MGT 409 Exam 1
Which of the following are part of a firm's competitive environment? (Check all that apply.)
-customers -suppliers -competitors
Which of the following are examples of what companies do to gain customers? (Check all that apply.)
-decrease product/service prices -increase customer service -increase warranties
The Internet has increased the bargaining power of buyers by ___.
-decreasing switching costs -providing customers with more information to make buying decisions
Which of the following describe factors that result in intense rivalry? (Check all that apply.)
-high fixed or storage costs -numerous or equally balanced competitors -high exit barriers -capacity augmented in large increments -lack of differentiation or switching costs -slow industry growth
Strategic group analysis helps managers do which of the following? (Check all that apply.)
-identify barriers to mobility that protect a group from attacks by other groups -think through implications of industry trends for each company within the group -identify groups whose competitive position may be marginal or tenuous
Which of the following are examples of what companies do to gain customers? (Check all that apply.)
-increase customer service -decrease product/service parts -increase warranties
Which of the following must firms be able to do in order to capture greater profitability using technology and the Internet? (Check all that apply.)
-increase product selection -provide faster delivery -lower the cost of providing products or services
Which of the following statements about scenario analysis are true? (Check all that apply.)
-it draws on a range of disciplines -it is an in-depth approach to forecasting -it incorporates the ways in which societal trends may affect an issue
Which of the following are among the primary activities of a firm's value chains? (Check all that apply.)
-marketing and sales -operations -inbound and outbound logistics service
Which of the following statements are correct regarding strategic groups? (Check all that apply.)
-no two firms are totally different -strategic group s are clusters of firms that share similar strategies -no two firms are exactly the same
A good industry analysis does which of the following? (Check all that apply.)
-seeks to understand the underpinnings of competition in the industry -distinguishes short-term fluctuations from structural changes in the industry -identifies the root causes of profitability for the industry
High exit barriers include which of the following? (Check all that apply.)
-sometimes due to having specialized assets or strategic management -government an social pressures due to concern for job loss -high fixed or storage costs that create strong pressures for firms to increase capacity -high exist barriers can be economics, strategic, or emotional factors
The resource-based view of the firm combines which of the following perspectives?
-the company's internal analysis -an external analysis of the industry and its competitive environment
The number of middle-class consumers in which region is rapidly rising and thus influencing hiring practices of U.S. multinationals?
Asia
______ are products or services that have an impact on the value of a firm's products or services.
Complements
True or false: A key to successful strategic management is gathering industry information and understanding the competitive dynamics of the industry's companies.
True
True or false: Trends in one segment of the general environment can have an effect on other segments.
True
Which attributes must a resource have to provide a firm with a sustainable competitive advantage? pg.83
ability to exploit opportunities have no substitutes be rare among competitors
Michael Porter's five forces model is the most commonly used analytical tool for examining which of the following type of environment?
competitive
______ helps firms define and understand their industry and identify rivals' strengths and weaknesses.c
competitive intelligence
The Internet has intensified rivalry, because ______.
competitors seem more equally balanced
What are the strategies used by firms to leverage the value of its relationships with customers and other firms by seeking regular, low-friction, and customized interactions with them? pg.77-78
connected strategies
The _______ segment of the general environment consists of the characteristics of the economy, including national income and monetary conditions.
economic
______ involves the development of plausible projections about the direction, scope, speed, and intensity of environmental change.
environmental forecasting
______ tracks the evolution of environmental trends, sequences of events, or streams of activities.
environmental monitoring
The _________ environment is composed of segments external to an industry that are usually beyond a firm's control, such as demographics and economic factors, that can affect a firm's strategy.
general
The _______ segment of the general environment consists of influences from foreign countries, including market opportunities, foreign-based competition, and expanded capital markets.
global
Environmental monitoring enables firms to evaluate _________
how the dynamic competitive landscape is being changed by environmental trends
The Internet may ______ buyer power by providing consumers more information to make buying decisions and by ______ switching costs.
