Quiz 3

tangible resources included

assets that can be observed and quantified.

Because firms combine tangible and intangible resources to create capabilities,

capabilities are often based on developing, carrying, and exchanging information and knowledge through the firm's human capital.

If a firm offers a service that is valuable, rare, and costly to imitate, but a substitute exists for the service, the firm will

have a temporary competitive advantage.

Organizational culture is

not easily imitable.

The challenge and difficulty of making effective decisions are implied by preliminary evidence that ______ of organizational decisions fail.

one half

Tools such as ______ help the firm focus on its core competencies as the source of its competitive advantages.

outsourcing

Outsourcing is the

purchase of a value-creating activity from an external supplier.

Firms that have strong positive relationships with suppliers and customers are said to have ______, an essential ingredient to creating value.

social capital

Capabilities typically come from

combining resources.

Capabilities that other firms cannot develop easily are classified as

costly to imitate

Southwest Airlines has a complex interrelationship between its culture and staff that adds value in ways that other airlines cannot, such as jokes on flights or the cooperation between gate personnel and pilots. These examples illustrate which of the following criteria for sustainable competitive advantage?

costly to imitate

A firm's core competencies, integrated with an understanding of the results of studying the conditions in the external environment, should

drive the selection of strategies

Firms that achieve competitive parity can expect to

earn average returns

A major department store chain has a strict policy of banning photographs or videos of its sales floor or back-room operations. It also does not allow academics to conduct studies of it for publication in research journals. In fact, some of its own top managers refer to the management's policies on secrecy as "verging on paranoid." These policies indicate that the top management of the firm believes the organization's core competencies are

imitable

Samsung has core competencies in manufacturing its own components and components for other competitors, which help it to predict future innovations and bring them to market quickly. It is in direct competition with Apple in the smartphone market. Its competencies allow Samsung to ______ Apple's innovations.

imitate

Compared to tangible resources, intangible resources are ______ and

less visible; more difficult to copy.

The capabilities used to create the sustainability/green initiatives at Walmart and Target are ______ but less likely to be

valuable; rare.

Many firms outsource the payroll function of paying employees to firms such as ADP. Payroll is a(n)

support function.

The corporate research division of Siemens files, on average, 25 patents a day. The patents are a(n) ______ resource.

technologial

In the airline industry, frequent-flyer programs, ticket kiosks, and e-ticketing are all examples of capabilities that are ______ but no longer

valuable; rare