Chp 1-3 Study Plan Questions
Which of the following is a benefit to the organization of hiring an outside consultant/facilitator to assist in developing a vision and mission statement?
A consultant possesses unbiased views
Which of the following represents a utility statement?
A furniture store offers comfort.
Which of the following would NOT characterize a good mission statement?
A good mission statement is time-sensitive.
Which of the following is a characteristic of a good mission statement?
A good mission statement reveals that the firm is socially responsible. It is also fewer than 100 words, broad in scope; enduring but never cast in stone, and written from the customer's perspective.
Which of the following is TRUE concerning a mission statement's emotional bond?
An emotional bond exists when people identify with the underlying values and behavior of a firm.
Which of the following is NOT true of assumptions?
Assumptions cannot lead to a competitive advantage.
Which of the following is NOT one of Porter's five forces?
Barriers to entry
Which of the following is a pitfall of strategic planning?
Being so formal in planning that flexibility and creativity are stifled
Which of the following is similar about the chief information officer (CIO) and chief technology officer (CTO) position?
Both are involved with information technology.
Which of the following is performed in the strategy formulation stage of the strategic management process?
Developing a vision and a mission
According to the authors of the text, what is the most important component of a mission statement?
Distinctive competence
Ashley is looking for an external factor that relates to the firm's products. This best exemplifies the AQCD test category of:
Divisional
Which of the following is NOT cited by King and Cleland as a benefit of carefully developing a written mission statement?
Doing so ensures all customers are aware of all product/service offerings.; King and Cleland suggest that a carefully developed mission statement provides numerous benefits. It makes sure all employees know the purpose of the organization and it provides a foundation for prioritizing decisions about strategies, resource allocation, and organizing work.
Which of the following is TRUE of vision statements?
Employees and managers should work together to craft them.
Which of the following economic forces might be monitored by an international firm entering a new market in Germany?
European Economic Community EEC policies
An EFE Matrix is an ______.
External Factor Evaluation Matrix
Which of the following conditions causes high rivalry among competing firms?
High rivalry among competing firms is likely when the competing firms are of similar size.
Under which condition can consumers gain increasing bargaining power?
If they can inexpensively switch to a substitute
Which of the following is considered a nonfinancial benefit of strategic management?
Improved awareness of external threats
Which of the following is not cited as a nonfinancial benefit of using strategic management?
Increased discipline
Which of the follow is NOT a benefit of employees and managers creating a shared vision?
Increased turnover
Which of the following best defines the most effective basis for strategic decision making in firms?
Integrating intuition and analysis
Which of the following is NOT a pitfall of strategic planning?
Involving key employees in all phases of planning
Which of the following is NOT true of a mission statement written from a customer perspective?
It needs to identify precise target groups of customers.
Which of the following is not considered a benefit of strategic management?
More reactive shaping of the organization's future
For industries and firms that depend heavily on government contracts or subsidies, which forecasts can be the most important part of an external audit?
Political
In order to motivate a workforce effectively organizations need to focus on:
Profit and vision
The firm's public image might be addressed in the mission statement by all of the following EXCEPT:
Responsiveness to technology concerns
Which of Porter's Five-Forces Model is usually the most powerful?
Rivalry among competing firms
_____ are the individuals and groups of individuals who have a special claim on the company.
Stakeholders
What is the final stage in strategic management?
Strategy evaluation
In which stage of the strategic management process is an organization likely to develop a mission statement?
Strategy formulation
______ is a classic book about how to fight wars without actually having to do battle. It has guided militaries, businesses, and athletic teams to formulate strategies that lead to success.
Sun Tzu's The Art of War
Which of the following best defines strategic management?
The art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating cross-functional decisions to achieve the organization's objectives
What should a vision statement reveal?
The type of business a firm conducts
What is the most important part of an external audit?
To develop a finite list of opportunities that could benefit a firm as well as threats that should be avoided or mitigated
Which of the following is TRUE of vision and mission statements?
Vision and mission statements are living documents requiring periodic reviews.
Which of the following mission statements addresses the philosophy of the firm?
We assure customers the highest-quality courtesy as our motto over every doorway.
A vision statement answers which of the following questions?