increase; lowering
A buying group is considered powerful when it_________
is responsible for a large volume of seller's sales
a buying group is considered powerful when it_____
is responsible for a large volume of sellers sales
A firm's strategy should be directly tied to_____
its SWOT analysis
Typically, resources ______
on their own do not yield a competitive advantage
Tangible Resources pg. 80when add
organizational assets that are relatively easy to identify, including physical assets, financial resources, organizational resources, and technological resources. ex of financial resources: cash, accounts receivable and borrowing power. ex of physical resources: company plant, equipment, and machinery ex of organizational resources: the company's strategic planning process and its employee development, evaluation and reward systems. ex of technological resources: trade secrets, patents, and copyrights
The purpose of environmental forecasting is to ______
predict change
______ activities are the sequential activities of the value chain that refer to the physical creation of the product or service, its sale and transfer to the buyer, and its service after sale.
primary
Competitive advantages are created and sustained through having_________
resources that are valuable, rare, and hard to duplicate and substitute
______ is an in-depth approach to environmental forecasting that involves experts' detailed assessments of social, economic, political, technology trends or other dimensions of the external environment.
scenario analysis
The _________ segment of the general environment consists of the values, beliefs, and lifestyles of a society. Multiple choice question.
sociocultural
All firms within an industry compete with industries producing __________ products and services. (Enter only one word in the blank.)
substitute
______ products and services limit the potential returns of an industry by placing a ceiling on the prices that firms in that industry can profitably charge.
substitute
______ may exert bargaining power by threatening to raise prices of the materials needed by a firm or reduce the quality of goods and services.
suppliers
A one-time cost that customers pay when changing vendors is known as______
switching costs
the ______ segment of the general environment is concerned with innovation and state of knowledge in industrial arts, engineering, applied sciences, and pure science, and their interaction with society.
technological
True or false: The only thing a firm needs to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage is a resource that is difficult to imitate. pg. 86
FALSE Reason: To achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, a firm must have resources and capabilities that are not only difficult to imitate or substitute but also are rare and valuable.
______ consists of activities involving recruiting, hiring, training, development, and compensating personnel. Pg. 76
Human Resource Management
Which of the following are examples of physical uniqueness? pg. 84
a beach resort location on a one-of-a-kind island patented products that cannot be copied a company's mineral rights
social complexity pg. 85
a characteristic of a firm's resources that is costly to imitate because the social engineering required is beyond the capability of competitors, including interpersonal relations among managers, organizational culture, and reputation with suppliers and customers.
Path Dependency pg. 84
a characteristic of resources that is developed and/or accumulated through a unique series of events. "simply means that resources are unique and therefore scarce because of all that has happened along the path followed in their development and/or accumulation.
When addressing the value-chain concept, it is important to focus on the interrelationship between the organization and its most important stakeholders, which are _________. pg. 77
customers
______ is a technique for measuring the performance of a firm according to its balance sheet, income statement, and market valuation. pg.89
financial ratio analysis
Resources are valuable only when they enable a firm to______ pg.83
formulate and implement strategies that improve its efficiency or effectiveness
______ consists of activities that support the entire value chain and not individual activities. pg. 76
general administration
Human resource management's activities include which of the following? pg. 76
hiring employees engaged in support activities training employees negotiations with labor unions
The bargaining power of buyers depends on the _____
importance of purchases from that group compared with the industry's overall business
The bargaining power of buyers depends on the________-
importance of purchases from that group compared with the industry's overall business
Just-in-time (JIT) inventory systems are designed to help companies with their____
inbound logistics
The ______ perspective measures how well a firm is changing its product and service offerings to adapt to changes in the internal and external environments.
innovation and learning
Which of the following are service activities? (Check all that apply.)
installation, training, repair
______ resources are organizational assets that are difficult to identify and account for and are typically embedded in unique routines and practices. pg.81
intangible
The ______ perspective involves measures of firm performance that indicate how well a firm's internal processes, decisions, and actions are contributing to customer satisfaction. pg.93
internal business
Outbound logistics pg. 74
is associated with collecting, storing, and distributing the product or service to buyers. These activities include finished goods, warehousings, material handling, delivery vehicle operation, order processing, and scheduling.
