BUS 450 Exam 1

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

"Who are we and what do we do?"

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 of the following is not a good example of a substitute product that triggers stronger competitive pressures?

Coca-Cola as a substitute for Pepsi

Which one of the following is not an integral part of driving forces analysis?

Determining whether the driving forces are acting to cause one or more industry rivals to shift to a different strategic group

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 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

Which of the following is not a major question to ask in thinking strategically about industry and competitive conditions in a given industry?

How many companies in the industry have good track records for revenue growth and profitability?

Which of the following is not a relevant consideration in identifying an industry's dominant economic features?

How many strategic groups the industry has and which ones are most profitable and least profitable

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

Increase earnings per share by 15% annually

Which of the following do not qualify as potential driving forces capable of inducing fundamental changes in industry and competitive conditions?

Increases in the economic power and bargaining leverage of customers and suppliers, growing supplier-seller collaboration, and growing buyer-seller collaboration

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 quality within three years.

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

Rapid market growth

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

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

strategy

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

Which of the following is not one of the five typical sources of competitive pressures?

The power and influence of industry driving forces

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 is not an appropriate guideline for developing a strategic group map for a given industry?

The variables chosen as axes for the map should be highly correlated.

Which of the following is not a common shortcoming of company vision statements?

Too narrow—doesn't leave enough room for future growth

Which of the following is not a question asked to deduce a marketing-related key success factor?

What are the industry product R & D capabilities and expertise in product design?

Which one of the following does not intensify the competitive pressures associated with the threat of entry?

When industry members are struggling to earn good profits

Which of the following is not among the factors that affect whether competitive rivalry among participating firms is strong, moderate, or weak?

Whether industry driving forces are strong or weak

Evaluating whether an industry presents a sufficiently attractive business opportunity usually does not involve a consideration of which of the following factors?

Whether the industry's product is strongly or weakly differentiated

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 adaptive reactions to unanticipated developments and fresh market conditions.

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 present business scope ("who we are and what we do") whereas the principal concern of a strategic vision is the company's long term direction and future product-market-customer-technology focus.

A company's strategic plan consists of

a vision of where it is headed, a set of performance targets, and a strategy to achieve them.

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.

Using the five-forces model of competition to determine what competition is like in a given industry involves

building the picture of competition in three steps: (1) identifying the specific competitive pressures associated with each of the five competitive forces; (2) evaluating how strong the pressures comprising each competitive force are; and (3) determining whether the collective impact of all five competitive forces is conducive to earning attractive profits.

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.

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.

Having good competitive intelligence about rivals' strategies and moves to improve their situation is important because

it helps a company to anticipate what moves rivals are likely to make next and to craft its own strategic moves with some confidence about what market maneuvers to expect from its 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.

A company exhibits strategic intent when

it relentlessly pursues an ambitious strategic objective, concentrating the full force of its resources and competitive actions on achieving that objective.

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.

The primary roles/obligations of a company's board of directors in the strategy-making, strategy-executing process include

overseeing the company's direction, strategy and business approaches and evaluating the caliber of senior executives' strategy-making and strategy-executing skills.

A company's 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.

Strategic group mapping is a technique for displaying

the different market or competitive positions that rival firms occupy in an industry and identifying each rival's closest competitors.

As a rule, the stronger the collective impact of competitive pressures associated with the five competitive forces

the lower the combined profitability of industry members

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.

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.

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

whether demand-supply conditions represent a buyer's market or a seller's market.