BUSMHR 4490 Final
Frederica, the chief financial officer at a moped manufacturer in Canada, wants to build new plants in Canada rather than overseas. Which of these points should she make as she argues her case to the board of directors?
"It will be much more difficult to protect our intellectual property if we build factories overseas."
Island Home Goods pursues a related diversification strategy, deriving less than 70 percent of revenues from its original business unit, Island Furniture, and maintaining several related units including Island Lighting and Island Hardware. Which of the following structures is most likely to support this strategy?
-Form with centralized decision-making power (cooperative multidivisional)
Sorenson LLC, a publicly traded company, has ten members on its board. Of the ten members, six members are employees of the company—including the CEO, who also chairs the board. The board has been failing in its responsibilities toward the shareholders, who now want a new board. Assuming that the total number of board members remains constant, how many outside directors should the shareholders appoint to Sorenson's board to achieve board independence?
7
Which of the following descriptions best exemplifies adverse selection?
A manager cannot ascertain the contributions of individual team members in team production.
Which of the following will most likely harm a multinational enterprise's (MNE's) reputation?
A sweatshop owned by an MNE has an explosion that kills hundreds of workers
Which of the following describes a firm in the Globalization 1.0 stage?
Asha Inc. had a base office in New York and distributed some of its products overseas.
Which of the following countries has a high geographic distance but a low cultural distance from the United States?
Australia
Avalanche operates as a strategic business unit (SBU) under Snowfall Inc., a home-furnishings manufacturer. From this information, it may be reasonable to infer that
Avalanche is led by its own CEO (or equivalent general manager).
Which of the following real-world scenarios best exemplifies information asymmetry in a public stock company?
Based on a tip-off by a Goldman Sachs employee, the Galleon Group sold its holdings in Goldman Sachs' stocks prior to the announcement of missed earnings estimates.
Which of the following is an observable feature in the Globalization 3.0 stage?
Based on an optimal mix of costs, skills, and PESTEL factors, companies now freely locate business functions anywhere in the world.
Bellhaven Inc. has a board of directors that consists of seven members. Which of the following is most likely an accurate statement about Bellhaven's board of directors?
Bellhaven's board of directors has a minority number of inside directors and it evaluates the firm's strategic initiatives.
Which of the following provides an example of a common drawback of a functional strategy?
Bert had a difficult time communicating efficiently with the manager of another department
Eyenima Inc. is a public stock company. Which of the following best exemplifies the legal personality of the company?
Bjorn Eyenima, the company's founder, died a few years ago, yet the company is doing well.
Milk Benefits Inc., a company popular for its dairy products, successfully follows a multidomestic strategy. Andrew Products Inc., a large conglomerate, pursues a transnational strategy. Which of the following statements is most likely true of this scenario?
Both Milk Benefits Inc. and Andrew Products Inc. will have to duplicate key business functions in multiple host countries.
Two leading home appliance companies, Redwood Inc. and Boxer Technologies, are in competition for market share. In their quest for exciting new products, Redwood employs an open innovation model, while Boxer pursues a closed innovation model. Which of the following statements is most likely true?
Boxer will protect its intellectual property with patents and trade secrets
Arnold is a firm believer in Milton Friedman's view of a firm's social obligations. With which of the following statements is Arnold most likely to agree?
Businesses can use their resources to create profit as long as they do so within the rules of the game.
Stella accepts a job as vice president for human resources at a technology startup. She discovers that the startup believes that teamwork is so important that it plans to award all raises and bonuses by splitting them equally within a team rather than presenting them to individual employees. What action should Stella take regarding this plan?
Cancel the plan because under it, opportunistic employees will do little or no work.
________ refers to the degree to which decision making is concentrated at the top of the organization.
Centralization
Which of the following is true of business ethics?
Certain notions such as fairness, honesty, and reciprocity are universal norms.
Midas Touch, a venture capital firm, has the opportunity to invest in one of two firms that are in the process of globalizing. Coolco, an air-conditioner manufacturer, faces intense pressure from its home market. Barker, a dog-toy manufacturer, has encountered little competition in its country of origin. In which company should Midas Touch invest?
Coolco, because firms that face stiff competition at home tend to do better abroad
Sirhan is president of a medium-sized bank. What can he do to lessen the chances of employees or board members taking part in insider trading?
Create a strict code of ethics and explain that inside traders will be fired.
Why does Michael Porter recommend expanding the customer base of an organization in terms of the shared value creation framework?
Doing so could yield significant business opportunities that could improve the standard of living of the poor.
Which of the following is an implication for the strategist in the context of corporate governance and a company's success?
Effective corporate governance and solid business ethics are critical to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage.
Burnley and Co., a graphic design firm, has offices in New York, Texas, California, New Mexico, and New Jersey. Each of these offices is headed by a president who reports directly to Emma Burnley, the CEO. The heads of the centralized HR, Finance, and Marketing teams report to Emma Burnley as well. Managers in the various offices also report to the CEO directly. Based on this information, which of the following statements is most likely to be true?
Emma Burnley has a wide span of control
Which of the following perspectives best supports the shared value creation framework?
Externalities such as pollution, wasted energy, and costly accidents actually create internal costs.
A detergent manufacturer decides to clean up the waterways it uses even though no federal, state, or local laws require the firm to do this. The firm's managers believe that the cleanup will improve the company's image and benefit the environment. This scenario is an example of shareholder capitalism.
FALSE
A planned emergence approach to strategic planning is most likely to be found in a highly centralized firm.
FALSE
A primary advantage of the matrix organizational structure is that it simplifies decision making and communication in geographically diverse organizations.
FALSE
An open innovation model reduces a firm's absorptive capacity.
FALSE
Businesses located in countries that have relatively weak domestic demand rarely make the leap to multinational enterprises because they must focus their attention on shoring up their economic positions in their home countries.
FALSE
Communities of learning are metropolitan areas that have large numbers of high school graduates who are ready for a university education.
