mgmt 495 Chapter 2
Which of the following are characteristics of an effectively worded strategic vision statement?
Graphic, directional, and focused.
Which one of the following is NOT an advantage of setting "stretch" objectives?
Helping clarify the company's strategic vision and strategic intent.
Which one of the following is NOT among the chief duties/responsibilities of a company's board of directors insofar as the strategy-making, strategy-executing process is concerned?
Hiring and firing senior-level executives and working with the company's chief strategic planning officer to improve the company's strategy when performance comes up short of expectations.
Which of the following is the best example of a well-stated financial objective?
Increase earnings per share by 15 percent annually.
Which of the following principal aspects should be included in managing the strategy execution process?
Organizing the company along the lines of best practice
Which one of the following is NOT an accurate attribute of an organization's strategic vision?
Outlining how the company intends to implement and execute its business model.
Which of the following is the best example of a well-stated strategic objective?
Overtake key competitors on product performance or quality within three years.
Which of the following is an integral part of the managerial process of crafting and executing strategy?
Setting objectives and using them as yardsticks for measuring the company's performance and progress.
Which of the following is NOT an accurate description of the task of crafting a company's strategy?
The task of crafting strategy is best done by a company's chief strategic planning officer, who should report directly to the company's CEO and board of directors.
Which of the following ARE common shortcomings of company vision statements?
Too broad, vague or incomplete, bland/uninspiring, not distinctive, and too reliant on superlatives.
The strategy-making, strategy-executing process
embraces the tasks of developing a strategic vision, setting objectives, crafting a strategy, implementing and executing the strategy, and then monitoring developments and initiating corrective adjustments in light of experience, changing conditions, and new opportunities.
The task of stitching together a strategy
entails addressing a series of how's: how to grow the business, how to please customers, how to outcompete rivals, how to respond to changing market conditions, and how to achieve strategic and financial objectives.
Managerial jobs with strategy-making responsibility:
extend throughout the managerial ranks and exist in every part of a company—business units, operating divisions, functional departments, manufacturing plants, and sales districts.
A company's values relate to such things as:
fair treatment, integrity, ethical behavior, innovativeness, teamwork, top-notch quality, superior customer service, social responsibility, and community citizenship.
The task of top executives when the company faces disruptive changes in its environment is to not only raise questions about the appropriateness of its direction and strategy but also to:
ferret out the causes and decide when adjustments are needed and what adjustments are needed for improved performance and operating excellence.
A "balanced scorecard" that includes both strategic and financial performance targets is a conceptually strong approach for judging a company's overall performance because:
financial performance measures are lagging indicators that reflect the results of past decisions and organizational activities, whereas strategic performance measures are leading indicators of a company's future financial performance and business prospects.
Which of the following is NOT a common shortcoming when wording a company's vision statement? When the statement is somewhat
flexible—allowing for adjustments to reflect changing circumstances.
A company needs performance targets or objectives:
for its operations as a whole and also for each of its separate businesses, product lines, functional departments, and individual work units.
Business strategy concerns:
how to gain and sustain a competitive advantage for a single line of business.
The primary operating strategies are concerned with:
how to manage initiatives of strategic significance within each functional area, and adding detail and completeness) in ways that support functional strategies and the overall business strategy.
Effectively communicating the strategic vision down the line to lower-level managers and employees has the value of:
inspiring company personnel to unite behind managerial efforts to get the company moving in the intended direction
The managerial task of developing a strategic vision for a company:
involves deciding upon what strategic course a company should pursue in preparing for the future and why this directional path makes good business sense.
Adopting a set of "stretch" financial and "stretch" strategic objectives:
is an effective tool for pushing the company to perform at its full potential and deliver the best possible results.
A company that pursues and achieves strategic objectives:
is frequently in a better position to improve its future financial performance because of the increased competitiveness that flows from the achievement of strategic objectives.
Corporate strategy for a diversified or multibusiness enterprise:
is orchestrated by senior corporate executives and centers around the kinds of initiatives the company uses to establish business positions in different industries and efforts to boost the combined performance of the set of businesses the company has diversified into and the means of capturing cross-business synergies and turning them into competitive advantages.
A company's overall strategy:
is really a collection of strategic initiatives and actions devised by managers and key employees up and down the whole organizational hierarchy
A company exhibits strategic intent when:
itrelentlessly pursues an ambitious strategic objective, concentrating the full force of its resources and competitive actions on achieving that objective.
