MGMT CH4

102) In a weighted competitive strength assessment, the sum of importance weights should add up to A) 100 percent. B) 1.00. C) 10. D) 100. E) 1000.

B) 1.00.

10) If you were asked to use a powerful analytical tool to size up Amazon's competitive assets and determine whether they can provide the foundation necessary for its competitive success in the marketplace, you would choose A) VRIN tests. B) SWOT analysis. C) competitive strength matrix analysis. D) financial and asset management analysis. E) value chain analysis.

A) VRIN tests.

85) Managers can improve efficiency and effectiveness in a company's value chain by analyzing A) a company's own internal activity segments, the suppliers' part, and the forward (distribution) channel portion of the value chain system. B) a company's reinforced activities identified as efficiency measures for improved effectiveness. C) only the internal activity segments. D) only the suppliers' part. E) only the distributors' channel portion.

A) a company's own internal activity segments, the suppliers' part, and the forward (distribution) channel portion of the value chain system.

97) As a manager at the French discount retailer Carrefour, you could derive a competitive advantage from A) building organizational expertise in performing Carrefour's competitively important value chain activities. B) understanding how Carrefour's value chain activities provide opportunity for growth. C) building value-creating activities all along Carrefour's value chain. D) increasing Carrefour's superiority over rivals by executing even unimportant tasks and activities extremely well. E) sustaining Carrefour's current chain of activities to lower costs.

A) building organizational expertise in performing Carrefour's competitively important value chain activities.

80) Benchmarking involves A) comparing how different companies perform various value chain activities and then making cross-company comparisons of the costs and effectiveness of these activities. B) checking whether a company has achieved more of its financial and strategic objectives over the past five years relative to its direct competitors. C) studying whether a company's resource strengths are more/less powerful than the resource strengths of rival companies. D) studying how a company's competitive capabilities stack up against the competitive capabilities of selected companies known to have world-class competitive capabilities. E) comparing the best practices in one industry against the best practices in another industry.

A) comparing how different companies perform various value chain activities and then making cross-company comparisons of the costs and effectiveness of these activities

51) When an activity becomes something a company has learned to perform proficiently and capably, the company is said to have a A) competence. B) competitive advantage over rivals. C) key value chain proficiency. D) distinctive capability. E) resource advantage.

A) competence.

93) A company's value-creating activities can offer a competitive advantage in one of these ways. A) contribute to greater efficiency and lower costs and provide a basis for differentiation. B) contribute expense savings and enhance product exclusivity. C) reduce cost disadvantages and market price anomalies. D) contribute customer experience value and conserve operating functionality. E) contribute to competitive assets and discontinue distinctive competencies.

A) contribute to greater efficiency and lower costs and provide a basis for differentiation

39) A competitively valuable resource or capability is a company's A) enabling foundation of its business model. B) equally valuable substitute resource providing a competitive advantage. C) assessment of the availability of superior substitutes. D) unsurpassed worker productivity and product quality. E) unique piecework incentive system, providing a competitive advantage.

A) enabling foundation of its business model.

82) Benchmarking provides low-cost providers such as Dollar General, Ryanair, T.J.Maxx, and Nucor Steel with A) hard evidence of cost competitiveness. B) proof of resource availability. C) a company strategy. D) verification of total cost ownership. E) improvements to internal processes.

A) hard evidence of cost competitiveness.

55) A core competence A) is a more competitively valuable strength than a competence because of the key role the activities play in the company's strategy. B) typically has competitive value, the amount of which is reflected in the physical and tangible assets on a company's balance sheet. C) usually is grounded in the technological expertise of a particular department or workgroup. D) is more difficult for rivals to copy than a distinctive competence. E) refers to a company's lowest-cost and most efficiently executed value-chain activity.

A) is a more competitively valuable strength than a competence because of the key role the activities play in the company's strategy.

104) Calculating competitive strength ratings for a company and its rivals using the industry's most telling measures of competitive strength or weakness A) is a way of determining which competitor has the highest overall competitive advantage in the marketplace and which competitor is faced with the lowest overall competitive disadvantage. B) is the most reliable indicator of which industry member has the highest overall product quality. C) is a powerful way of revealing which competitors are in the best and worst strategic groups. D) is the most reliable indicator of which industry member has the lowest overall costs and is the low-cost leader. E) pinpoints which industry rivals are most insulated from the industry's driving forces.

