Senior Seminar #1

22. A company's strategy is a "work in progress" and evolves over time because of the

D. ongoing need of company managers to react and respond to changing market and competitive conditions.

34. The customer value proposition lays out the company's approach to

D. satisfying customer wants and needs at a price customers will consider a good value.

33. 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 while its business model relates to whether the revenues flowing from the strategy are sufficient to cover costs and realize a profit.

4. The real purpose of the company's strategic vision:

C. serves as management's tool for giving the organization a sense of direction.

5. Which of the following principal aspects should be included in managing the strategy execution process?

B. organizing the company along the lines of best practice

21. Which of the following is the best example of a well-stated strategic objective?

C. Overtake key competitors on product performance or quality within three years.

8. A company's strategy stands a better chance of succeeding when

C. it is predicated on competitive moves aimed at appealing to buyers in ways that set the company apart from rivals.

1. A company's strategic plan

C. outlines the competitive moves and approaches to be used in achieving the desired business results.

3. __________ is the set of actions that its managers take to outperform the company's competitors and achieve superior profitability.

A Strategy

11. The pattern of actions and business approaches that would NOT define a company's strategy include actions to

D. gain sales and market share with lower prices despite increased costs.

20. Which of the following is the best example of a well-stated financial objective?

A. Increase earnings per share by 15 percent annually.

44. What is the foremost question in running a business enterprise?

A. What must managers do, and do well, to make a company a winner in the marketplace?

13. A company's mission statement typically addresses which of the following questions?

A. Who are we and what do we do?

6. Every strategy needs

A. a distinctive element that attracts customers and produces a competitive edge.

27. Which one of the following does NOT account for WHY a company's strategy evolves from one version to another?

A. a need to promote stability and retain the status quo

50. Changing circumstances and ongoing managerial efforts to improve the strategy

A. account for why a company's strategy evolves over time.

40. Functional-area strategies:

A. concern the actions, approaches, and practices to be employed in managing particular functions within a business.

2. Which of the following are integral parts of the managerial process of crafting and executing strategy?

A. developing a strategic vision, Strategic Management, and crafting a strategy

31. The task of stitching together a strategy:

A. entails addressing a series of hows: 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.

11. Effectively communicating the strategic vision down the line to lower-level managers and employees has the value of:

A. explaining "where we are going and why" and, more importantly, inspiring and energizing company personnel to unite to get the company moving in the intended direction.

30. When trade-offs have to be made between achieving long-term and achieving short-term objectives:

A. long-term objectives should take precedence unless the short-term performance targets have unique importance.

20. Managers of every company should be willing and ready to modify the strategy because

A. market conditions and circumstances are changing over time or the current strategy is clearly failing.

33. The faster a company's business environment is changing, the more critical it becomes for its managers to:

A. pay attention to early warnings of future change and be willing to experiment to establish a market position in the future.

13. A company achieves a competitive advantage when it

A. provides buyers with superior value compared to rival sellers or offers the same value at a lower cost.

16. Well-stated objectives are:

A. quantifiable, or measurable, and contain deadlines for achievement.

2. A company's strategy consists of the action plan management takes to?

A. stake out a unique market position and achieve superior profitability.

38. Business strategy concerns:

A. strengthening the market position and building competitive advantage for a single line of business.

19. Managers can deliberately set challenging performance targets at levels high enough to promote outstanding company performance by establishing:

A. stretch objectives which challenge the organization to deliver stretch gains in performance.

43. Excellent execution of an excellent strategy is

A. the best test of managerial excellence and the best recipe for making a company a standout performer.

29. A strategy is about competing differently than rivals, thus strategy success is about

A. the sources of sustained advantages and superior profitability.

7. The defining characteristic of a well-conceived strategic vision is:

A. what it says about the company's future strategic course—"the direction we are headed and what our future product-market-customer focus will be."

32. Management's blueprint for how and why the company's business approaches will generate revenues sufficient to cover costs and produce attractive profits and returns on investment

B. best describes what is meant by a company's business model.

43. In a single-business company, the strategy-making hierarchy consists of:

B. business strategy, functional strategies, and operating strategies.

6. What a company's top executives are saying about where the company is headed long term with respect to its future product-market-customer-technology mix:

B. constitutes the strategic vision for the company.

39. Business strategy, as distinct from corporate strategy, is chiefly concerned with:

B. deciding how to build competitive advantage and improve performance in a particular line of business.

48. 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:

B. ferret out the causes and decide when adjustments are needed and what adjustments are needed for improved performance and operating excellence.

