Stragetic Management Ch 1 - 5

Leading the drive for good strategy execution and operating excellence calls upon managers to

Practice MBWA, put constructive pressure on the organization to achieve good results and display ethical integrity and spearhead social responsibility initiatives

The major avenues for achieving a cost advantage over rivals include

Eliminating non-essential cost-producing activities and creating a cost-conscious culture

Functional strategies

add detail to the overall business strategy and specify what resources and organizational capabilities are needed to put the business strategy into action.

Which of the following is not among the principal managerial tasks associated with managing the strategy execution process?

Engaging the services of staffing firms to maintain the company's personnel data

A Balanced Scorecard for measuring company performance

Entails striking a balance between financial objectives and strategic objectives

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

Company objectives

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

Company objective

need to be broken down into performance targets for each of its seperate businesses, product lines, functional departments and individual work units

A stragetegy to be the industry's overall lowe-cost provider tends to be more appealing than a differentiation or focus strategy when

the offerings of rival firms are essentially identical standardized, commodity-like products

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

the ongoing need of a company managers to react and respong to changing industry and competitive conditions

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

"Who are we and what do we do?" and "why are we here"

A company's business model

(1) specifies a customer value proposition, (2) develops a profit formula, and (3) identifies key resources and processes required to create and deliver customer value

Changing circustance and on going managerial effort to improve stratey

...

Which of the following statements about a company's realized strategy is true

A company's realized strategy is typically a blend of deliberate/planned initiatives and emergent/unplanned reactive strategy elements.

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

A strategy that yields a competitive advantage over rivals is a company's most reliable means of achieving above-average profitability and financial performance

The primary role of a functional strategy is to

Add detail to the company's business-level strategy and specify what resources are needed to put the strategy into action

Which one of the following is not an integral part of the managerial process of crafting and executing strategy?

Choosing a strategic intent

Which one of the following is not a characteristic of an effectively-worded strategic vision statement (see Table 2.2)?

Concrete and unambiguous (leaves no doubt as to what the company is trying to accomplish for shareholders)

A strategic vision for a company

Describes "where we are going" by delineating the course and direction management has charted for the company's future product-customer-market-technology focus.

Approaches to achieving a sustainable competitive advantage include which of the following?

Developing unmatched resource strengths and competitive capabilities. Focusing on a narrow market niche within an industry. Strategies keyed to creating a differentiation-based advantage. Strategies keyed to developing a cost-based advantage. ***All of these.

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?

Directing senior executives as to what the company's long-term direction, objectives, business model, and strategy should be and, further, closely supervising senior executives in their efforts to implement and execute the strategy

Which one of the following questions can be used to distinguish a winning strategy from a so-so or losing strategy?

Has the strategy produced good financial performance

Which of the following is a good example of a manufacturing-related key success factor?

High labor productivity (especially if the production process has high labor content)

Which one of the following is not related to actions and approaches that comprise a company's strategy

How to prove to shareholders that the company's business model is viable

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

Is the strategy well-matched to the company's situation, helping the company achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, and resulting in better company performance?

According to both the text discussion and the summary in Table 2.3, which of the following is not a common shortcoming of company vision statements?

Lacking in analysis—based more on managerial emotion and excessive ambition than on what is realistically achievable

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

Management actions to revise the company's financial and strategic performance targets

A company's competitive strategy deals with

Management's game plan for securing a competitive advantage relative to rivals

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

Managers at all companies face three central questions in thinking strategically about their company's present circumstances and prospects: Where are we now? Where do we want to go? How are we going to get there?

The generic types of competitive strategies include

Overall low-cost provider, broad differentiation, focused low-cost and focused differentiation

A company's business model

Relates to the principle business components that will allow the business to generate revenues sufficient to cover costs and produce a profit

A focused low-cost strategy seeks to achieve competitive advantage by

Serving buyers in the target market niche at a lower cost and lower price than rivals

Which of the following is not one of the most frequently used strategic approaches to building competitive advantage?

Striving for a competitive edge based on bigger profit margins

Which of the following factors should a company consider when determining if an industry offers good prospects for attractive profits?

The industry's growth potential, whether competition appears destined to become stronger or weaker, how the industry's driving forces might affect overall industry profitability, the company's competitive position relative to rivals and the company's proficiency in performing industry key success factors

Which of the following statements concerning Sirius XM's business model and that of over-the-air radio broadcasters (as discussed in Concepts & Connections 1.2) is false?