What does our organization want to become?
According to Drucker, asking "What is our mission?" is synonymous with asking:
What is our business?
When one company possesses a resource that its rivals want, the first company has gained ______.
a competitive advantage
What element of strategic management answers the question "What do we want to become?"
a vision statement
Those organizations that ask "Should we reshape our business?" understand the importance of ______.
adapting to change
In great companies, core values ______.
almost never change; Great firms possess core values that remain fixed and almost never change. The core values of any firm should transcend technological changes, fads, product life cycles, and globalization.
Assumptions should be based on ______.
best information at the time
Jay Conger pointed out that all strategists have to be ______.
chief learning officers
Apple's financially lean position with regard to manufacturing facilities provides the firm with a _______ over Sony, which invests heavily in manufacturing facilities.
competitive advantage
Analytical thinking and intuitive thinking ______.
complement each other
Business strategy is based on the assumption of competition. Upon which assumption is military strategy based?
conflict
To create an excellent vision and mission, a firm needs core values. These core values ______ for the vision and mission.
create an ethical foundation
Which of the following is considered in the strategy implementation stage?
creating an effective organizational structure
If a firm engages in backward integration, it is likely to be ______.
decreasing the bargaining power of suppliers
An excellent vision statement should: ______.
describe a desired future state
In generating the list of critical success factors in a CPM, a firm should strive to include factors that ______.
differentiate firms within the industry
Which of the following is considered a published source for external information?
directories
Vision statements should be both ______ and challenging.
doable
Three primary intrinsic benefits of strategic planning include ______.
enhanced communication, deeper understanding, and greater commitment
Both business and military organizations use their own strengths to ______.
exploit competitors' weaknesses
The EFE Matrix provides an empirical assessment of how well a firm is handling ______.
external factors overall
When strategic planning is too formal, ______.
flexibility is stifled
One specific skill students can gain from this course is ________.
formulating strategies using a SWOT analysis
A mission statement should be written ______.
from a customer perspective
In his company's vision statement, Jorge includes what the company should accomplish within five years. This exemplifies the ______ characteristic of effective vision statements.
futuristic
An effective competitive intelligence program ______.
identifies potential moves that a competitor might make that would endanger a firm's market position
The logical starting point for strategic management is to ______.
identify the existing vision, mission, objectives, and strategies
One difference between a Competitive Profile Matrix and an EFE is that critical success factors ______.
in a CPM include both internal and external issues
Alfred Sloan described Will Durant of GM as an individual who was "astoundingly correct" in his judgment due to ______.
intuition
Strategic decision making can benefit from integrating analysis and _____, by ______.
intuition
The strategic-management process can be described as an objective, logical, systematic approach for making major decisions in an organization. However, it is generally recognized that ______ is essential to making good strategic decisions.
intuition
A mission statement that ______ will be most effective.
is enduring
The external audit is aimed at identifying ______.
key variables that offer actionable responses
Which of the following is NOT one of the external force categories?
marketing
Which of the following is NOT a major factor that makes forecasting complex?
marketing; Forecasting is a complex activity because of factors such as technological innovation, cultural changes, new products, improved services, stronger competitors, shifts in government priorities, changing social values, unstable economic conditions, and unforeseen events.
A meta-analysis of 20 years of empirical research on mission statements concluded there is a positive relationship between mission statements and ______.
measures of financial performance
In forecasting, strategists identify future occurrences that could have a major effect on the firm, and, based on that make __________.
reasonable assumptions
Which of the following is NOT identified as a component of mission statements?
stock price
A company's game plan is its ______.
strategic plan
The strategic management process begins with______.
strategy formulation
Perhaps the best way to develop a skill for writing and evaluating mission statements is to ______.
study actual company missions
A firm making a decision concerning the location of a manufacturing facility would monitor which of the following political, governmental, and legal variables?
unionization trends
Which characteristic of effective vision statements reveals the firm's competitive advantage?
unique
Which of the following EFE scores indicates that a firm is weak at responding to external factors?
1.2; anything under 2.5 is considered weak
Which of the following is considered an unpublished source for external information?
customer surveys
the most important threat is based on
the biggest weight
The highest possible total weighted score for an organization on the EFE Matrix is:
4
Which of the following is NOT true of the process of performing an external audit?