30. A company's business model

B. is management's blueprint for how it will generate revenues sufficient to cover costs and yield an attractive profit.

40. Why are crafting and executing business strategies the foremost tasks of any organization?

B. Because a good strategy coupled with a good strategy execution are the most telling signs of good management and allow a company to be a standout performer in the marketplace

1. Which of the following is NOT one of the managerial considerations in determining how to compete successfully?

B. How can a company modify its entire product line to emphasize its internal service attributes?

44. A company's strategic plan:

B. lays out its future direction and business purpose, performance targets and strategy.

34. Strategy-making is:

B. 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.

29. Company objectives:

B. need to be broken down into performance targets for separate businesses, product lines, functional departments, and individual work units.

14. The primary difference between a company's mission statement and the company's strategic vision is that:

B. 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."

48. A company achieves sustainable competitive advantage when

B. a sufficiently large number of buyers have a lasting preference for its products or services as compared to the offerings of competitors.

17. A company needs financial objectives:

B. because without adequate profitability and financial strength, the company's ultimate survival is jeopardized.

50. The key duties of a company's board of directors in the strategy-making, strategy-executing process include:

B. overseeing the company's financial accounting and financial reporting practices and evaluating the caliber of senior executives' strategy-making/strategy-executing skills.

26. Perhaps the most reliable way for a company to improve its financial performance over time is to:

B. recognize that the achievement of strategic objectives signals that the company is well positioned to sustain or improve its performance.

22. Strategic objectives:

B. relate to strengthening a company's overall market standing and competitive position.

45. In evaluating proposed or existing strategies managers should

B. scrutinize the company's existing strategies on a regular basis to ensure they offer a good strategic fit, create a competitive advantage, and result in above-average performance.

7. A company's strategy is NOT concerned with management's choices about how to

B. stake out the same market position as successful rival companies.

36. A winning strategy must pass which three tests?

B. the Fit Test, the Competitive Advantage Test, and the Performance Test

26. A company's realized strategy evolves from one version to the next due to

B. the proactive efforts of company managers to improve the current 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.

12. Perhaps the most important benefit of a vivid, engaging, and convincing strategic vision is:

B. uniting company personnel behind managerial efforts to get the company moving in the intended direction.

49. In the strategy-making, strategy-executing process, effective corporate governance requires a company's board of directors to:

C. oversee the company's strategic direction, evaluate the caliber of senior executives' skills, handle executive compensation, and oversee financial reporting practices.

10. Breaking down resistance to a new strategic vision typically requires that management, on an as needed basis:

C. 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.

24. Strategic intent refers to a situation where a company:

C. relentlessly pursues an ambitious strategic objective.

24. Crafting a deliberate strategy involves developing strategy elements that

C. consist of a blend of proactive new planned initiatives plus ongoing strategy elements continued from prior periods.

12. A creative, distinctive strategy that delivers a sustainable competitive advantage is important because

C. 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.

47. The leadership challenges that top executives face in making corrective adjustments when things are not going well include:

C. deciding when adjustments are needed and what adjustments to make.

3. The strategy-making, strategy-executing process is shaped by:

C. external factors such as the industry's economic and competitive conditions and internal factors such as the company's collection of resources and capabilities.

35. A winning strategy is one that

C. fits the company's internal and external situation, builds sustainable competitive advantage, and improves company performance.

42. The most significant signs of a well-managed company are

C. good strategy-making combined with good strategy execution.

8. Which of the following are characteristics of an effectively worded strategic vision statement?

C. graphic, directional, and focused

42. Operating strategies are primarily concerned with:

C. 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.

14. A creative and distinctive strategy that sets a company apart from rivals and that gives it a sustainable competitive advantage

C. is a company's most reliable ticket to above-average profitability.

37. Corporate strategy for a diversified or multi-business enterprise:

C. is orchestrated by senior corporate executives and centers around the kinds of initiatives the company uses to establish business positions in different industries.

39. Crafting and executing a strategy is a top-priority managerial task because

C. it is management's prescription for doing business, its roadmap to competitive advantage, a game plan for pleasing customers, and its formula for improving performance.