FALSE
Foreign-entry modes such as acquisitions and greenfield projects are usually disadvantageous because they require a high level of capital and resource investment but allow for a low level of control.
FALSE
It can be difficult for shareholders of publicly traded companies to determine how much money those companies are making or losing because these companies use different accounting firms, and each accounting firm follows different rules.
FALSE
It is up to shareholders to make certain that the financial statements that their firms release are correct and not misleading.
FALSE
Jeannette was a manager at Fabco. Instead of working full-time on Fabco's projects, she used Fabco's tools, employees, computers, and other resources to work on a research project that she hopes might help her start her own firm. This is an example of adverse selection.
FALSE
Most businesses around the world are more than 50 percent globalized, meaning that more than half their revenues are from outside the home country.
FALSE
Once a firm finds success in a given organizational structure, it should seek to reinforce and maintain that structure for the life of the firm.
FALSE
One of the most challenging aspects of principal—agent problems is that firms have almost no defenses against them.
FALSE
Research indicates that most corporate ethics problems are caused by a few "bad apples" rather than an unethical culture.
FALSE
Results-only-work-environments (ROWEs) are characterized by their use of extrinsic motivations such as promotions or the threat of layoffs.
FALSE
The cultural distance between Australia and the United States is relatively high because of the physical distance between the two nations.
FALSE
The term demand conditions refers to how high the volume of demand is for a particular product in a particular country
FALSE
Galaxy Toys Inc., a toy manufacturing company, encourages its employees to enjoy their work by taking on additional responsibilities or switching jobs with each other. It allows its employees immense flexibility in charting their own career path within the organization. Chris has worked at Galaxy Toys for eight years, but has never had a boss or supervised an employee. Which of the following is most likely true in this scenario?
Galaxy Toys Inc. has a flat organizational structure
Gino is the CEO of a financial services firm. What action should Gino take to be sure the firm avoids moral hazards?
Gino should define undue risk-taking, institute strict auditing of loans, and make it clear that the company will fire employees who lend recklessly.
Atangadi is a strategist who wants to decide on the appropriate strategy to help his firm "go global." Which of the following should he consider while choosing his strategy?
He must be aware of the fact that despite globalization and the emergence of the internet, firm geographic location has actually maintained its importance
Andrew is the president of a technology firm that has recently gone public. What action, if any, should Andrew take to build the confidence of his new shareholders?
He should find out whether the majority of his shareholders want long-term steady growth or short-term spikes in the stock price.
Elvira is the CEO of a firm. She has an opportunity to increase the competitive advantage of her company but is not sure if accepting the opportunity is ethical. Which of the following questions would help her decide if accepting the opportunity is ethical?
How would the media report her decision to accept the opportunity if it were to become public?
Which of the following is an advantage of using a functional structure when pursuing a cost-leadership strategy?
It allows a cost-leader to upgrade core competencies in manufacturing and logistics.
Why should managers using the M-form organizational structure to support a related-diversification strategy ideally concentrate decision making at the top of the organization?
It allows a high level of integration
Which of the following is an advantage offered by a functional structure?
It allows for a higher degree of specialization and deeper domain expertise
Why does a functional structure rely on a flat organizational structure?
It allows for efficient bottom-up and top-down communication
Why does a firm use an organic organization combined with a functional structure when implementing a differentiation strategy?
It allows the firm to constantly upgrade core competencies in R&D, innovation, and marketing.
Which of the following is a disadvantage of a functional strategy?
It cannot effectively address a higher level of diversification
One of Waterfall Apparel's core values is to provide unbeatable customer service, a commitment introduced to the company by its founder more than 10 years ago. This value is expressed in the company's "True to You" campaign, which promises a no-questions-asked returns policy and an offer to stitch the customer's initials onto any item for free using a patented sewing technique, two features that are not offered by any of Waterfall's competitors. Although the campaign has resulted in a 10 percent decline in profits, Waterfall has decided to continue to pursue its founder's vision to reward customers and maintain employees' sense of purpose. Why does Waterfall's culture, exemplified by the "True to You" campaign, fail to support a competitive advantage?
It does not increase economic value creation for the firm
In which of the following ways does Zappos achieve organizational control?
It enforces that each group member's compensation depends in part on the group's overall productivity.
Which of the following statements best describes groupthink?
It is a situation in which opinions coalesce around a leader without individuals critically challenging and evaluating that leader's opinions and assumptions
Which of the following statements is true of organizational culture?
It is better for founder CEOs to create a relevant culture, structure, and strategy in the early stages.
Which of the following best supports the fact that Goldman Sachs was unethical in the Abacus deal?
It knew that Paulson & Co. had bundled high-risk mortgages into the collateralized debt obligation.
What most likely happens when a firm optimizes its organizational structure to its current situation?
It plants the seed of subsequent failure: the tightly coupled system can break apart when internal or external pressures occur
What is the result of managers' pursuit of strategies that define value creation too narrowly in public stock companies?
It reduces the trust of shareholders in the organization as a vehicle for value creation.
Which of the following is a drawback of pursuing a transnational strategy?
It requires a global matrix structure, which is difficult to implement
Myriad Inc., a well-established and reputed multinational enterprise (MNE), is headquartered in a highly developed economy. It wants to start its operations in New Denistan, considered one of the less-developed nations in the world. How will this strategic move most likely affect Myriad Inc.?
It will benefit from economic arbitrage
Why is the optimal organizational structure a multidivisional structure?
Its focus is on driving down costs
GameGo is a publicly traded manufacturer of home electronics. Based on what you have read, which of these actions would be wisest for GameGo's board of directors to take to be sure that the company's new CEO is as motivated as possible?
Link the CEO's pay to her performance, but avoid high-powered incentives that may cause reckless behavior.
Makes Scents Inc., a company that manufactures and sells premium perfumes, is pursuing an international strategy. PriceSmasher Inc., a supermarket chain, follows a multidomestic strategy. Which of the following statements is most likely true of this scenario?
Makes Scents Inc. will sell the same products in both domestic and foreign markets, whereas PriceSmasher Inc. will customize its product offerings to suit local requirements.