The profit formula for over-the-air radio broadcasters involves fixed costs associated with operating a satellite-based music delivery service

Which of the following is not a reason that industry rivals are often motivated to enter into strategic partnerships with key suppliers?

To reduce the bargaining power they face from buyers of their products

Which of the following is not one of the questions that needs to be answered in thinking strategically about a company's external environment?

What are the company's competitively valuable resources and capabilities that can be used to form the foundation of its competitive approach

Whether buyer bargaining power poses a strong or weak source of competitive pressure on industry members depends in part on

Whether buyer demand is strong or declining

Which of the following is not a factor in determining whether the suppliers to an industry are a source of strong, moderate, or weak competitive pressures?

Whether the industry supply chain is global or mostly national, whether suppliers have a wide or narrow product line, and whether industry members place orders frequently or infrequently with suppliers

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

a blend of deliberate actions to improve the company's competitiveness and financial performance and unplanned reactions to changing circumstances and fresh market conditions.

A company's strategic vision concerns

a cmpany's path and future product -customer -market- technology focus

The difference between a competence and a core competene is that

a competence represents proficient in preforming an internal acitivity whereas a core competence is proficiently performed internal acitivity that is central to a company strategy and compettitiveness

The task of crafting a strategy is

a job for a company's whole management team?senior executives plus the managers of business units, operating divisions, functional departments, manufacturing plants, and sales districts (as per the strategy-making hierarchy shown in Figure 2.2).

Which of the following is not one of the five generic types of competitive strategy

a market share cominator strategy

The difference between a company's mission statement and the concept of a strategic vision is that

a mission statement typically concerns an enterprise's present business scope and purpose—"who we are, what we do, and why we are here"—whereas the focus of a strategic vision is on the direction the company is headed and what its future product-customer-market-technology focus will be.

Strategies that yield sustainable competitive advantage is important because

a strategy that yields a competitive advantage over rivals and creates an enduring demand for a company's products or services is the key to a company's ability to earn ongoing above-average profits

A creative distincive strategy that delivers a sustainable competive advantage is important because

a strategy that yields a competitive advantge over rivals is a company's most reliable means of achieving above average profitability and financial performance

A company achieve sustainable competive advantage when

a suffiently large number o fbuyers have a lasting preference for is prouctss or serives as compared to the offering of competitiors

What separates comany that make sincere effort to be good corporate citizens from companies that are content to do only what is legally required of them

are company leaders who beieve that making profits is not good enough and that performance should ale incle social and environmentla metrics

What separates companies that make a sincere effort to be good corporate citizens from companies that are content to do only what is legally required of them

are company leaders who believe that making a profit is not good enough and that performance should also include social and environmental metrics.

The key success factors in a industry

are the strategy elements, intangible assets, and competive capabilities that most affect industry emembers ablitlties to prosper in the marketplace

A resource-based strategy

attempts to exploit resources in a manner that offers value to customers in ways rivals are unable to match

Strategy-making is

more of a collaborative group effort that involves managers and key employees throughout the company.

A company's needs financial objectives

because without adequate profitability and financal strength the company's ultimate survival is jeapardized

Crafting a strategy involves

blending deliberate/planned intiatives with emergenty /unplanned reactive responses to changing circumstances, while abandoning planned strategy elements that have failed in the marketplace

As per Figure 2.2, the strategy-making hierarchy in a single business company consists of

business strategy, functional area strategies, and operating strategies.

Broad difentiation strategies generally work best in market circumstances where

buyer needs and preferences are too diverse to be fully satisfied by standardized products

In answering the question, "How are we going to get there?" management must have deliberate plans for addressing such issues as

changing market conditions, development of internal capabilities and competencies, and allocation of financial resources.

A company's strategy consist of

competitive most and apporaches that managers have developed to grow the business, attract and please customers, conduct operations and achieve targeted objectives

A viable business model

must have a tight fit with organizational capabilities and generate revenues sufficient to cover costs and deliver good profitability

A company's value chain

consists of two broad categories of acitivities: the priamary activities that create customer value and the requisite support activities that facilitate and enhance the performance of primaryactivities

A company's objectives

convert the strategic vision into specific performance targets—well-stated objectives are quantifiable, or measurable, and contain a deadline for achievement.

A competitive environment where there is weak to moderate rivalry among sellers, high entry barriers, weak competition from substitute products, and little bargaining leverage on the part of both suppliers and customers

is conducive to industry members have low cost

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.