A) is a way of determining which competitor has the highest overall competitive advantage in the marketplace and which competitor is faced with the lowest overall competitive disadvantage.

78) Activity-based costing A) is an accounting system that assigns a company's expenses to whichever activity in a company's value chain is responsible for creating the cost. B) involves using benchmarking techniques to develop cost estimates for the value chain activities of each major rival. C) is a powerful tool for identifying the different pieces of a company's value chain and classifying them as primary activities and support activities. D) involves determining which value chain activities represent variable costs and which represent fixed costs. E) is a tool for identifying the activities that cause a company's product to be strongly differentiated from the products of rivals.

A) is an accounting system that assigns a company's expenses to whichever activity in a company's value chain is responsible for creating the cost

56) An example of an external threat to a company's future profitability does not include A) lack of a distinctive competence B) potential of a hostile takeover C) adverse changes in foreign exchange rates D) unfavorable demographic shifts E) introduction of restrictive trade policies in countries where the company does business

A) lack of a distinctive competence

63) The market opportunities most relevant to a low-cost provider of mobile phones are those that A) offer the best prospects for growth and profitability in emerging markets. B) provide a strong defense against threats to the company's profitability. C) embrace the most potential for product innovation. D) provide differentiation features to take market share away from close rivals. E) hold the most potential to reduce dropped calls.

A) offer the best prospects for growth and profitability in emerging markets.

45) A dynamic capability is the A) ongoing capacity to modify existing resources and capabilities to create new ones. B) improvement evaluation process for eliminating waste in the firm. C) functional and operating resources management process. D) ongoing capability to understand and establish a commitment to resource alignment. E) improvement evaluation process for repurposing waste in the firm.

A) ongoing capacity to modify existing resources and capabilities to create new ones.

89) The options for remedying a supplier-related cost disadvantage include A) pressuring suppliers for more favorable prices, switching to lower-priced substitute inputs, and collaborating closely to identify mutual cost-saving opportunities. B) instituting forward vertical integration. C) shifting into the production of substitute products. D) shifting from a low-cost leadership strategy to a differentiation or focus strategy. E) cutting selling prices and trying to win a bigger market share.

A) pressuring suppliers for more favorable prices, switching to lower-priced substitute inputs, and collaborating closely to identify mutual cost-saving opportunities

18) Starbucks has hired you to make a systematic inventory of its competitive capabilities. To do so, you would conduct an assessment of Starbucks' A) resources and functions. B) competitive set via a strategy matrix. C) sustainability initiatives and resource bundles. D) cross-functional systems and collaborative resource methodology. E) financial statements and managerial depth charts.

A) resources and functions

94) For a company to translate its performance of value chain activities into a competitive advantage, it must A) undertake ongoing and persistent efforts to be cost-efficient and develop differentiation advantages. B) have more core competencies than rivals. C) have at least three distinctive competencies. D) have competencies that allow it to produce the highest-quality product in the industry. E) have more competitive assets than competitive liabilities.

A) undertake ongoing and persistent efforts to be cost-efficient and develop differentiation advantages

107) Calculating competitive strength ratings for a company and comparing them against strength ratings for its key competitors helps indicate A) which weaknesses and vulnerabilities of competitors the company might be able to attack successfully. B) which competitors are in profitable strategic groups and which competitors are in unprofitable strategic groups. C) which competitors are employing offensive strategies and which competitors are employing defensive strategies. D) which competitors are likely to make money and which are likely to lose money in the years ahead. E) what the industry's key success factors are.

A) which weaknesses and vulnerabilities of competitors the company might be able to attack successfully.