Which of the following best exemplifies the use of input controls?
McDonald's use of standard operating procedures
Which of the following real-world scenarios best exemplifies formalization?
McDonald's use of standard operating procedures across the world
Which of the following is a feature of the Globalization 2.0 stage?
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) began to create smaller, self-contained replicas of themselves in a few key countries
________ define appropriate employee attitudes and behaviors.
Norms
Sanjaya was recently hired at an up-and-coming firm that has a history of ethics violations. Which action is best for him to take if he wants to determine whether the firm is now acting ethically?
Observe executives at the company, and see whether they model ethical behavior and demand it of others.
Ruby, a recent fashion design school graduate, has received praise for her clothing designs from her peers and friends on social networking sites; this has inspired her to set up a store where she can design and sell apparel. After experiencing some success with sales, she recruits two employees to handle customers at the store. However, she handles other day-to-day affairs herself, while continuing to design clothes. Which of the following is likely to be a pitfall of this organizational structure established by Ruby?
Once the firm starts growing and attracting more customers she is likely to feel overloaded
________ describes the collectively shared values and norms of an organization's members.
Organizational culture
________ refers to a firm's resistance to change the status quo that can set the stage for the firm's subsequent failure.
Organizational inertia
Which of the following statements is true of strategy in an organization?
Organizational structure must follow strategy in order for firms to achieve superior performance
Fun Foods Inc. is a snack manufacturer that wants to expand globally. Few people abroad are familiar with Fun Foods snacks. The countries into which the company wants to expand require a high degree of local responsiveness when it comes to food, and the citizens of those countries already spend plenty of money on snacks. Which action should the leaders of Fun Foods take?
Pursue a multidomestic strategy that includes new "local" brands
Heaven Freezes Over (HFO) is a company that makes frozen lunch and dinner entrées. Based on what you know about companies like Nestlé, what action should HFO take as it strives to become multinational?
Pursue a multidomestic strategy, customizing product offerings to suit local preferences
Delores recently became a board member of a firm that has a history of reckless actions by senior employees. Which task would be appropriate for Delores to undertake to help safeguard the company's financial health?
Request and review a copy of the firm's risk assessment plan, if such a plan exists.
Sven is a senior vice president at a textile manufacturer that wants to move from being 20 percent globalized to 70 percent globalized in the next 10 years. What are some possible drawbacks that Sven's company must anticipate?
Rising wages may cancel out cost savings of access to low-cost input factors
Barrett is the ethics officer at Exton Corp., a publicly traded company. She wants to make sure that on-the-job consumption at Exton stays within legal and ethical bounds. Which action should she and the Exton board of directors take?
Set strict limits on what executives can spend on office redecoration or work-related celebrations.
Ignacio Inc. is a public stock company. Which of the following statements about the company best illustrates the fact that its investors have limited liability?
Shareholders of Ignacio are responsible to the company only to the capital they have invested.
Angie owns and runs Archana, a private start-up company with a current value of $1.3 billion. Archana is interested in going public to fund future growth. Which action should Angie take before Archana's initial public offering?
She should investigate Archana's existing or potential problems with ethics or the law, if such problems exist.
Janessa Inc., a reputed brand for fine art supplies, is implementing an international strategy. Slalom Corp., a maker of mini computer tablets, is pursuing a global-standardization strategy. Which of the following statements most likely holds true in this scenario?
Slalom Corp. focuses more on cost-reductions when compared to Janessa Inc
Which of the following real-world scenarios best exemplifies the use of organizational culture to build competitive advantage?
Southwest Airlines pilots sometimes help load baggage, which results in quick turnaround time.
Why does strategy implementation often require changes within an organization?
Strategy implementation transforms strategy into actions and business models
A change in company culture is most commonly accompanied by a change in leadership.
TRUE
A firm that successfully balances exploitation of current opportunities and exploration of future possibilities is considered ambidextrous.
TRUE
Administrative and political distances, such as the presence or absence of colonial ties, are part of the CAGE distance framework.
TRUE
Corporate codes of conduct go beyond what the law requires, imposing higher standards of honesty and fairness.
TRUE
Dinesh is a senior manager at a large, publicly traded corporation. He has access to insider information about the company profits, losses, mergers, and acquisitions. It is legally and ethically acceptable for him to have this information as long as he does not use it to buy or sell stocks and does not tell others to buy or sell stocks.
TRUE
Firms that pursue a closed approach to innovation typically enjoy first-mover advantages.
TRUE
Firms with a flat structure and a low degree of specialization tend to foster innovation better than firms with a tall structure and high degree of specialization
TRUE
If a privately held company has a history of legal and ethical problems, those problems can prevent a successful initial public offering (IPO) from taking place.
TRUE
In recent years as economic forces have changed, many governments and multinational enterprises have been more interested in negotiating bilateral trade agreements between countries rather than multinational agreements through international agencies.
TRUE
Linda owns and runs her own firm. She also serves on the boards of several companies. Although she does not work for these companies, she attends board meetings, analyzes information, and tries to act in the best interests of their shareholders. Linda is an example of an outside director.
TRUE
MacAdam Enterprises sells the same sparkplugs in more than 30 countries. MacAdam is an example that helps to support the globalization hypothesis.
TRUE
Organizational design involves establishing a firm's structure, culture, and control mechanisms.
TRUE
When multinational enterprises enter host countries such as Saudi Arabia and Japan, the most logical option is usually to pursue a multidomestic strategy even though that strategy rarely leads to significant cost reductions.
TRUE
General Electric's board has only one inside director, John Flannery, GE's CEO, who also acts as chairman of the board. This is known as duality. Which of the following statements represents the best argument for this duality in GE?
The CEO possesses invaluable inside information that can help him or her chair the board effectively.
Which of the following statements best supports the view that GE's Ecomagination strategy is in line with the shared value creation framework?
The Ecomagination strategy allows GE to produce "green" products while increasing revenue and competitive advantage.
