Policy and Strat Test 1 Ch 1
A creative, distinctive strategy that sets a company apart from rivals and that gives it a sustainable competitive advantage
. is a company's most reliable ticket to above-average profitability—indeed, the tight connection between competitive advantage and profitability means that the quest for sustainable competitive advantage always ranks center stage in crafting a strategy.
Which of the following statements about a company's strategy is true?
A company's strategy is typically a blend of proactive and reactive strategy elements.
Which one of the following does not account for why a company's strategy evolves from one version to another?
A desire on the part of company managers to develop new strategy elements on the fly
Which of the following is something to look for in identifying a company's strategy?
All of above are pertinent in identifying a company's strategy
A company's strategy can be considered "unethical" or shady
All of the above call the company's actions/behaviors into question from an ethical standpoint
Which of the following is a frequently used strategic approach to setting a company apart from rivals and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage?
All of these
A company's strategy evolves over time as a consequence of
All of these.
In the course of crafting a strategy, it is common for management to
All of these.
A company's business model
B. is management's storyline for how it will generate revenues ample to cover costs and produce a profit— absent the ability to deliver good profitability, the strategy is not viable and the survival of the business is in doubt
A winning strategy is one that
C.fits the company's internal and external situations, builds sustainable competitive advantage, and improves company performance.
A company whose strategy has shady or unethical elements
D. puts the reputation of the company and its top executives at risk and may even jeopardize the company's long-term well-being and survival, especially if it is required to pay out considerable sums of money to settle punitive lawsuits and compensate customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, rival companies and any others for the injuries they have suffered
The difference between a company's strategy and a company's business model is that
D. strategy relates broadly to a company's competitive moves and business approaches (which may or may not lead to profitability) while its business model relates to whether the revenues and costs flowing from the strategy demonstrate that the business is viable from the standpoint of being able to earn satisfactory profits and returns on investment.
Which of the following questions ought to be used to test the merits of one strategy over another and distinguish a winning strategy from a mediocre or losing strategy?
D.Is the strategy helping the company achieve a sustainable competitive advantage and is it resulting in better company performance?
Which of the following actions would not typically be employed by senior executives with strong ethical convictions?
Ensuring each element of the company's strategy complies only with legal standards
Which of the following is not something a company's strategy is concerned with?
How quickly and closely to copy the strategies being used by successful rival companies
Which of the following is not a primary focus of a company's strategy?
How to achieve above-average gains in the company's stock price and thereby meet or beat shareholder expectations
Which one of the following questions can be used to test the merits of one strategy over another and distinguish a winning strategy from a mediocre or losing strategy
How well does the strategy fit the company's situation?
Which of the following is not something to look for in identifying a company's strategy?
Management actions to revise the company's financial and strategic performance targets.
Which of the following is not a frequently used strategic approach to setting a company apart from rivals and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage?
Striving to be more profitable than rivals and aiming for a competitive edge based on bigger profit margins
Which of the following is not one of the basic reasons that a company's strategy evolves over time?
The need on the part of company managers to initiate fresh strategic actions that boost employee commitment and create a results-oriented culture.
In endeavoring to craft an ethical strategy, company managers
have to go beyond what strategic actions and behaviors are legal and address whether all the various elements of the company's strategy can pass the test of moral scrutiny.
Which of the following is not one of the central questions in evaluating a company's business prospects?
What are the key product or service attributes demanded by consumers?
It is normal for a company's strategy to end up being
a blend of proactive actions to improve the company's competitiveness and financial performance and asneeded reactions to unanticipated developments and fresh market conditions.
Changing circumstances and ongoing managerial efforts to improve the strategy
account for why a company's strategy evolves over time.
In crafting a strategy, management is in effect saying
among all the many different business approaches and ways of competing we could have chosen, we have decided to employ this particular combination of competitive and operating approaches in moving the company in the intended direction, strengthening its market position and competitiveness, and boosting performance."
A company achieves sustainable competitive advantage when
an attractive number of buyers have a lasting preference for its products or services as compared to the offerings of competitors.