27) ________ cannot determine how effective a company's current strategy is working. A) Whether the company's sales are growing faster, slower, or about the same pace as the industry as a whole, thus resulting in a rising, falling, or stable market share B) Whether it has a larger number of competitive assets than competitive liabilities and whether it has a superior quality product C) The firm's image and reputation with its customers D) Whether its profit margins are rising or falling and how large its margins are relative to those of its rivals E) Evidence of improvement in internal processes such as defect rate, order fulfillment, delivery times, days of inventory, and employee productivity

B) Whether it has a larger number of competitive assets than competitive liabilities and whether it has a superior quality product

76) A much-used and potent managerial tool for determining whether a company performs particular functions or activities in a manner that represents "the best practice" when both cost and effectiveness are taken into account is A) competitive strength analysis. B) activity-based costing. C) resource cost mapping. D) SWOT analysis. E) benchmarking.

B) activity-based costing

33) Resource and capability analysis is designed to A) ascertain the internal marketplace of non-distinct divisions of the company. B) ascertain which of a company's resources and capabilities are competitively valuable. C) stimulate demand for a product. D) ascertain to what extent a competitor can sustain a competitive advantage. E) stimulate economic growth for companies within the industry.

B) ascertain which of a company's resources and capabilities are competitively valuable.

48) Which one of the following is not part of conducting a SWOT analysis? A) identifying a company's resource strengths and competitive capabilities B) benchmarking the company's resource strengths and competitive capabilities against industry key success factors C) identifying a company's market opportunities D) drawing conclusions about the company's overall business situation E) matching the company's strategy to its resource strengths and market opportunities, correcting problematic weaknesses, and defending against worrisome threats

B) benchmarking the company's resource strengths and competitive capabilities against industry key success factors

35) When a company has become proficient in modifying, upgrading, or deepening the company's resources and capabilities in response to its changing environment and market opportunities, it is called the company's A) dynamic capability. B) core competence. C) distinct competence. D) strategic assessment. E) benchmarking exercise.

B) core competence

99) Understanding where a company is competitive requires A) determining whether a company has a cost-effective value chain. B) developing quantitative strength ratings for the company and key rivals on each industry key success factor and each pivotal resource, capability, and value chain activity. C) identifying a company's core competencies and distinctive competencies (if any). D) analyzing whether a company is well positioned to gain market share and be the industry's profit leader. E) developing quantitative measures of a company's chances for future profitability.

B) developing quantitative strength ratings for the company and key rivals on each industry key success factor and each pivotal resource, capability, and value chain activity.

69) If you were asked to conduct a SWOT analysis for Nike, you would not evaluate which of these market opportunities? A) serving additional customer groups or market segments. B) growing buyer preferences for substitutes for the industry's product. C) acquiring rival firms or companies with attractive technological expertise or capabilities. D) expanding into new geographic markets. E) demographic trends that favor increased repeat purchases and/or higher volume purchases of the company's product.

B) growing buyer preferences for substitutes for the industry's product.

68) Examples of a potential resource weakness or competitive deficiency for a company do not include A) less productive R&D efforts than rivals B) having a single, unified functional strategy instead of several distinct functional strategies C) lack of a strong brand image and reputation (as compared to rivals) D) higher overall unit costs relative to rivals E) too narrow a product line relative to rivals

B) having a single, unified functional strategy instead of several distinct functional strategies

83) The most difficult part of benchmarking is A) the decision of whether to do it at all. B) how to obtain access to information regarding rivals' practices and costs. C) when to initiate the process. D) what information to utilize in the analysis process. E) when to stop the process and move forward with strategy.

B) how to obtain access to information regarding rivals' practices and costs.

108) A company's competitive strength scores pinpoint its strengths and weaknesses against rivals and A) suggest the company use its strengths to exploit its own competitive liabilities. B) point directly to the kinds of offensive/defensive actions it can use to exploit its competitive strengths and reduce its competitive liabilities. C) point directly to the company to use its weaknesses as offensive moves to challenge rivals' weaknesses. D) suggest receptivity for astute companies to drive their operating practices if the strength scores are very low. E) point directly to accepting the competitive strength scores on face value.

B) point directly to the kinds of offensive/defensive actions it can use to exploit its competitive strengths and reduce its competitive liabilities.

105) Quantitative measures of a company's competitive strength A) signal which competitor has the most distinctive competencies and which competitor has the fewest. B) provide useful indicators of how a company compares against key rivals, factor by factor and capability by capability—thus indicating whether the company has a net overall competitive advantage or disadvantage against each rival. C) reveal which competitors are in the best and worst strategic groups. D) show which industry rival has the best overall market opportunities and which competitor has the poorest market opportunities. E) pinpoint which industry rival is subject to the least amount of competitive pressures from the five competitive forces.