A bank, CQC, offers a customer a personal loan. In which of the following circumstances will this decision most likely be considered unethical?
The bank knows that the customer will be unable to pay the loan if the interest rate rises.
How has China been affected by its one-child-per-family policy and appreciation of its currency?
The country's advantage in low-cost manufacturing is now reduced.
What is most likely to happen if a firm relies too long on a competency without honing, refining, and upgrading as the firm and the environment change?
The firm's culture can turn from a core competency into a core rigidity
Uptown Office Systems recently underwent a reorganization. Based on customer feedback, the company eliminated many of its middle management positions and implemented a flatter structure. Which of the following is a possible drawback of this decision?
The increased span of control for remaining managers may lead to higher levels of stress and possible burnout.
Which of the following is most likely an accurate statement?
The multinational enterprise Starship benefited from advances in communications technology.
Which of the following is a common result of a hostile takeover of a company?
The new owner sells the company in pieces
What helps notions such as fairness, honesty, and reciprocity to be codified into law?
The notions are universal norms.
Which of the following scenarios best exemplifies a leveraged buyout of a microchip manufacturer, Rigoletto Inc.?
The owner of another company buys all the outstanding shares of Rigoletto in order to take it private.
Why is it difficult to imitate the organizational culture of firms like Southwest Airlines and Zappos?
Their culture reflects complex relationships with their employees, customers, and suppliers
How will an increase in coordinated economic and political integration between countries affect the world economy?
There will be gains in social welfare and living standards across the globe
Why are controls like budgets and operating procedures that McDonald's implements known as input controls?
They are considered before employees make any decisions
What are poison pills?
They are defensive provisions that kick in should a buyer reach a certain level of share ownership.
Which of the following statements is true of shareholders in a public stock company?
They are granted a charter of incorporation by the state and legally own company stock.
Which of the following is true of the codes of conduct of an organization?
They detail how the organization expects an employee to behave and to represent the company in business dealings.
According to Michael Porter, which of the following is a problem with many publicly traded companies?
They have defined value creation too narrowly in terms of financial performance.
Three months ago, Darren became a board member at Runswell, a publicly traded company. Two weeks ago, the board members discovered that Runswell's CEO is facing a lawsuit from a family member who accuses the CEO of theft. Based on what you have read, to what ethical standard should Darren and the other board members hold the CEO?
They must hold her to the highest ethical standards because the leaders of publicly traded companies must withstand intense public scrutiny.
Which of the following is the most likely advantage of using foreign acquisitions or greenfield plants as a foreign entry mode?
They reduce a firm's exposure to loss of reputation.
Amber is a strategist for a furniture manufacturer that has a large presence in the United States and Canada. By checking economic and political reports, she knows that trade and investment barriers are falling among wealthy nations. She also knows that the price of oil has dropped 50 percent in the previous two years. Based on this information, what action should Amber and her company take?
They should seriously consider globalization because of the falling trade and investment barriers.
Which of the following is true of the process of organizing for competitive advantage?
To maintain competitive advantage, companies need to restructure as they grow and the competitive environment changes
Tony's Tacos is a nationwide fast-food chain. Decision power resides at the top of the organization. Each job is documented in minute detail. The firm has many levels of supervision, including vice presidents and regional managers. Tony's headquarters provides detailed instructions to each of its franchisees so that they provide comparable quality and service across the board. Based on this scenario, which of the following is an accurate statement about Tony's?
Tony's has a high degree of specialization, formalization, and centralization and relies on a tall hierarchy.
How did Uber conflict with Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC)?
Uber poached entire NREC research teams with signing bonuses, twice the salaries, and stock options, thereby threatening the future of NREC
Save On Everything Inc., a supermarket chain, is implementing a multidomestic strategy. Solar Future Inc., a company that manufactures solar panels for commercial and domestic purposes, is pursuing a global-standardization strategy. How will the two companies most likely differ from each other?
Unlike Solar Future Inc., Save On Everything Inc. will be able to pursue a differentiation strategy at the business level.
New Zoya is a country of English-speaking people and has a very profitable economy. Which of the following countries is most likely to be the closest to New Zoya in terms of cultural distance?
Valyria, where people speak English and have a low standard of living
Which of the following is true of the board of directors in a public stock company?
Votes at shareholder meetings determine whose representatives are appointed to the board of directors.
Which of the following statements is true with regard to international trade between countries?
Wealthy countries engage in relatively more cross-border trade than poorer ones.
Ben is a manager at Unique Accessories Inc. and is friends with the company's CEO. This privilege gives Ben the information that Unique Accessories is in the midst of talks to take over a leading rival. Ben buys stocks of Unique Accessories with the expectation that its stocks will appreciate. But the deal falls through, and the stocks of Unique Accessories depreciate in the following months. Are Ben's actions unethical? Why or why not?
Yes. It is unethical to trade stocks based on insider information, irrespective of the final outcome.
Which of the following types of groups is most susceptible to groupthink?
a cohesive group
W. L. Gore & Associates is organized in such a way that it has no formal job titles, job descriptions, or chains of command. This implies that it has
a decentralized structure
For which of the following companies will geographic distance be the most relevant factor in deciding whether to trade with a target country?
a firm that extracts and exports iron ore
Mona sets up a business consulting firm in which the employees are motivated because they find their work interesting and creative. She carefully hires workers who fit well with their assigned tasks. Also, she clearly defines the results expected of each worker, but allows the workers to determine the means to these results. Which of the following best describes Mona's business?
a firm that relies on high output controls to tap into intrinsic motivation
Which of the following accurately describes an organic organization?
a flexible organization that fosters fast decision making and high employee motivation
Fierce domestic competition in New Schuyler makes a tough environment for any motorcycle company. Success requires top-notch engineering of chassis and engines, as well as keeping costs and fuel consumption in check. As a result, New Schuyler's motorcycles have a competitive advantage in the global market. According to Porter's diamond framework, this scenario shows the influence of competitive intensity in
a focal industry
To keep track of the latest developments in computing, Lenovo's research centers are located in China, the United States, and Japan. Also, to benefit from low-cost labor and reduced shipping costs, the company's manufacturing facilities are in Mexico, India, and China. Lenovo's products are the same for its domestic and foreign markets. Which strategy does Lenovo follow?