According to value-chain analysis, a firm______
is profitable when the value it receives exceeds total costs
According to value-chain analysis, a firm_______
is profitable when the value it receives exceeds total costs
The SWOT framework is popular with managers for several reasons, including which of the following?
it forces managers to consider both the internal and external factors simultaneously
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 greatly increased the accountability of auditors, executives, and corporate lawyers. This law is an example of which segment of the general environment?
political/legal
Online shopping robots, or "bots," on the web have increased competitive rivalry by allowing the consumer to focus only on the best possible
price
Support activities add value by themselves or through their relationships with which kinds of activities?
primary and other support activities
______ refers to the function of purchasing inputs used in the firm's value chain.
procurement
Resources that not many firms possess are known as _____ resources
rare
Rather than analyzing its finances in isolation, a firm should make use of
reference points
An advantage that some existing competitors have over new entrants and that does not depend on economies of scale is having favorable access to _____ materials
Raw
______ analysis is a framework for analyzing a company's internal and external environments.
SWOT
True or false: The value-chain concept does not apply to service organizations. pg. 79
FALSE Reason: Although value-chain activities are applied differently, the value-chain concept is still valid.
Which of the following are ways that resource inimitability (difficulty to imitate) is a key to value creation? pg.
It constrains competition. It makes profits more likely to be sustainable
Which of the following is an example of a CEO with perceptual acuity?
Marga stars a ride sharing business in a city with few parking garages
True or false: The threat of substitutes has increased due to digital technologies and the Internet.
TRUE
The Internet and digital technologies are said to ______.
be a double-edged sword for suppliers
Internal business perspective measures should focus on the Blank______ processes that have the greatest effect on customer satisfaction pg. 93
business
Which of the following are examples of tangible resources? pg. 80
cash equipment
The Internet allows customers to shop around for the best price, thus it has ______ products that were previously regarded as rare or unique.
commoditized
Which of the following elements of the general environment is the easiest to understand and quantify?
demographic
______ is the process of removing the organizations or business processes responsible for intermediary steps in the value chain.
disintermediation
Which of the following is an example of when the bargaining power of suppliers may be low?
the suppliers provide an input that has many substitutes
Managers should understand how they can create win-win relationships with their suppliers and customers so that they can overcome_________
the zero-sum game issue
the _____ is the possibility that the profits of established firms in the industry may be eroded by new competitors
threat of new entrants
the______ is the possibility that the profits of established firms in the industry may be eroded by new competitors.
threat of new entrants
Firms use "Big Data" to accomplish which of the following goals?
to better customize their offerings to customers
A firm's expanded value chain includes pg. 77
customers
Which of the following statements about using the balanced scorecard method of evaluating a firm's performance are true? pg. 92
-It includes financial and customer satisfaction measures. -It takes into account organizational innovation and learning perspective. -It provides managers with a fast but comprehensive view of the business.
Which of the following are caveats of using industry analysis? (Check all that apply.)
-Managers should not always avoid low-profit industries. -Porter's model assumes a zero-sum game, meaning there is a winner and loser. -The five-forces model is essentially a static analysis.
Which of the following statements about the firm's innovation and learning perspective are correct? pg. 93
-The criteria for success are constantly changing due to rapid changes. -Human capital, information capital and organization capital are critical to this perspective. -Managers must make frequent changes to existing products and introduce new products.
Which of the following are reasons why competitors have difficulty imitating resources that were developed over time? pg. 84
-They cannot go out and buy these resources quickly and easily. -Their uniqueness is due in part to all that happened along the path of development.
High exit barriers include which of the following? (Check all that apply.)
-They sometimes are due to having specialized assets or strategic interrelationships. -high exit barriers can be economic, strategic or emotional factors -high fixed or storage costs that create strong pressures for firms to increase capacity -government and social pressures due to concern for job loss
Which of the following are among the five types of financial ratios that are used to analyze a firm's performance? pg.85
-asset management ratio -short-term and long-term solvency measures -profitability and market value ratios
Which of the following are among Porter's five forces? (Check all that apply.)