B) provide useful indicators of how a company compares against key rivals, factor by factor and capability by capability—thus indicating whether the company has a net overall competitive advantage or disadvantage against each rival.

50) A company's strengths are important because they A) pave the way for establishing a low-cost advantage over rivals. B) represent the quality of its competitive assets that enhance its competitiveness in the marketplace. C) provide extra muscle in helping lengthen the company's value chain. D) give it competitive protection against the industry's driving forces. E) provide extra organizational muscle in turning a core competence into a key success factor.

B) represent the quality of its competitive assets that enhance its competitiveness in the marketplace.

110) Identifying the strategic issues a company faces and compiling a "worry list" of problems and roadblocks is an important component of company situation analysis because A) without a precise fix on what problems/issues a company confronts, managers cannot know what the industry's key success factors are. B) the worry list sets the management agenda for taking actions to improve the company's performance and business outlook. C) without a precise fix on what problems/roadblocks a company confronts, managers are less clear about what value chain activities to benchmark. D) these issues and obstacles must be cleared before management can focus clearly on what is the best strategy for the company to pursue. E) the worry list helps company managers clarify their thinking about how best to modify the company's value chain.

B) the worry list sets the management agenda for taking actions to improve the company's performance and business outlook.

59) A distinctive competence is not A) a competitively important activity that a company performs better than its rivals. B) typically less restrictive for rivals to copy than a core competence. C) a basis for sustainable competitive advantage. D) considered as a superior internal strength. E) capable of delivering stand-out value to customers (in the form of lower prices, better product performance, or superior service).

B) typically less restrictive for rivals to copy than a core competence.

109) Conducting a competitive strength assessment does not involve an analysis of A) factors on which a company is competitively strongest and weakest vis-à-vis key rivals. B) whether a company should correct its weaknesses by adopting best practices and/or revamping the makeup of its value chain. C) which of the rated companies is competitively strongest and what size of competitive advantage it enjoys. D) whether a company has a net competitive advantage or a net competitive disadvantage relative to key rivals (with the size of the advantage/disadvantage being indicated by the differences among the companies' competitive strength scores). E) which rival company is competitively weakest and the areas where it is most vulnerable to competitive attack.

B) whether a company should correct its weaknesses by adopting best practices and/or revamping the makeup of its value chain.

72) One of the most telling signs of whether a company's market position is strong or precarious is A) whether its product is strongly or weakly differentiated from rivals. B) whether its prices and costs are competitive with those of key rivals. C) whether it has a lower stock price than key rivals. D) the opinions of buyers regarding which seller has the best product quality and customer service. E) whether it is in a bigger or smaller strategic group than its closest rivals.b

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

9) A company's resources and capabilities represent A) the firm's net working capital and related determinants for measuring operating performance and capabilities. B) the firm's competitive assets that determine its competitiveness and ability to succeed in the marketplace. C) whether the firm has the industry's most efficient value chain. D) management's sources and uses of funding for new strategic initiatives. E) positive trends with relevant cultural factors related to buyers' choices and product modifications.

B)the firm's competitive assets that determine its competitiveness and ability to succeed in the marketplace.

81) The process of benchmarking SunPower's value chain activities against its rivals in the solar power industry would not entail A) identifying the best practices in performing various value chain activities. B) learning how best practice companies achieve lower costs or better results in performing benchmarked activities. C) constructing a company value chain and identifying which activities are primary and which are support activities. D) making cross-company comparisons of the costs of performing specific value chain activities. E) taking actions to improve a company's cost competitiveness when benchmarking reveals that its costs and results of performing an activity are not as good as what other companies have achieved.