a global-standardization strategy
Blush Bashful Cosmetics Inc. operates in 20 countries around the globe. The company clearly understands that the skin and hair type of customers varies from one country to another. Consequently, its products are customized to suit local needs and preferences of customers, even though the costs incurred while producing these products are exceptionally high. This strategy helps the company behave as a local firm in a foreign market. In this scenario, which of the following strategies does Blush Bashful most likely implement?
a multidomestic strategy
Devonshire Ventures is a large snack-food conglomerate that operates in more than 50 countries and employs more than 80,000 people across the world. It operates through multiple regional product divisions, which tend to function as autonomous profit-and-loss centers. This allows the company to reap significant economies of scale. Though each division acts as an autonomous firm with its individual regional leaders, frequent sharing of knowledge between the divisions allows for global learning. These factors help the company reconcile product and service differentiations at low cost. Which of the following strategies does Devonshire most likely use?
a transnational strategy
Sky Pioneers Inc. manufactures airplane parts. It wants to globalize and is willing to spend a considerable amount to protect its intellectual property. Which of these business ventures makes the most sense for Sky Pioneers?
acquiring an airplane-parts manufacturer in another country
Vassar Systems Inc. wants to globally expand its market. It intends to ensure that its mode of foreign entry allows it to have strong control over its operations and protect its intellectual property, though that may mean investing a significant amount of capital and other resources. In this scenario, which of the following foreign entry modes would best suit Vassar Systems?
acquisition
At Agile Ltd., a cross-functional team is formed to work on a project for a new client. The team consists of Charles and four other members. At most of the team's presentations to senior management, Charles takes the lead and discusses project specifics with the management, while others chip in with additional information. At the completion of the project, Charles is recommended for promotion, while the other team members receive little recognition for their hard work. The reality is that Charles did very little actual work but spent some time compiling the project report based on different documents submitted by the others. This scenario at Agile Ltd. is a typical consequence of
adverse selection
Nate is a recent graduate who states that he has interned at a major accounting firm so that his value as a candidate for employment increases. A start-up recruits Nate based on his stated credentials without verifying them. Two days into the job, Nate's team lead realizes that Nate does not know much of what he claimed to know during the interview. This scenario best exemplifies
adverse selection
Keyhole Corporation is the parent company of Inspire.com and Roker Inc. To cut costs, Keyhole integrated InSpire.com's and Roker Inc.'s management functions with Keyhole's management, while keeping other functions such as product development independent. Keystone has encourage the senior teams at both Inspire and Roker to exploit the success of their existing products while exploring new products for the future. This scenario best exemplifies a(n)
ambidextrous organization
Managers at Durkmunder, a firm in West Feenistan, want to make their company a global leader in business process outsourcing (BPO). What should the Durkmunder managers look for as they decide where to locate their BPO facilities?
an abundance of well-educated English speakers
Screaming Eagle, a luxury motorcycle company, sells the same motorcycles and offers the same superior services in both its home country and foreign markets. The market it operates in faces low pressures for both local responsiveness and cost reductions. Which of the following strategies within the integration-responsiveness framework does Screaming Eagle most likely pursue?
an international strategy
ValueHealth is a successful drug manufacturer. Because the pharmaceutical industry features a high rate of change and the threat of disruption is high, ValueHealth should
be prepared to restructure as the landscape changes.
Which of the following statements best explains why Walmart is finding it difficult to replicate its existing business model in India?
because of the large economic distance between the United States and India
Which of the following has been a key driver for firms to expand globally during the Globalization 3.0 stage?
benefits from lower labor costs in manufacturing and services
A firm pursuing a transnational strategy would believe that
best practices, ideas, and innovations should be diffused throughout the world
The transnational strategy is similar to a(n) ________ strategy because they both focus on product differentiation and low costs.
blue ocean
The name for an agreed-upon code of conduct in business, based on societal norms, is
business ethics.
Sunset Foods relies on a highly centralized functional structure to ensure consistency in the quality and taste of its products and to drive down costs via process innovations. However, as a consequence of its highly compartmentalized structure, the firm has found it difficult to transfer information and ideas from one department to the next. With the launch of its new line of breakfast foods coming up, how can Sunset improve its ability to collaborate without sacrificing the benefits of its current structure?
by establishing cross-functional teams
How did Canada, Mexico, and the United States reduce the administrative and political distance between them?
by establishing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) D) by reducing their linguistic differences
David and Fred are customer care employees at JPN Care. In between calls, David and Fred spend time on Facebook and YouTube. The relaxed guidelines at JPN allow them to do that. However, sometimes, they knowingly avoid answering calls or keep customers on hold, while they check their social networking accounts. Such behavior
can be stopped by implementing performance incentives and strict control mechanisms.
ABX Inc. is an electronic appliances manufacturer that has many strategic business units (SBUs), among which, television and computers share a close relationship. These SBUs have to fight each other for R&D funding because there is a combined amount set aside for these two units. However, they share technological findings with each other and work together to ensure that their combined output is better that of the other SBUs. Such a relationship between SBUs in a business is referred to as
co-opetition
According to the agency theory,
conflicts that arise in corporations should be addressed in the legal realm
GM's insistence on sticking to a bureaucratic culture combined with its M-form structure and its subsequent failure to adapt to changing customer preferences for more fuel-efficient cars, produce higher quality, and create innovative designs best exemplifies
core rigidity
Because of poor management, the stock price of Orange Dolphin Inc. falls and many investors sell their shares. Soon Orange Dolphin becomes the target of a hostile takeover, during which Hans buys enough shares to exert control over the firm. In this scenario, Hans performs the role of a(n)
corporate raider
One way to foster ethical behavior in employees is to
create a control system that encourages desired values
When two neighboring, democratic countries that are part of a trading bloc follow different religions and social norms, they most likely have high ________ distance.
