. have made strategic planners dominant in the planning process. C. have brought operating managers into the planning process. D. have relieved the firm's chief executive officer of the responsibility for strategic planning. E. have made the use of computers and professional planners essential for the planning process.

C. have brought operating managers into the planning process.

Historically, more aspects of ______________ have been standardized and coordinated worldwide by companies than has been the case for other value chain activities such as __________. A. research and development; manufacturing B. marketing; manufacturing C. manufacturing; marketing D. marketing; research and development E. none of the above

C. manufacturing; marketing

Most top managers: A. prefer nonquantifiable, directional goals. B. prefer nonquantifiable but verifiable goals. C. prefer verifiable objectives. D. have no preference as to quantifiable and nonquantifiable goals. E. none of the above.

C. prefer verifiable objectives.

According to a survey by Bain & Company, the management tool with the highest level of satisfaction among global executives is: A. value chain analysis. B. industry and competitor analysis. C. strategic planning. D. environmental analysis. E. none of the above.

C. strategic planning.

Knowledge that an individual has but that is difficult to express clearly in words, pictures, or formulae, and therefore difficult to transmit to others, is known as: A. explicit. B. none of A, C, D, or E. C. tacit. D. intangible. E. valuable.

C. tacit.

When a company faces strong pressures for both reducing costs and adapting products for local markets, it should tend to use a: A. global strategy. B. multidomestic strategy. C. transnational strategy. D. differentiation strategy. E. home replication strategy.

C. transnational strategy.

An assessment conducted on the chain of interlinked activities of an organization or set of interconnected organizations and intended to determine where and to what extent value is added to the final product or service is known as: A. economic value added. B. internal analysis. C. value chain analysis. D. SWOT analysis. E. none of the above.

C. value chain analysis.

A description of the company's desired future position if it can acquire the necessary competencies and successfully implement its strategy is known as a: A. strategic plan. B. mission statement. C. vision statement. D. values statement. E. none of the above.

C. vision statement.

The planning method that is becoming more popular is: A. top down. B. bottom up. C. sequential. D. a combination of top down and bottom up. E. centralized planning.

D. a combination of top down and bottom up.

To fully understand why, how, and where they intend to do business, now and over time, managers must have: A. a clear understanding of the company's mission. B. a vision for how they intend to achieve the company's mission. C. an understanding of how the company plans to compete with other companies. D. all of the above. E. two of A, B, and C.

D. all of the above.

Investigations of large multinationals in manufacturing and service sectors reveal that: A. a majority of them use a global strategy. B. a majority of these firms generate an average of about 65 percent of their worldwide revenues within their home region. C. most of these firms have achieved broad and deep penetration of international markets as a whole. D. none of the above. E. two of A, B, and C.

D. none of the above.

According to the text, value chain analysis focuses primarily on which question? A. What values are important to our company? B. What is our strategy? C. Who are the company's target customers? D. What does the customer value and how much is the customer willing to pay for this value? E. How will this customer value be created?

E. How will this customer value be created?

Which of the following is correct about scenario analyses? A. The objective of the process is to forecast the future. B. The process extrapolates from past data to build scenarios for guiding decision making. C. Managers develop best-case, worst-case, and most likely scenarios to guide decision making. D. All of the above are correct. E. None of A, B, or C is correct.

E. None of A, B, or C is correct.

Which of the following is incorrect about scenario analyses? A. The objective of the process is to force executives to question their assumptions about the environment. B. The process attempts to incorporate the uncertainty and potential changes that might impact strategic and operational performance. C. Managers develop scenarios and use them for discussion. D. All of the above are incorrect. E. None of A, B, or C is incorrect.

E. None of A, B, or C is incorrect.

International strategy: A. needs to be consistent among the various functions, products, and regional units of the company. B. needs to be consistent with the demands of the international competitive environment. C. is concerned with the way firms make fundamental choices about developing and deploying scarce resources internationally. D. has a goal of achieving and maintaining competitive advantage. E. all of the above.

E. all of the above.

When a company faces relatively weak pressures for local responsiveness and cost reductions, it should tend to use a: A. global strategy. B. multidomestic strategy. C. transnational strategy. D. differentiation strategy. E. home replication strategy.

E. home replication strategy.

In response to China's requirement to censor Internet searches: A. two of B, C, and D. B. Google chose not to enter that country. C. Google refused to engage in censorship, including a disclosure on its site that no censorship had occurred. D. Google provided users of its Chinese site with a hot link to its uncensored U.S. site, to circumvent censorship. E. none of the above.

E. none of the above.

A strategic plan: A. will be prepared when the tactical plan is finalized. B. describes how the firm's goals will be met. C. contains sales forecasts and budgets. D. all of the above. E. two of A, B, and C.

E. two of A, B, and C.

According to the text, the strategic planning process provides a formal structure in which managers will: A. analyze the company's external and internal environments. B. define the company's business and mission. C. formulate scenarios. D. all of the above. E. two of A, B, and C.

E. two of A, B, and C.

Scenarios are designed to assist managers: A. in becoming aware of the critical elements of the external forces. B. in brainstorming various "what-if" situations. C. in preparing budgets. D. all of the above. E. two of A, B, and C.

E. two of A, B, and C.

Tactical plans: A. are operational plans. B. are broad, operational plans on which strategic plans are based. C. are specific and short-term compared to strategic plans. D. all of the above. E. two of A, B, and C.

E. two of A, B, and C.

International firms have found it necessary to institute formal global planning: A. all of B, C, and D. B. to eliminate the practice of informal planning. C. to provide top management with a means to identify threats and opportunities worldwide. D. to provide consistency of action among the firm's managers. E. two of B, C, and D.

E. two of B, C, and D.

Procedures: A. all of B, C, and D. B. prescribe how certain activities will be carried out. C. are broad guidelines used to assist lower-level managers to handle recurring problems. D. ensure that all budgets will be prepared using the same format. E. two of B, C, and D.

E. two of B, C, and D.

Frederick Gluck, management consultant, says that for firms to develop the flexibility to compete, managements must make the following change(s) in their planning methods: A. top management must dedicate more time to deciding how things ought to be done. B. the nature of planning must change from being an exercise in forecasting to being an exercise in creativity. C. planning processes and tools that assume a future much like the past must be replaced. D. strategic planning must be restored to strategic planning departments. E. two of the above.

E. two of the above.

In the traditional strategic planning approach: A. the CEO and the head of planning got together to devise a corporate plan, which would then be handed to the operating people for execution. B. interaction with important customers and suppliers was included. C. governments and other stakeholders were direct participants. D. tended to fall victim to collective mind-sets about the competitive environment. E. two of the above.

E. two of the above.