Ch. 9 Multiple Choice

Which of the following is not included in measuring organizational performance?

Comparing results to competitors' expectations

What activity is defined as having alternative plans that can be put into effect if certain key events do not occur as expected?

Contingency planning

A revised _________ should indicate how effective a firm's strategies have been in response to key opportunities and threats.

EFE Matrix

What is the cornerstone of effective strategy evaluation?

Adequate and timely feedback

A particularly important twenty-first-century challenge facing all strategists today is:

All of the above

All companies have the option to use the IFRS procedures in _______, and then all companies are required to use IFRS in __________.

2011, 2014

According to author Alvin Toffler, what occurs when the nature, types and speed of changes overpower an individual's or organization's ability and capacity to adapt?

Future shock

Competitive advantage normally is the result of superiority in resources, skills and

Position

Which of these is not a key financial ratio?

Production quality

What term refers to the need for strategists to examine sets of trends, as well as individual trends, in evaluating strategies?

Consonance

What has been shown to permit quick response to change, prevent panic in crisis situations, and make managers more adaptable?

Contingency planning

Which of the following statements about contingency plans is not true?

Strategists should plan for all possible contingencies.

What aims to balance long-term with short-term concerns, financial with non-financial concerns, and internal with external concerns?

The Balanced Scorecard approach

Which of the following is not a reason why some firms prefer to conduct strategic-planning in secret?

It enhances understanding, commitment and communication within the firm.

Research suggests that which of the following is one of the best ways to overcome individuals' resistance to change in strategy evaluation?

Participation

Which of the following is not a reason for the increasing difficulty of evaluating strategies?

Product life cycles are longer.

Also important in evaluating strategies are __________ criteria, like high absenteeism and turnover rates, or low employee satisfaction.

Qualitiative

Which of the following is not one of the four perspectives from which the Balanced Scorecard allows firms to evaluate strategies?

Social responsibility

In the course of strategy evaluation if you discover that major changes have occurred in the firm's internal strategic position, you should:

Take corrective actions

Most quantitative criteria are geared to __________ objectives rather than ______________ objectives.

annual; long term

According to Rumelt, the final broad test of strategy is its:

feasibility.

With the passage of time strategy evaluation is becoming:

increasingly difficult.

Too much emphasis on evaluating strategies:

may be expensive and counterproductive.

The strategy-evaluation process should foster:

mutual understanding

All of the following are reasons to be completely open with the strategy process except

openness limits rival firms from imitating or duplicating the firm's strategies.

The strategy-evaluation process:

should foster mutual understanding and trust.

Corrective actions should always:

strengthen an organization's competitive position in its industry.

All of the following are reasons strategy evaluation is more difficult today except:

the decreasing difficulty of predicting the future with accuracy.

International financial reporting standards (IFRS) comprise approximately ______ pages.

5,000

Which of the following is not a key attribute that serves as one of the evaluative criteria for Fortune's "America's Most Admired Companies?"

Amount of physical resources

What term is defined as "a systematic process of objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence regarding assertions about economic actions and events to ascertain the degree of correspondence between these assertions and established criteria, and communicating the results to interested users?"

Auditing

Changes in the organization's management, marketing, finance/accounting, production/ operations, R&D and MIS strengths and weaknesses should be the focus of a revised:

IFE Matrix

Modern organizational realities demand that employees demonstrate greater

All of the above

What corrective actions might a firm take during strategy evaluation?

All of the above

Which of the following is a corrective action a company might take to correct unfavorable variances?

All of the above

Which of these is a basic activity of strategy evaluation?

All of the above

Which one of Rumelt's criteria for evaluating strategies refers to the need for strategists to examine sets of trends?

Consonance

What is the basis for quantitative financial evaluation?

Financial ratios

If success for one organizational department means failure for another department, then strategies may be

Inconsistent

Which of the following is true regarding the design of a firm's strategy-evaluation system?

It should be determined based on the unique characteristics of a company.

Financial ratios are used to compare a firm's performance over different time periods, compare the firm's performance to industry averages, and compare a firm's performance with

Performance of competitors

___________ organizations require more elaborate and detailed strategy-evaluation systems than ___________ ones because it is more difficult to coordinate efforts among different divisions and functional areas.

Small; large

Proponents of the top-down approach contend that are the only persons in the firm with the collective experience, acumen, and fiduciary responsibility to make key strategy decisions.

Top executives

Controls need to be ______________ rather than _________________.

action-oriented; information-oriented

Corrective action should do all of the following except:

avoid external opportunities.

All of these are Richard Rumelt's criteria to evaluate a strategy except:

distinctiveness.

The Fortune 50 includes all of the following except:

hospitals.

Success today:

is no guarantee of success tomorrow.

Increased education and diversity of the workforce at all levels are reasons why

middle- and lower-level managers, and even nonmanagers, should be involved in the strategic planning process.

Most strategy literature advocates that strategic management is

more of a science than an art.

Corrective actions are almost always except when external and internal factors have not significantly changed and the firm is progressing satisfactorily toward achieving stated objectives.

needed

Strategy-evaluation activities should ideally be performed

on a continuous basis.

According to researchers, all of the following encourage individuals to accept change except:

when the nature, types, and speed of changes overpower their ability and capacity to adapt.