cultural
Cheetah, a web development firm, wants to implement an organic structure to foster innovation and attract the most talented creative minds. Which of the following features will make it difficult to do so?
dedication to a cost-leadership business strategy
Which of the following foreign entry modes primarily involves producing goods in one country to sell in another?
exporting
Which of the following modes of entering a foreign market allows for the lowest level of control?
exporting
During the period of Globalization 1.0, the mode of entry into foreign markets primarily involved
exporting goods
Which of the following entry modes was used extensively in Globalization 1.0 stage?
exports
In Michael Porter's diamond framework, ________ conditions describe a country's endowments in terms of natural, human, and other resources.
factor
Tina is the inventor of a personal fitness tracking device, and she is in the process of hiring employees after receiving investment funding. When considering how to structure her company, she should
first establish a strategy and let that be her guide
Which of the following features helps match a cost-leadership strategy to a functional structure?
focus on economies of scale
Which of the following types of organizations comparatively requires the lowest levels of investment and control?
franchising
Which of the following organizational structures matches best with an international strategy?
functional
Turquoise Games relies on its employees to provide innovative ideas for new educational products. To foster intrinsic motivation in its workforce, Turquoise should
give employees a "free day" every two weeks to pursue ideas for new educational toys.
A firm that uses a structure that is organized along different business functions such as HR, R&D, Sales, and Marketing and also along different geographical areas such as different countries of the world is most likely using a ________ structure.
global matrix
Vermilion Inc., a manufacturer of high-technology medical devices, has its product development centers located in the United States and South Korea. The manufacturing units are located in China and the Philippines to benefit from low-labor costs and access to original equipment manufacturers. This allows the company to competitively price its devices. Also, the various phone models sold by the company are uniform in all the foreign markets it operates in. In this scenario, which of the following strategies does Vermilion most likely pursue?
global-standardization strategy
The process of closer integration and exchange between different countries and peoples worldwide is
globalization
Maddox Bauxite Extraction Inc. has decided to enter into a foreign market by setting up its own production facilities and distribution channels from scratch. This will give it strong control over all its business activities. Which of these foreign entry modes will Maddox most likely choose?
greenfield operation
A functional structure is recommended when a firm
has a low level of diversification
Starling Inc. is a public stock company that provides natural gas for businesses. Although this company generates a large profit, management's focus on reducing costs caused the maintenance budget to be trimmed. Its pipelines have at times leaked, which created significant environmental problems. As a result, the company's value creation has suffered. This scenario supports Michael Porter's warning that public companies
have defined value creation too narrowly in terms of financial performance, thereby contributing to black swan events.
According to the perspective of shareholder capitalism, shareholders in public stock companies
have the most legitimate claim on profits.
Emirates, Etihad Airlines, and Qatar Airways are a threat to U.S. legacy carriers because they offer
higher quality for lower costs for international routes
A greater cultural distance between two trading countries
increases the liability of foreignness
The board of directors of a public stock company consists of
individuals who formally represent the firm's shareholders and oversee the work of executives.
Marika received a tip from a close friend who is an executive manager of a publicly traded company called MicroGreen Inc. The manager received some inside information about how to trade MicroGreen stock to get a huge profit. He shared this information with Marika. This scenario is an example of
information asymmetry
Adverse selection in a public stock company occurs when
information asymmetry increases the likelihood of selecting inferior alternatives.
The root cause of the principal-agent problem between senior executives and lower-level employees can be explained by the
informational advantage of the lower-level employees.
Spiderweb Inc. is an apparel manufacturer. The management at Spiderweb prefers moderate control over the operations of the different departments such as R&D, design, marketing, and sales. It allocates a budget to each function at the beginning of each quarter. This is an example of implementing control through
input controls
Landon is a senior manager for the firm Anderssen Inc. Because of his experience, he has been appointed to the board of EEC Inc., even though he doesn't work for this firm. He also serves on the boards of several other companies. Landon is a(n) ________ for Anderssen and a(n) ________ for EEC.
inside director; outside director
What do we call the board members who are part of a company's senior management team appointed by shareholders to provide the board with necessary information pertaining to the company's internal workings and performance?
inside directors
The informational advantage that agents possess over principals is often based on the fact that
insiders are the first to learn about important developments before the information is released to the public.
Because keeping cost low is critical to IKEA's value innovation, it switched from a(n)
international strategy to a global-standardization strategy.
Output controls can sometimes discourage collaboration among different strategic business units. However, more and more work requires creativity and innovation, especially in highly-developed economies. One way firms are grappling with this issue is by
introducing results-only-work-environments to tap intrinsic motivations
Bejukistan Laboratories Inc. has a national competitive advantage in the pharmaceutical industry. This means that the country
is a world leader in the pharmaceutical industry
Bernard is a board member at Lopez Electronics Inc. He is also a senior executive of the firm. The board is chaired by Ernest Jones, the CEO of Stanley Motors. According to this scenario, Bernard
is an inside director of Lopez Electronics.
McDonald's operates Hamburger University that trains students to ensure consistent food quality across its outlets throughout the world. This indicates that McDonalds's
is mechanistic in nature
A firm is said to be pursuing a polycentric innovation strategy when
it draws from multiple, equally important research facilities located throughout the world
Culinary Solutions Inc. manufactures cooking and baking equipment and has its base in the country of Vandevar. It has approximately 300 stores across the country and is already active in three foreign countries. It attempts to establish itself in the country of Balalaika, and uses its low-cost strategy to do so. However, due to the additional costs associated with training, coordinating across geographic distances, and other costs associated with doing business in an unfamiliar cultural and economic environment, Culinary Solutions Inc. incurs huge financial losses in Balalaika. In this scenario, Culinary Solutions Inc.'s failure to establish itself successfully in Balalaika occurs most likely because
it underestimated its liability of foreignness when entering the Balalaika market
Worldwide Minerals Inc. wants to expand into the international market. It does not want to spend a very large amount of money for this process. However, Worldwide Minerals wants to maintain some control in the foreign market. Which of the following would be the best entry mode for this firm?