A company's strategic plan:
lays out its future direction and business purpose, performance targets and strategy
A strategic vision constitutes management's view and conclusions about the company's:
long-term direction and what product-market-customer mix seems optimal.
When trade-offs have to be made between achieving long-term and achieving short-term objectives:
long-term objectives should take precedence unless the short-term performance targets have unique importance.
Company managers connect values to the chosen strategic vision and mission by:
making it clear that company personnel are expected to live up to the values in conducting the company's business and pursuing its strategic vision
A company's strategic vision describes:
management's aspirations for the future and delineates the company's strategic course and long-term direction.
Strategy-making is:
more of a collaborative group effort that involves all managers and sometimes key employees, as opposed to being the function and responsibility of a few high-level executives.
Company objectives:
need to be broken down into performance targets for each of its organizational levels—for separate businesses, product lines, functional departments, and individual work units.
A company's strategic plan:
outlines the competitive moves and approaches to be used in achieving the desired business results.
In the strategy-making, strategy-executing process, effective corporate governance requires a company's board of directors to:
oversee the company's strategic direction, evaluate the caliber of senior executives' skills, handle executive compensation, and oversee financial reporting practices.
The key duties of a company's board of directors in the strategy-making, strategy-executing process include:
overseeing the company's financial accounting and financial reporting practices and evaluating the caliber of senior executives' strategy-making/strategy-executing skills.
A strategic vision has enormous motivational value and can usually be stated adequately in one to two paragraphs, and managers should be able to personally:
paint a convincing and inspiring picture of the company's journey and destination effectively.
The faster a company's business environment is changing only makes it imperative for strategy makers to:
pay attention to early warnings of future change and be willing to experiment to establish a market position in the future.
Well-stated objectives are:
quantifiable or measurable, and contain deadlines for achievement
Perhaps the most reliable way for a company to improve its financial performance over time is to:
recognize that the achievement of strategic objectives signals that the company is well positioned to sustain or improve its performance.
Breaking down resistance to a new strategic vision typically requires that management, on an as needed basis:
reiterate the company's need for the new direction, while addressing employee concerns head-on, calming fears, lifting spirits, and providing them with updates and progress reports as events unfold.
Strategic objectives:
relate to strengthening a company's overall marketing standing and competitive position.
Strategic intent refers to a situation where a company:
relentlessly pursues an ambitious strategic objective, concentrating the full force of its resources and competitive actions on achieving that objective
The real purpose of the company's strategic vision:
serves as management's tool for giving the organization a sense of direction.
An engaging and convincing strategic vision
should be done in language that inspires and motivates company personnel to unite behind executive efforts to get the company moving in the intended direction.
Managers can deliberately set challenging performance targets at levels high enough to promote outstanding company performance by establishing:
stretch objectives which challenge the organization to deliver stretch gains in performance.
A "balanced scorecard" for measuring company performance:
strikes a "balance" between financial and strategic objectives.
A company's values or core values concern:
the beliefs, traits, and behavioral norms that company personnel are expected to display in conducting the company's business and pursuing its strategic vision and mission
Perhaps the most important benefit of a vivid, engaging, and convincing strategic vision is:
uniting company personnel behind managerial efforts to get the company moving in the intended direction.
The defining characteristic of a well-conceived strategic vision is:
what it says about the company's future strategic course—"the direction we are headed and what our future product-market-customer-technology focus will be."
The managerial purpose of setting objectives includes:
A. converting the strategic vision into specific performance targets—results and outcomes the organization wants to achieve. B. using the objectives as yardsticks for tracking the company's progress and performance. C. challenging and helping stretch the organization to perform at its full potential and deliver the best possible results. D. pushing company personnel to be more inventive and to exhibit more urgency in improving the company's financial performance and business position. E. All of these.
A company's mission statement should be sufficiently descriptive and should:
A. identify the company's services and products. B. specify the buyer's needs that the company seeks to satisfy. C. identify the customer or market that the company intends to serve. D. give the company its own identity. E. All of these.
Which of the following is the result of a well-conceived and communicated strategic vision?
A. Senior executives solidify their own view of the firm's long-term direction. B. The risk of rudderless decision-making is minimized. C. Organizational members support the changes internally that will help make the vision a reality. D. Assists the organization in preparing for the future. E. All of these.
Every corporation should have a strong independent board of directors that:
A. is well informed about the company's performance and exercises their fiduciary duty to protect shareholders responsibly. B. guides management in choosing a strategic direction and to make independent judgments about the validity and wisdom of managements proposed strategic actions. C. evaluates the leadership skills of the CEO and other senior executives promote management actions the board believes are inappropriate or unduly risky. D. has the courage to curb management actions deemed inappropriate or unduly risky, curtails insight and advice to management. E. All of these.