External factors should be qualitative in nature.
When engaging in strategic planning, which of the following pitfalls did the text suggest a firm should avoid?
Failing to communicate the plan to employees
The vision statement answers which of the following questions?
The vision statement answers the question, "What do we want to become?" The mission statement defines where we want to operate, what our markets are, what our purpose is, and what we stand for.
In a business, which of the following should be established first?
The vision statement should be established first. It provides the foundation for the mission statement (also referred to as the creed statement). Next Question
Which of the following is TRUE of forecasts?
They are educated assumptions about future trends.
Which of the following is a reason some firms do not engage in strategic planning?
They receive no formal training in strategic management.
score 2.49
This homebuilding company is doing pretty well.
Which of the following questions is not usually answered in the organization's mission statement?
Where is the organization going?
Which of the following is NOT true concerning forecasts?
Wild guesses are acceptable as forecasts; wild guesses should never be made in formulating strategies; instead, reasonable assumptions based on available information must always be made.
During strategic planning, the planning should be delegated to ______.
all key employees
Alexander the Great demonstrated that ______.
an excellent strategic plan is crucial to succeeds
Dell's mission is to be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in the markets it serves. In doing so, Dell says it will meet customer expectations of highest quality; leading technology; competitive pricing; individual and company accountability; best-in-class service and support; flexible customization capability; superior corporate citizenship; and financial stability. Which of the nine components of a mission statement is missing?
employees; The nine components of a mission statement are customers, products, markets, technology, survival, philosophy, self-concept, public image, and employees. Employees are not addressed in this mission statement. Next Question
The strategic management course at many colleges and universities ______.
is the capstone course in business administration
Strategists who rush quickly to implement strategies ______.
might overlook the development of a vision and mission statement
Business strategy has its roots in ______.
military strategy
Some firms view planning as a waste of time because ______.
no product or service is produced
A key to gaining commitment to the organization by managers and employees is ______.
participation of all employees in the strategic management process
Which of the nine components of a mission statement answers the question, "What are the basic beliefs, values, and aspirations of the firm?"
philosophy
One benefit of strategic planning is that it allows a firm to be _______ in shaping its own future.
proactive
The idea that a mission statement should be broad to appeal to the wide range of people that have a claim on the company is called being: ______.
reconciliatory
Which stage of the strategic management process is referred to as the action stage?
strategy implementation
The best way to develop the ability to write and evaluate mission statements is to ______.
study actual company missions
As common positions in firms today, chief information officers (CIOs) reflect the growing importance of the impact of which external force?
technological
The focus of strategic management is __________
the integration of all the functional areas of the business to achieve its organizational objectives
Historically, where did strategic planning originate?
the military
The foundation for priorities, strategies, plans, and work assignments is ______.
the mission statement
The principal benefit of vision and mission statements as tools of strategic management is derived from ______.
their specification of the ultimate aims of a firm
As many managers as possible should be involved in the process of developing vision and mission statements because ______.
they will become committed to the organization
One broad skill students can gain by taking this course is ______.
to define and solve problems and make decisions about a particular situation
The purpose of strategic management is ______.
to gain a sustainable competitive advantage over rivals
Strategic planning is often incorrectly viewed as ______.
unnecessary
Quality mission statements identify the ______ of a firm's products to its customers.
utility
The question of what the organization wants to become is addressed in the ______.
vision statement
A mission statement reveals ______.
what an organization wants to be and whom it wants to serve
What question does a mission statement answer?
what is our business or reason for being; An enduring statement of purpose that distinguishes one organization from other similar enterprises, the mission statement, is a declaration of an organization's "reason for being." It answers the pivotal question, "What is our business?" Next Question
Consumers gain increasing bargaining power ______.
when they buy in volume
An effective vision statement should exhibit 5 characteristics. What are they?
Clear, futuristic, concise, unique, inspiring
______ is/are the specific results that a firm seeks to achieve in pursuing its basic mission.
Long-term objectives
When identifying and prioritizing key external factors in strategic planning, four criteria should be met to the extent possible. What are these four criteria?
actionable, quantitative, comparative, and divisional