C) constructing a company value chain and identifying which activities are primary and which are support activities

53) The difference between a core competence and a distinctive competence is that a A) distinctive competence refers to a company's strongest resource or competitive capability, whereas a core competence refers to a company's lowest-cost and most efficiently executed value-chain activity. B) core competence usually resides in a company's base of intellectual capital, whereas a distinctive competence stems from the superiority of a company's physical and tangible assets. C) core competence is a competitively and strategically relevant activity that a firm performs well compared to its other activities, whereas a distinctive competence is a competitively relevant activity a firm performs well compared to other rival firms. D) core competence represents a resource strength, whereas a distinctive competence is achieved by having more resource strengths than rival companies. E) core competence usually resides in a company's technology and physical assets, whereas a distinctive competence usually resides in a company's know-how, expertise, and intellectual capital.

C) core competence is a competitively and strategically relevant activity that a firm performs well compared to its other activities, whereas a distinctive competence is a competitively relevant activity a firm performs well compared to other rival firms.

77) Activity-based costing is used to evaluate a company's cost competitiveness and ________ A) determine whether the value chains of rival companies are similar or different. B) benchmark the costs of primary value chain activities against the costs of the support value chain activities. C) determine the costs of each primary and support activity comprising a company's value chain and thereby reveal the nature and makeup of a company's internal cost structure. D) determine the costs of each strategic action a company initiates. E) analyze the costs of each primary activity.

C) determine the costs of each primary and support activity comprising a company's value chain and thereby reveal the nature and makeup of a company's internal cost structure.

95) To build a competitive advantage by out-managing rivals in performing value chain activities, a company must A) position itself in the industry's more favorably situated strategic group. B) develop resource strengths that will enable it to pursue the industry's most attractive opportunities. C) develop core competencies and maybe a distinctive competence that rivals don't have or can't quite match and that are instrumental in helping it deliver attractive value to customers. D) outsource all of its value chain activities to world-class vendors and suppliers. E) eliminate its resource weaknesses.

C) develop core competencies and maybe a distinctive competence that rivals don't have or can't quite match and that are instrumental in helping it deliver attractive value to customers.

52) When a company has a proficiency in performing a strategically and competitively important value chain activity better than its rivals, it is said to have a A) company competence. B) core competence. C) distinctive competence. D) key value chain proficiency. E) competitive advantage over rivals.

C) distinctive competence

57) When a company performs a particular competitively important activity truly well in comparison to its rivals, it is said to have a A) company competence. B) strategic resource. C) distinctive competence. D) core competence. E) key success factor.

C) distinctive competence

87) If you were a consultant to SunPower, one of the largest solar power companies in the United States, you would not recommend this activity to remedy high internal costs relative to its rivals. A) finding ways to detour around activities or items where costs are high B) redesigning the product or some of its components to permit more economical manufacture or assembly C) implementing aggressive strategic resource mapping to permit across-the-board cost reduction D) outsourcing high-cost activities to vendors or contractors who can perform them more economically E) relocating high-cost activities (like manufacturing) to geographic areas (like China or Latin America or Eastern Europe) where they can be performed more cost-effectively

C) implementing aggressive strategic resource mapping to permit across-the-board cost reduction

75) Identifying the primary and secondary activities that comprise a company's value chain A) indicates whether a company's resource strengths will ultimately translate into greater value for shareholders. B) reveals whether a company's resource strengths are well-matched to the industry's key success factors. C) is the first step in understanding a company's cost structure (since each activity in the value chain gives rise to costs). D) is called benchmarking. E) is called resource value analysis.

C) is the first step in understanding a company's cost structure (since each activity in the value

103) In a weighted competitive strength analysis, each strength measure is assigned a weight based on A) its percentage share of total industry revenues. B) its percentage share of total industry losses. C) its perceived importance in determining a company's competitive success in the marketplace. D) its percentage share of total industry profits. E) what it takes to provide better analytical balance between the companies with high ratings and the companies with low ratings and thus get the sum of the weights to add up to 1.0.

C) its perceived importance in determining a company's competitive success in the marketplace.

106) The company with the highest rating on a given measure has an implied competitive edge on that specific measure, with the size of its edge A) providing the company with an overall net competitive score that is reduced by the weighted measure. B) signaling a weak position and competitive disadvantage. C) reflecting the difference between its weighted rating and rivals' weighted ratings. D) reflecting an area of potential improvement in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. E) requiring reevaluation of the weighted measure.

C) reflecting the difference between its weighted rating and rivals' weighted ratings.