-bargaining power of suppliers -intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry -the threat of new entrants -threat of substitute products and services
In which of the following ways can suppliers exert bargaining power? (Check all that apply.)
-by reducing the quality of purchased goods and services -by squeezing the profitability of firms by threatening to raise prices of raw materials
According to Porter, what are the two critical issues in conducting a good industry analysis? (Check all that apply.)
-conducting a rigorous quantification of the fie forces -choosing the appropriate time frame
JIT has helped companies like Dell to do which of the following?
-decrease storage costs, since parts arrive only hours before needed -decrease the time it takes to deliver products to customers
Which of the following help to explain the extent to which employees and managers may be able to obtain a proportionately high level of generated profits? pg. 88-89
-employee replacement cost -employee bargaining power -manager bargaining power -employee exit cost
Which of the following actions should firms take to build sustainability capabilities in both primary and support activities in the value chain?
-finance -procurement -research and development -marketing
Two approaches to evaluate firm performance include which of the following? pg. 89
-financial ratio analysis -stakeholder view (balance scorecard)
Which of the following should be included as reference points so that a firm's financial position is in the proper context for analysis? (Check all that apply.)
-historical comparisons -key competitor comparisons -comparisons with industry norms
Which of the following are reasons managers should use Porter's five forces model? (Check all that apply.)
-it can help them assess how to improve the firms competitive position within the industry - it can help them decide whether to enter, remain, or exit an industry -it can help them develop their supply chains through developing strong relationships with both suppliers and customers
Which of the following are examples of ways that the Internet has been positive for supplier bargaining power? (Check all that apply.)
-it has sped up and streamlined supply chain processes -it has created more 'downstream' outlets for suppliers -it has allowed buyers to link directly to a suppliers website to create rapid, low-cost ordering
Which of the following statements about an industry's composition are correct? (Check all that apply.)
-it includes companies that use similar methods of production -it includes companies that produce similar products or services -it includes companies that sell to similar customers
Which of the following statements about an industry's composition are correct? (Check all that apply.)
-it includes companies that use similar methods of production -it includes companies that sell to similar customers -it includes companies that produce similar products or services
Which of the following must firms be able to do in order to capture greater profitability using technology and the Internet? (Check all that apply.)
-lower the cost of providing products or services -increase product selection -provide faster delivery
Supplier groups are powerful under which of the following conditions? (Check all that apply.)
-one or more suppliers have built-in switching costs for buyers -the industry is not an important customer of the supplier group -the supplier group poses a credible threat of forward integration
Which of the following processes are associated with outbound logistics? (Check all that apply.) pg. 74
-order processing -delivery vehicle operation -warehousing
Which of the following are examples of resource characteristics that are inimitable due to causal ambiguity? (Check all that apply.)
-organizational capabilities that involve complex social interactions that make up a company's culture -processes that are difficult for outsiders to understand
Which of the following are included in the six segments of the general environment? (Check all that apply.)
-political/legal and technological -economic and global -demographic and sociocultural
Which of the following are examples of support activities? (Check all that apply.)
-procurement -human resources management -general administration
Which of the following are examples of socially complex resources? (Check all that apply.)
-reputation with suppliers and customers -interpersonal relationships among managers -organizational culture
A CEO can improve perceptual acuity by _________-
-seeking out information -meeting with and listening to others
Which of the following statements are correct regarding strategic groups? (Check all that apply.)
-strategic group share clusters of firms that share similar strategies -no two firms are exactly the same -no two firms are totally different
Examples of intangible resources include which of the following? pg. 81
-technical and scientific skills -the company's brand name -the experience and capabilities of employees
The resource-based view of the firm combines which of the following perspectives?
-the company's internal analysis -an external analysis of the industry and its competitive environment
Supplier groups are powerful under which of the following conditions? (Check all that apply.)
-the supplier group poses a credible threat of forward integration -the industry is not an important customer of the supplier group -one or more suppliers have built0in switching costs for buyers
Which of the following are among Porter's five forces? (Check all that apply.)
-the threat of new entrants -threat of new substitute products and services -intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry -the bargaining power of suppliers
Which of the following are key arguments against H-1B visas?