Good strategy combined with good strategy execution
are the most trustworthy signs of good management
In choosing among strategy alternatives, company managers
are well-advised to go beyond merely keeping a company's strategic actions within the bounds of what is legal and consider whether the various pieces of the company's strategy are compatible with ethical standards of "right" and "wrong" and duty—what a company should and should not do.
Management's story line for how and why the company's business approaches will generate revenues sufficient to cover costs and produce attractive profits and returns on investment
best describes what is meant by a company's business model.
A company's strategy and its quest for competitive advantage are tightly connected because
crafting a strategy that yields a competitive advantage over rivals is a company's most reliable means of achieving above-average profitability and financial performance.
Crafting and executing strategy are top-priority managerial tasks because
good strategy coupled with good strategy execution greatly raises the chances that a company will be a standout performer in the marketplace.
The most trustworthy signs of a well-managed company are
good strategy-making combined with good strategy execution
A winning strategy is one that
fits the company's internal and external situation, builds sustainable competitive advantage, and improves company performance.
A company's strategy can be considered "ethical"
if it does not entail actions or behaviors that cross the moral line from "can do" to "should not do" (because such actions are unsavory, unconscionable, injurious to others, or unnecessarily harmful to the environment) and if it allows management to fulfill its ethical duties to all stakeholders (shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, the communities in which it operates, and society at large).
A company's strategy can be considered "ethical"
if it does not entail actions or behaviors that cross the moral line from "can do" to "should not do" (because such actions are unsavory, unconscionable, injurious to others, or unnecessarily harmful to the environment).
The heart and soul of a company's strategy-making effort
involves coming up with moves and actions that produce a durable competitive edge over rivals.
A company's strategy stands a better chance of succeeding when
it is predicated on competitive moves aimed at appealing to buyers in ways that set the company apart from rivals.
What separates a powerful strategy from a run-of-the-mill or ineffective one is
management's ability to forge a series of moves, both in the marketplace and internally, that sets the company apart from rivals, tilts the playing field in the company's favor, and produces sustainable competitive advantage over rivals.
A company's strategy concerns
management's action plan for running the business and conducting operations—its commitment to pursue a particular set of actions in growing the business, staking out a market position, attracting and pleasing customers, competing successfully, conducting operations, and achieving targeted objectives.
A company's strategy is most accurately defined as
management's commitment to pursue a particular set of actions in growing the business, attracting and pleasing customers, competing successfully, conducting operations, and improving the company's financial and market performance.
In crafting a company's strategy,
managers need to come up with some distinctive "aha" element to the strategy that draws in customers and produces a competitive edge over rivals.
A company's business model
sets forth the key components of the enterprise's business approach, indicates how revenues will be generated, and makes a case for why the strategy can deliver value to customers in a profitable manner
Crafting a strategy involves
stitching together a proactive/intended strategy and then adapting first one piece and then another as circumstances surrounding the company's situation change or better options emerge.
The competitive moves and business approaches a company's management is using to grow the business, stake out a market position, attract and please customers, compete successfully, conduct operations, and achieve organizational objectives is referred to as its
strategy.
Excellent execution of an excellent strategy is
the best test of managerial excellence and the best recipe for making a company a standout performer.
A company's strategy consists of
the competitive moves and business approaches that managers are employing to grow the business, stake out a market position, attract and please customers, compete successfully, conduct operations, and achieve targeted objectives.
A company's strategy is a "work in progress" and evolves over time because of
the ongoing need of company managers to react and respond to changing market and competitive conditions.
A company's strategy evolves from one version to the next because of
the proactive efforts of company managers to improve this or that aspect of the strategy, a need to respond to changing customer requirements and expectations, and a need to react to fresh strategic maneuvers on the part of rival firms
Crafting and executing strategy are top-priority managerial tasks because
there is a compelling need for managers to proactively shape how the company's business will be conducted and because a strategy-focused enterprise is more likely to be a stronger bottom-line performer than a company whose management views strategy as secondary and puts its priorities elsewhere.
One of the keys to successful strategy-making is
to come up with one or more strategy elements that act as a magnet to draw customers and yield a lasting competitive edge.
A company's business model
zeros in on how and why the business will generate revenues sufficient to cover costs and produce attractive profits and return on investment