joint ventures
A mortgage-loan officer persuades unsuspecting consumers to sign up for exotic mortgages, such as "option ARMs." These mortgages offer borrowers the choice to pay less than the required interest, which is then added to the principal while the interest rate can adjust upward. Because of this setup, many borrowers are unable to repay the mortgage once the interest rates go up. Which of the following phrases best describes this scenario?
legal but not ethical
Jaronda founded Diamond Communications Inc. in 1993. Ten years later, the company went public. Despite Jaronda's death in 2005, the company reported a 75 percent increase in revenue in 2006. Which of the following characteristics of a publicly traded company does this scenario best exemplify?
legal personality
Angelica is the CEO of Sandhaven Ltd., a publicly traded company. The shareholders want Angelica on the board of directors despite her recent appointment as the CEO. This decision of the shareholders is most likely because Angelica is
likely to provide the board with valuable inside information.
WackyPop Inc. produces an inexpensive microwave popcorn that is well tailored for the tastes of U.S. consumers. However, it has failed to satisfy the consumer preferences of its host country, Japan. Which of the following categories has WackyPop performed poorly in?
local responsiveness
Unilever's new-concept center is situated in downtown Shanghai, China, attracting hundreds of eager volunteers to test the firm's latest product innovations on-site while Unilever researchers monitor consumer reactions. In this example, Unilever is trying to reap the benefits of
location economies
Downshift Autos Inc. has shifted its research and development unit from its home country to Germany. This allows the company to be better informed about the latest developments in the automotive industry by tapping into the highly advanced automotive industry in Germany. In this scenario, Downshift Autos Inc. is reaping the benefits of
location economies.
Carpatia and Novenica are neighboring countries with strong economic disparities. However, both the countries share a common national language and the same political ideologies. The relationship between these two countries will most likely affect the trade of
luxury items manufactured in Carpatia
An organization that is organized according to strategic business units (SBUs) and also along organizational structures is most likely using a ________ structure.
matrix
Fine Lines Inc. is a notebook manufacturing company based in Ohio. Fine Lines' main market is Ohio. It aims at providing its products at better prices than its competitors. Which of the following structures is Fine Lines Inc. likely to use if it has functional setup?
mechanistic
A company scientist at a biotechnology company decides to work on his own research project, hoping to eventually start his own firm, rather than on the project he was assigned. However, the company's stockholders are unaware of this situation. This is an example of a(n) ________ in the context of a principal-agent problem.
moral hazard
Rajat Gupta's role in providing inside information to Galleon Group for the benefit of Galleon Group's stockholders and himself is an example of
moral hazard
Harvey's, a large and successful retail chain on the West Coast, decides to expand its operations across the U.S. Which of the following organizational structures should Harvey's use?
multidivisional
When a firm diversifies into different product lines and geographies, a ________ structure is preferred.
multidivisional
Which of the following global strategies best matches with a multidivisional structure?
multidomestic
A trend observed during the Globalization 3.0 stage involves
multinational companies organizing as global-collaboration networks
Esther is the CEO of a line of accessories and cosmetics, Starring Me! Inc., which has retail stores and production units in five countries. In this scenario, Starring Me! Inc. is most likely a
multinational enterprise
Michael Porter's diamond framework explains
national competitive advantage
Ethics is
not synonymous with law.
Organizational culture can help a firm gain and sustain competitive advantage only if the culture makes a positive contribution to the firm's economic value creation and
obeys the VRIO principles
Shareholders of public companies need to appoint a board of directors to represent their interests because
of the separation of ownership and control.
Badlands Corp., a tool and die maker, is considering where to locate its new factories and offices. According to the CAGE distance model, which of these countries is statistically most attractive to Badlands?
one that is in the same trading bloc as Badlands' home country
A payroll company in the nation of Antono is seeking to expand beyond its borders while limiting administrative and political distance in the new country. Which potential site is the best one for this type of expansion?
one that used to have a colonizer or colonized relationship with Antono
Butterfly Technologies produces touch-enabled wearable devices. Its research and development team recently became aware of a new, open-source technology produced by a firm overseas that would improve the processing speed and battery life of all Butterfly devices. In this scenario, Butterfly would be best served to embrace
open innovation
BioCure Inc. is a pharmaceutical company that has many breakthroughs in medicine to its credit. Unlike many other pharmaceutical companies, BioCure has a relaxed work environment where employees are free to discuss projects with each other. Employees are encouraged to choose the projects that interest them; communication between team members and their supervisors is open and easy. Because of the company's work culture, its employees feel motivated to work harder and display more entrepreneurial behaviors. In this scenario, BioCure Inc. is most likely an organization that is
organic
To effectively implement a differentiation strategy, managers rely on a functional structure that resembles an organization that is highly
organic
Which of the following types of organizations best helps match a differentiation strategy to a functional structure?
organic organization
Calabash Inc. is located in the nation of West Fenwick near the nation of East Fenwick. Calabash is considering expanding into East Fenwick. Both countries have similar consumer incomes and knowledge bases and share a common language. Also, the transportation networks between the countries are strong. Even so, the two nations have a long-standing dispute concerning the control of an area of land along their common border. Currently, West Fenwick rules this land. Which of the following would most likely prevent Calabash from expanding into East Fenwick?
political distance
Which of the following is part of Geert Hofstede's cultural dimensions?
power distance
Which of the following could most likely have prevented the accounting scandals of the early 2000s and the global financial crisis?
practicing effective corporate governance
Yelena, the CEO of Andron Inc., reports to the board of directors appointed by the shareholders of Andron. Based on shareholder suggestions, the board ties Yelena's compensation to the performance of Andron. Due to this pressure, Yelena begins devoting extra time to projects and undertakes other activities to ensure that she has job security and that she receives adequate compensation. The reasons why the board ties Yelena's compensation to firm
principal-agent problem
CPA Inc. is a publicly traded company. The stockholders of this company delegate the authority to make decisions for the company to a CEO named Joaquin. The stockholders expect Joaquin to make decisions that will benefit the company. However, Joaquin begins to find ways to maximize his total compensation, which hinders CPA's performance. This scenario reflects
principal-agent problems.