-they take jobs away from americans -they drive down wages for american workers
Strategic group analysis helps managers do which of the following? (Check all that apply.)
-think through implications of industry trends for each company within the group -identify groups whose competitive position may be marginal or tenuous -identify barriers to mobility that protect a group from attacks by other groups
Which of the following processes are included in inbound logistics? (Check all that apply.) pg. 73
-warehousing, returns to suppliers, material handling
What are the four support activities in the value chain?
Pg. 74 procurement technology development general administration human resource management
______ is associated with receiving, storing, and distributing product inputs. pg. 73
Service Operations Inbound logistics Outbound logistics
Which of the following statements describe the relationships among value-chain activities? pg. 78
They are relationships among activities within the firm and other stakeholders. They are interrelationships among activities within the firm.
Substitute products or services must be Blank______ the industry's offerings.
able to perform the same function as
Operations
all activities associated with transforming inputs into the final product form such as machining, packaging, assembly, testing, printing, and facility operation. pg. 73
______ is a method of evaluating a firm's performance using performance measures from four perspectives: customer, internal, innovation and learning, and financial. pg. 92
balanced scorecard
The stakeholder view takes a(n)______ approach than the financial ratio analysis in evaluating the firm. pg.89
boarder
Two valuable firm resources are strategically equivalent (substitutes) when each
can be exploited separately to implement the same strategies
______ is a characteristic of a firm's resources that is costly to imitate because a competitor cannot determine what the resource is and/or how it can be re-created. pg.85
casual ambiguity
The Blank______ perspective provides a measure of firm performance that indicates how well firms are satisfying customer expectations. pg. 92
customer
Select three areas in which artificial intelligence can give a firm a better understanding than that of its competitors in order to build a sustainable competitive advantage. pg. 86-87
customer preferences the use of products in an industry efficient procedures
______ activities are associated with purchases of products and services by end users and the inducements used to get them to make purchases.
marketing and sales
Rivalry among competitors is likely to be ______ due to digital technologies and the Internet.
more intense
Resources must have _____ strategically equivalent and valuable substitutes in order to be a source of sustainable competitive advantage
no
General administration is often seen_______ pg. 77
only as overhead
______ includes all activities associated with transforming inputs into the final product. pg.73
operations
______ are the competencies and skills that a firm employs to transform inputs into outputs.
organizational capabilities
______ is collecting, storing, and distributing products or services to buyers. pg. 74
outbound logistics
Operations includes which of the following activities? (Check all that apply.) pg. 73
packaging, machining, testing
______ is a characteristic of resources that is developed and/or accumulated through a unique series of events.
path dependency
______ is the first source of resource inimitability due to being inherently difficult to copy.
physical uniqueness
What are the four components of connected relationships identified by professors Siggelkow and Terwiesch for leveraging the value of value-chain activities? pg. 77
requesting a desired option to help meet a customer's need responding to a customer's need by customizing their experience repeating connected interactions with customers recognizing a customer need
The ______ view of the firm states that a firm's competitive advantages are due to its endowment of strategic resources that are valuable, rare, costly to imitate, and costly to substitute. pg. 80
resource-based
______ is a characteristic of a firm's resources that is costly to imitate because the social engineering required is beyond the capability of competitors. pg.85
social complexity
Strategic resources must meet four criteria in order for them to provide a firm with the potential for a ______ competitive advantage. pg. 83
sustainable
Resources that are valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and do not have substitutes provide a firm with a _____ pg. 86
sustainable competitive advantage
______ resources are organizational assets that include physical and financial assets and are relatively easy to identify.
tangible
match the following: tangible intangible organizational capability experience of employees outstanding customer service accounts recievable
tangible--> accounts receivable intangible--> experience of employees organizational capability--> outstanding customer service
Resources that competitors can easily imitate generate_______- pg. 84
temporary value
The application of value-chain activities is easily applied to service organizations when one understands________ pg.79
the focus is on adding value for customers
Which type of analysis views the organization as a sequential process of value-creating activities? pg. 72
value-chain