111) Pinpointing the strategic issues that SunPower's management needs to address ordinarily would not include A) analyzing SunPower's external environment. B) evaluating SunPower's own resources and competitive position. C) surveying SunPower's board members, managers, select employees, and key investors regarding what strategic issues they think the company faces. D) developing a worry list of "how to...," "whether to...," and "what to do about..." for SunPower. E) assessing what challenges SunPower must overcome to be financially and competitively successful in the years ahead.

C) surveying SunPower's board members, managers, select employees, and key investors regarding what strategic issues they think the company faces.

101) Competitive strength can be determined by assigning measures based on perceived importance because A) it provides a more accurate assessment of the strength of competitive forces. B) it eliminates the bias introduced for those firms having large market shares. C) the different measures of competitive strength are unlikely to be equally important. D) the results provide a more reliable measure of what competitive moves rivals are likely to make next. E) weighting each company's overall competitive strength by the size of its market share produces a more accurate measure of its true competitive strength.

C) the different measures of competitive strength are unlikely to be equally important.

74) The three main areas in the value chain where significant differences in the costs of competing firms can occur include A) age of plants and equipment, number of employees, and advertising costs. B) operating-level activities, functional area activities, and line of business activities. C) the nature and makeup of their own internal operations, the activities performed by suppliers, and the activities performed by wholesale distribution and retailing allies. D) human resource activities (particularly labor costs), vertical integration activities, and strategic partnership activities. E) variable cost activities, fixed cost activities, and administrative activities.

C) the nature and makeup of their own internal operations, the activities performed by suppliers, and the activities performed by wholesale distribution and retailing allies.

58) ________ does not represent a potential core competence. A) Skills in manufacturing a high-quality product at a low cost B) Know-how in creating and operating systems for cost-efficient supply chain management C) The capability to fill customer orders accurately and swiftly D) Having a sprawling factory E) The capability to speed new or next-generation products to the marketplace

D) Having a sprawling factory

23) The four tests of a resource's competitive power are often referred to as the A) SCIR test, which asks if a resource is sustainable, competitive, internalized, and reproducible. B) competitive advantage sustainable method test. C) reliability resources simulation. D) VRIN test, which asks if a resource is valuable, rare, inimitable, and nonsubstitutable. E) organizational capability metric analysis.

D) VRIN test, which asks if a resource is valuable, rare, inimitable, and nonsubstitutable.

A superior indicator of how sound W.L. Gore's strategy is and whether or not the strategy signals strong execution is A) falling short of its stated financial objectives, that is, its financial performance is well below the industry average, and its market share gains reflect short-term preferences for capacity maximization. B) remaining inattentive to possible improvements in its functional areas, creating stretch business goals, and providing a product-focused value proposition to customers. C) foregoing initiatives designed to build market share and to promote corporate responsibility. D) achieving its stated financial and strategic objectives via improvements in its internal processes such as defect rate, order fulfillment, delivery times, days of inventory, and employee productivity. E) undertaking new initiatives to promote corporate social responsibility.

D) achieving its stated financial and strategic objectives via improvements in its internal processes such as defect rate, order fulfillment, delivery times, days of inventory, and employee productivity.

96) When companies engage in value-creating activities, they do so by A) focusing on exploiting a company's best-executed operating strategy. B) concentrating on efficient performance of the company's primary value chain activities. C) concentrating on minimizing the costs associated with the design of a product or service. D) drawing on specific company resources and capabilities that underlie and enable the activity. E) focusing on working with forward-channel allies to develop capabilities to outmatch the capabilities of rivals.

D) drawing on specific company resources and capabilities that underlie and enable the activity.

112) If you were tasked with identifying the strategic issues and problems that merit front-burner managerial attention at SunPower, you would most likely not begin by A) drawing upon the results and conclusions from analyzing SunPower's external environment. B) drawing upon the results and conclusions from evaluating SunPower's own resources and competitive position. C) drawing up a worry list for SunPower consisting of "how to...," "whether to...," and "what to do about...". D) drawing up a list of strategic issues and problems that SunPower faces first. E) drawing up a list of issues and problems that SunPower management need to address to improve the company's position and prospects.