While there are many routes to competitive advantage they all involve

delivering superiour value to buyers in ways rivals cannot readily match

Which one of the following is not one of the five stage of strategic managemtn process

developing a profitable business model

Easy to copy differentiating features

do not offer the promise of sustainable competitive advantages

The most important aspect of a company's business strategy

is its apporach to competing in the marketplac

The most important aspect of a company's business strategy

is its approach to competing in the marketplace.

A balanced scorecard for measuring company performance

entails setting both financial and strategic objectives and putting balanced emphasis on their achievement

Successfully leading the effort ot instill a spirit of high achievement into a comany culutre and put constructive pressure on the organization to achieve good results

entails such actions as treating employees with dignity and respect, celebrating individual group, and company successes and setting stretch objectives

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 pas decisions and organizational activities whereas strategic performance measures are leading indicators of company's future financial performance

A winning strategy is one that

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

A winning strategy is one that

fits the company's internal and external situation, builds sustainable competitive advantage, and boosts company performance

A 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

The three elments of a company's business model are

its customer value proposition, the profit formula, and an identification of key resources and processes necessary to create and deliver value to customers

Leading and managing the strategy process calls upon managers to

making sure the company has a good strategic plan, staying on top of what is happening, putting constructive pressure on the organization to achieve good results, pushing corrective actions, leading the development of stronger capabilities, and displaying ethical integrity and spearheading social responsibility initiatives.

A company's strategic plan consists of

management's vision mapping out where a company is headed, the company's financial and strategic objectives, and management's strategy to achieve the objectives and move the company along the chosen strategic path.

In identifying an industry's dominant economic features, there is a need to consider such things as

market size and growth rate, the number of buyers, the scope of competitive rivalry, the number of rivals, demand-supply conditions, product innovation, the presence of scale economies and/or learning/experience curve effects, and the pace of technological change.

Company strategies evolve because

of the ongoing need to respond to changing market conditions, the fresh moves of competitors, shifting buyer needs and preferences, emerging market opportunities, new ideas for improving the strategy, and any evidence that indicates the strategy is not working well.

The market opprotunities most relevant to a particular comany are those that

offer the best growth and profitability

The obligatoins of an investor-owned comany'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

SWOT analysis

providers a good overview of a company's overall situation

Which of the following is generally not considered as a barrier to entry

rapid market growth

Strategic objectives

relate to strenghening a company's overall market standing and competive vitality

A company's business model

relates to the principle business componetns that will aloow the business to generate revenues ample to cover costs and product a profit

Which of the following is not part of a company's macroenvironment?

the company's resource strengths, resource weaknesses and competitive capabilities

Establishing and achieving strategic objectives merits very high priority on management's agenda because

strategic outcomes are leading indicators of a company's future financial performance and business prospects.

The competitive moves and business approaches a company's management are using grow the business, attract and please customers, compete successfully, conduct operations, and achieve the targeted levels of organizational performance is referred to as its

strategy

Which of the following is not 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 base on bigger profit margins

Based on both the chapter discussion and the summary in Figure 3.4, competitive pressures stemming from substitute products are weaker when

substitutes are higher-priced, buyers don't believe substitute products have equal or better features, and buyers' costs of switching to substitutes are relatively high.

For a best-cost provider strategy to be successful, a company must have

the capability to incorporate upscale attributes at lower cost than rivals whos products have similar upscale attributes

One imporatn indicator of how well a company's present strategy is working is whether

the company is achieving its financial and strategic objective and whether it is an avove-aveage industry performer

Operating strategies concern

the relatively narrow strategic initiatives and approaches for managing key operating units (plants, distribution centers, geographic units) and specific operating activities (the management of specific brands, supply chain?related activities, and website sales and operations).

What sets focused (or market niche) strategies apart from low-cost leadership and broad diffentiation strategies is

their concentrated attention on a narrow piece of the overall market

The option for remedying a supplier related cost disadvantage include

trying to negotiate more favorable prices with suppliers and switching lower priced substitue inputs

Whether buyer bargaining power powes a strong or weak source of competitive pressure on indust members depends in part on

wheather buyer demands is strong or declining

Which one of the following increases the competitive pressures associated with the threat of entry

when newcomers can expect to earn attative profits

Whether the buyers of an industry's product have strong or weak bargaining leverage over the terms and conditions of sale depends on

whether buyers purchase in relatively large or small quantities, whether the costs of switching to competing brands or to substitute products are high or low, and how well informed buyers are about sellers' prices, products, and costs.

One of the most telling signs of wheter a company's market position is strong or precarious is

whether its prices and costs are competitive with those of key rivals