Which one of the following is NOT a characteristic of an effectively worded strategic vision statement?
Consensus-driven (commits the company to a "mainstream" directional path that almost all stakeholders will enthusiastically support)
Which one of the following is NOT one of the five basic tasks of the strategy-making, strategy-executing process?
Developing a profitable business model.
Which of the following tasks of the strategy-making, strategy-execution managerial process make up the company's strategic plan?
Developing a strategic vision, mission, and core values
Which of the following are integral parts of the managerial process of crafting and executing strategy?
Developing a strategic vision, setting objectives, and crafting a strategy
Which one of the following questions is NOT something that company managers should consider in choosing to pursue one strategic course or directional path versus another?
Do we have a better business model than key rivals?
What does a company specifically exhibit when it relentlessly pursues an ambitious strategic objective, concentrating the full force of its resources and competitive actions on achieving that objective?
Strategic intent.
Which of the following is NOT among the principal managerial tasks associated with managing the strategy execution process?
Surveying employee's opinions on how costs can be reduced and how employee morale and job satisfaction can be improved.
Which of the following most accurately describes the task of crafting a company's strategy?
The more a company's operations cut across different products, industries, and geographical areas, the more that headquarters executives have little option but to delegate considerable strategy-making authority to down-the-line managers in charge of particular subsidiaries, product lines, geographic sales offices, and plants.
Which one of the following questions is NOT pertinent to company managers in thinking strategically about what directional path should be taken by the company and about developing a strategic vision?
What business approaches and operating practices should we consider in trying to implement and execute our business model?
A company's mission statement typically addresses which of the following questions?
Who are we and what do we do?
The primary difference between a company's mission statement and the company's strategic vision is that:
a mission statement typically concerns a company's present business scope and purpose, whereas a strategic vision sets forth "where we are going and why."
The difference between the concept of a company mission statement and the concept of a strategic vision is that:
a mission statement typically concerns a company's purpose and its present business scope ("who we are and what we do and why we are here"), whereas the principal concern of a strategic vision portrays a company's aspirations for its future ("where are we going").
The managerial task of effectively conveying the essence of the strategic vision is made easier by
adopting a catchy slogan and then using it repeatedly to illuminate the direction and purpose of "where we are headed and why."
A company should not couch its mission in terms of making a profit because a profit is more correctly:
an objective and a result of what a company does
A sound, well-communicated strategic vision matters, and the related payoffs occur in several respects, except in connection with
avoiding strategic inflection points and management's reaction in aligning decision choices.
In a single-business company, the strategy-making hierarchy consists of:
business strategy, functional strategies, and operating strategies.
Management's strategic vision for an organization:
charts a strategic course for the organization ("where we are going") and provides a rationale for why this directional path makes good sense
One of the important benefits of a well-conceived and well-stated strategic vision is to:
clearly communicate management's aspirations for the company to stakeholders and help steer the energies of company personnel in a common direction.
A company needs financial objectives to:
communicate management's targets for financial performance and achieve strategic objectives
Functional-area strategies:
concern the actions, approaches, and practices to be employed in managing particular functions within a business.
What a company's top executives are saying about where the company is headed long term and about what the company's future product-market-customer-technology mix will be:
constitutes their strategic vision for the company
In a diversified company, the strategy-making hierarchy consists of:
corporate strategy, business strategies, functional strategies, and operating strategies.
Management is obligated to monitor new external developments, evaluate the company's progress, and make corrective adjustments in order to:
decide whether to continue or change the company's strategic vision, objectives, strategy and/or strategy execution methods
Business strategy, as distinct from corporate strategy, is chiefly concerned with:
deciding how to build competitive advantage and improve performance in a particular line of business.
The leadership challenges that top executives face in making corrective adjustments when things are not going well include:
deciding when adjustments are needed and what adjustments to make.
The primary role of a functional strategy is to:
determine how to support particular activities in ways that support the overall business strategy and competitive approach
Good strategy execution requires management's:
diligent pursuit of operating excellence.
Well-conceived visions are ________ and ____________ to a particular organization and they avoid generic, feel-good statements that could apply to hundreds of organizations.
distinctive; specific
Masterful strategies come from:
doing things differently from competitors where it counts—out-innovating them, being more efficient, adapting faster—rather than running with the herd.