17. Which of the following is NOT a frequently used strategic approach to set a company apart from rivals and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage?

C. simply trying to mimic the successful strategies of rivals

18. 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?

C. strategic intent

9. Which of the following ARE common shortcomings of company vision statements?

C. too broad, vague or incomplete, bland/uninspiring, not distinctive, and too reliant on superlatives

5. The managerial task of developing a strategic vision for a company:

D. involves deciding upon what strategic course a company should pursue in preparing for the future and why this directional path makes good business sense.

27. A company that pursues and achieves strategic objectives:

D. 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.

41. Good strategy combined with good strategy execution

D. is the clearest indicator of good management.

9. In crafting a company's strategy, managers

D. need to come up with a sustainable competitive advantage that draws in customers and produces a competitive edge over rivals.

25. Which of the following statements about a company's strategy is true?

D. A company's strategy is typically a blend of proactive and reactive strategy elements.

31. Why is it important to craft a business model?

D. Because it 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.

38. Which of the following questions tests the merits of the firm's strategy and distinguishes it as a winning strategy?

D. Is the strategy helping the company achieve a sustainable competitive advantage and is it resulting in better company performance?

15. What separates a powerful strategy from a run-of-the-mill or ineffective one?

D. management's ability to forge a series of actions, both in the marketplace and internally, that sets the company apart from rivals and produces sustainable competitive advantage

23. It is normal for a company's strategy to end up being

D. a blend of proactive actions to improve the company's competitiveness and financial performance, and adaptive reactions to unanticipated developments and fresh market conditions.

36. In a diversified company, the strategy-making hierarchy consists of:

D. corporate strategy, business strategies, functional strategies, and operating strategies.

4. Strategy, at its essence, is about

D. developing lasting success that can support growth and secure the company's future over the long term.

46. A winning strategy is one that

D. fits the company's internal and external situation, builds sustainable competitive advantage, and improves company performance.

28. A company needs performance targets or objectives:

D. for its operations as a whole and also for each of its separate businesses, product lines, functional departments, and individual work units.

15. A company's values or core values concern:

D. 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.

16. Which of the following is NOT a frequently used strategic approach to set a company apart from rivals and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage?

E. striving to be the industry's high-price provider

18. Which of the following companies would have the LEAST bargaining power with its suppliers?

E. a company that offers high-cost specialized products that could be used only by customers of a certain age group

19. Winning a sustainable competitive edge over competitors does NOT hinge on which of the following?

E. building products and distributing them at low prices to a broad customer base irrespective of manufacturing cost

10. The heart and soul of a company's strategy-making effort is determining how to

E. come up with moves and actions that produce a durable competitive edge over rivals.

47. Which of the following is a seldom used strategic approach to setting a company apart from rivals and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage?

E. copying the attributes of a popular product or service

46. Management is obligated to monitor new external developments, evaluate the company's progress, and make corrective adjustments in order to:

E. decide whether to continue or change the company's strategic vision, objectives, strategy and/or strategy execution methods.

41. The primary role of a functional strategy is to:

E. determine how to support particular activities in ways that support the overall business strategy and competitive approach.

32. Masterful strategies come from:

E. doing things differently from competitors where it counts rather than running with the herd.

23. Adopting a set of "stretch" financial and "stretch" strategic objectives:

E. is an effective tool for pushing the company to perform at its full potential and deliver the best possible results.

35. A company's overall strategy:

E. is really a collection of strategic initiatives and actions devised by managers and key employees up and down the whole organizational hierarchy.

49. Which of the following is not an element of a company's business strategy?

E. management's actions to revise the company's financial and strategic performance targets

21. Managers must be prepared to modify their strategy in response to all of the following EXCEPT

E. public pronouncements from rivals about monthly profit margins.

28. In the course of crafting a strategy, which of the following is NOT a common management function?

E. sharing the strategy with the public to gain additional customer and shareholder support

5. To improve performance, there are many different avenues for outcompeting rivals such as

E. strengthening competitiveness by pursuing strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships.

25. A "balanced scorecard" for measuring company performance:

E. strikes a "balance" between financial and strategic objectives.

37. Which of the following questions can be used to distinguish a winning strategy from a mediocre or losing strategy?

How well does the strategy fit the company's situation?