D) drawing up a list of strategic issues and problems that SunPower faces first.

66) External threats may pose various degrees of adversity upon the company and can surface from many sources and examples, except for A) the advent of cheaper or better technologies. B) the entry of lower-cost foreign competitors and restrictive foreign trade policies. C) new burdensome regulations. D) higher overall unit costs relative to those of key competitors. E) rising prices on key inputs (such as energy costs).

D) higher overall unit costs relative to those of key competitors.

70) If you were asked to conduct a SWOT analysis for Procter & Gamble, you would not be able to assess A) how to improve Procter & Gamble's strategy by building on its strengths and capabilities B) which market opportunities are best suited to Procter & Gamble's strengths and capabilities C) which of Procter & Gamble's resource weaknesses and deficiencies need to be corrected so as to better enable the pursuit of important market opportunities and to better defend against certain external threats D) how Procter & Gamble could turn a core competence into a distinctive competence E) whether any of Procter & Gamble's resource strengths can be used to help lessen the impact of external threats

D) how Procter & Gamble could turn a core competence into a distinctive competence

91) Remedying a cost disadvantage associated with activities performed by forward channel partners (wholesale distributors and retail dealers) would not involve A) changing to a more economical distribution strategy such as putting more emphasis on cheaper distribution channels (perhaps direct sales via the Internet) or perhaps integrating forward into company-owned retail outlets. B) enhancing differentiation through activities such as cooperative advertising at the forward end of the value chain. C) pressuring distributors/dealers and other forward channel allies to reduce their costs and markups. D) insisting on across-the-board cost cuts in all value chain activities—those performed by suppliers, those performed in-house, and those performed by distributors/dealers. E) collaborating with forward channel allies to identify win-win opportunities to reduce costs.

D) insisting on across-the-board cost cuts in all value chain activities—those performed by suppliers, those performed in-house, and those performed by distributors/dealers

54) A core competence A) detracts from a company's arsenal of competitive capabilities and competitive assets and is not a resource strength considered to be genuine. B) is typically results-based, residing in a company's tangible physical assets on the balance sheet. C) is often grounded in a single department's set of knowledge and expertise. D) is an activity that a firm performs proficiently that is also central to its strategy and competitive success. E) is a proficiently performed external activity.

D) is an activity that a firm performs proficiently that is also central to its strategy and competitive succes

98) The value of doing competitive strength assessment is to A) determine how competitively powerful are the company's core competencies B) learn if the company's market opportunities are better than those of its rivals. C) learn whether a company has a distinctive competence. D) learn how the company ranks relative to rivals on each of the important factors that determine market success and ascertain whether the company has a net competitive advantage or disadvantage vis-à-vis key rivals. E) determine whether a company's resource strengths are sufficient to allow it to earn bigger profits than rivals.

D) learn how the company ranks relative to rivals on each of the important factors that determine market success and ascertain whether the company has a net competitive advantage or disadvantage vis-à-vis key rivals.

47) A first-rate SWOT analysis A) is a way to measure whether a company's value chain is longer or shorter than the chains of key rivals. B) is a tool for benchmarking whether a firm's strategy is closely matched to industry key success factors. C) reveals whether a company is competitively stronger than its closest rivals. D) provides a good basis for crafting a strategy. E) identifies the reasons a company's strategy is or is not working very well.

D) provides a good basis for crafting a strategy.

88) A company's strategic options for remedying cost disadvantages in internally performed value chain activities do not include A) revamping its value chain to eliminate or bypass some cost-producing activities (particularly low value-added activities). B) implementing the use of best practices, particularly for high-cost activities. C) investing in productivity-enhancing, cost-saving technological improvements. D) switching to activity-based costing. E) outsourcing the performance of high-cost activities to vendors that can perform them more cheaply.

D) switching to activity-based costing

79) Costs and price differences among competing companies can have origins in activities performed by A) the company's internally performed activities (its own value chain) compared to the cost structure of the internally performed activities of rival companies. B) value chains of the company's suppliers. C) value chains of a company's distributors and retail dealers and forward channel allies. D) the company's internally performed activities (its own value chain), but also on costs in the value chain of its suppliers and distribution channel allies. E) whether the company has a longer or shorter value chain than its close rivals.