Planet Resource Inc. is a global internet company that offers country-specific variations of its sites, keeping in mind the linguistic and religious differences between the countries it serves. Planet Resource is most likely doing this to
reduce its cultural distance from the other countries.
Which of the following is an unintended side effect of a high degree of specialization in an organization?
reduced employee satisfaction due to repetition of tasks
Toyota's global success in the 1990s and early 2000s was based to a large extent on a network of world-class suppliers in Japan. This tightly knit network allowed for fast two-way knowledge sharing—this in turn improved Toyota's quality and lowered its cost, which it leveraged into a successful blue ocean strategy at the business level. This example shows the effectiveness of
related and supporting industries/complementors
InSeason Inc. started a chain of organic supermarkets that had initial success. The managers achieved a mastery of the firm's current environment, thereby filling a need in the market. However, InSeason defined and measured it success by financial metrics, with a focus on short-term performance. As a result, the firm put in place metrics and systems to accommodate and manage increasing firm size due to continued success. As a result of this tightly coupled system, InSeason developed a
resistance to change.
Which of the following characteristics of a public stock company deals with principals and agents?
separation of legal ownership and management control
Megan is a graduate student pursuing a course in business. Presented with the case of a company's unethical behavior, Megan wonders if the company's board of directors should ask the CEO to step down. Having a strong belief in Michael Porter's idea of value creation, Megan is most likely to conclude that company's board of directors
should ask the CEO to step down because it has a greater obligation toward society.
Which of the following statements accurately explains the primary reason behind Walmart's failure in Germany?
significant differences between its U.S. personnel policies and Germany's culture
While working a night job at a call center, Eric creates an app called EatOut, which can be used to place orders at restaurants, rate the restaurants, and make reservations. Because he receives good responses for his app, he quits his current job to focus his efforts on EatOut. He creates a start-up called BestApps and hires three people to help him improve EatOut and maintain the servers that run it. In this scenario, BestApps most likely has a ________ structure.
simple
A high degree of formalization in an organization is most likely to
slow down decision making
Employees learn about an organization's culture through the process of
socialization
Successful ________ requires managers to design and shape structure, culture, and control mechanisms.
strategy implementation
A firm's ________ determines how the work efforts of individuals and teams are orchestrated and how resources are distributed.
structure
Telescopic Inc., a web development firm, is headed by Rob Dennis, the CEO. Each functional department of the company—marketing, finance, and HR—has a president who reports to the CEO directly. Each department has various managers who manage teams. The managers report to the presidents, and the team leads report to the managers. Finally, the employees at the lowest level report to their team leads. It is rare for a lower-level employee to interact with the CEO of the company. In this scenario, Telescopic Inc. can be said to have a(n)
tall hierarchical structure.
Jen works as a front-line employee for a nationwide retail store. She reports to a floor manager, who reports to a departmental manager, who reports to a regional supervisor, who reports to a vice president, who reports to the CEO. Which of the following best describes this retail store?
tall structure
The MBA oath first developed at Harvard Business School and now signed by students at over 300 business schools is modeled after
the Hippocratic oath in medicine
Under the CAGE distance framework, the administrative and political distance between two countries primarily increases with
the absence of a trading bloc
Which of the following is a major issue at the forefront of CEO compensation in recent years?
the absolute size of the CEO pay package compared with the pay of the average employee
In public stock companies, which of the following expectations of principals is most likely to lead to principal-agent problems?
the expectation that the agent will act in the principal's best interest
Grameen Bank in Bangladesh was founded to provide microcredit to impoverished farmers who wanted to start their own entrepreneurial ventures that would help themselves climb out of poverty. This best exemplifies Michael Porter's suggestion that
the largest but poorest socioeconomic group can yield significant business opportunities.
Which of the following could be used as an example of why a stakeholder strategy approach to business has shortcomings?
the nonsustainable debt levels incurred by sovereign governments to fund social programs
Organizational design is
the process of creating, implementing, and modifying the structure of an organization.
Which of the following is the source of the principal-agent problem in publicly traded companies?
the separation of ownership and control
Which of the following factors is the most important determinant of economic distance?
the wealth and per capita income of consumers
The administrative and political distance between two trading countries decreases when
there is a well-functioning capital market in the host country.
In a public stock company, senior executives, such as the CEO, face agency problems when
they delegate authority of strategic business units to general managers.
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) like Harley-Davidson, Rolex, and Starbucks are said to be following an international strategy because
they offer the same products or services in all their stores throughout the world
A company that is using extrinsic motivation as an output control mechanism will most likely
threaten to lay off employees if they do not achieve targets.
Which of the following best explains why a board of directors may grant stock options as part of a compensation package?
to align incentives between shareholders and management
European aircraft maker Airbus invested $600 million in Mobile, Alabama, to build jetliners. Which of the following statements best explains why it used this strategy?
to take advantage of lower taxes in the southern United States
Gary owns shares in a company called Archibald Industries Inc. The company's financial performance has been declining over the past few months, and the value of its stock has been decreasing. Gary wants to proactively cut his losses and therefore sells his shares. Anneke, a trading enthusiast, buys shares in Archibald Industries because she believes that the share prices cannot go anywhere but up. Which of the following characteristics of a public stock company does this scenario best exemplify?
transferability of investor ownership
The German multimedia conglomerate Bertelsmann operates in more than 60 countries throughout the world and owns many regional leaders in their specific product categories, including Random House Publishing in the United States. Bertelsmann operates its more than 500 regional media divisions as more or less autonomous profit-and-loss centers, but it attempts to share best practices across units. Global learning and human resource strategies for executives are coordinated at the network level. Bertelsmann is following a(n)
transnational strategy
The most important yet least visible element of organizational culture is
values