D) the company's internally performed activities (its own value chain), but also on costs in the value chain of its suppliers and distribution channel allies

44) A company's dynamic capability is not manifested by its A) capacity to improve existing resources and capabilities B) ability to upgrade its R&D resources to drive product innovation C) capacity to add new resources and capabilities to the competitive asset portfolio D) ability to replace degraded resources with acquired capabilities E) ability to keep antiquated resources by disregarding innovative capabilities

E) ability to keep antiquated resources by disregarding innovative capabilities

100) Assigning a weight to each measure of competitive strength assessment is generally analytically superior because A) a weighted ranking identifies which competitive advantages are most powerful. B) an unweighted ranking does not discriminate between companies with high and low market shares. C) it singles out which competitor has the most competitively potent core competencies. D) weighting each company's overall competitive strength by its percentage share of total industry profits produces a more accurate measure of its true competitive strength. E) all of the various measures of competitive strength are not equally important.

E) all of the various measures of competitive strength are not equally important

8) Key functional strategies of a company include all of the following except A) R&D, technology, and product design strategies. B) production and information technology and supply chain management strategies. C) human resource and finance strategies. D) sales, marketing, and distribution strategies. E) alliance and partnerships as well as merger and acquisition growth strategies.

E) alliance and partnerships as well as merger and acquisition growth strategies.

84) Obtaining cost information is a primary difficulty associated with benchmarking. The following are typical sources for collecting information except from A) published reports, industry research firms, and trade groups. B) talking to knowledgeable industry leaders. C) field trips to the facilities of competitors or non-competing firms. D) independent firms and consulting firms to gather best practices and comparative cost data without identifying competing firms. E) classified government documents.

E) classified government documents.

28) A resource of a firm is considered to be A) a market opportunity. B) an environmental threat. C) the capacity of a firm to competently perform some internal activity. D) a competitive deficiency. E) deployed to develop and enable a firm's capabilities.

E) deployed to develop and enable a firm's capabilities.

92) The means to enhance differentiation through activities at the forward end of the value chain system do not include A) engaging in cooperative advertising and promotions. B) creating exclusive arrangements with downstream sellers or other mechanisms that increase their incentives for enhanced-delivery customer value. C) creating and enforcing standards for downstream activities. D) assisting in training channel partners in business practices. E) enhancing cost-reducing activities with defensive functionality designed to create incentives.

E) enhancing cost-reducing activities with defensive functionality designed to create incentives.

86) An option for not remedying an internal cost disadvantage includes A) investing in productivity-enhancing, cost-saving technological improvements. B) redesigning the product or some of its components to facilitate speedier and more economical manufacture or assembly .C) implementing the use of best practices throughout the company, particularly for high-cost activities. D) eliminating some cost-producing activities altogether by revamping the value chain. E) performing activities in the same way as done earlier.

E) performing activities in the same way as done earlier.

90) Remedying a supplier-related cost disadvantage would not entail A) integrating backward into the business of high-cost suppliers in an effort to reduce the costs of the items being purchased. B) negotiating more favorable prices with suppliers. C) collaborating closely with suppliers to identify mutual cost-saving opportunities. D) switching to lower-priced substitute inputs. E) persuading forward channel allies to implement best practices.

E) persuading forward channel allies to implement best practices.

61) A company resource weakness or competitive deficiency A) represents a problem that needs to be turned into a strength because weaknesses prevent a firm from being a winner in the marketplace. B) causes the company to fall into a lower strategic group than it otherwise could compete in. C) prevents a company from having a distinctive competence. D) is something a company lacks or does poorly (in comparison to rivals) or a condition that puts it at a disadvantage in the marketplace. E) usually stems from having a missing link or links in the industry value chain.

E) usually stems from having a missing link or links in the industry value chain.

37) The competitive power of a company resource strength or competitive capability hinges on all of the following except A) how hard it is for competitors to copy. B) whether it is rare and something rivals lack. C) whether it is really competitively valuable and has the potential to contribute to a competitive advantage. D) whether it is nonsubstitutable. E) whether it is readily available for rivals to adopt.

E) whether it is readily available for rivals to adopt.