Principles of Management Quiz 3

The ____ is a decision-making method in which a panel of experts responds to questions and to each other until an agreement is reached on how a specific issue should be handled.

Delphi technique

____ is a discrepancy between a company's intended strategy and the strategic actions managers take when actually implementing that strategy.

Strategic dissonance

Dialectical Inquiry

a decision-making method in which decision makers state the assumptions of a proposed solution (a thesis) and generate a solution that is the opposite (antithesis) of that solution

Nominal group technique

a decision-making method that begins and ends by having group members quietly write down and evaluate ideas to be shared with the group

Problem

a gap between a desired state and an existing state

The term _____ refers to the overall organizational strategy that addresses the question "What business or businesses are we in or should we be in?"

corporate-level strategy

C-Type Conflict (cognitive conflict)

disagreement that focuses on problem and issue related differences of opinion

The purpose of a _____ strategy is to increase profits, revenues, market share, or the number of places (stores, offices, locations) in which the company does business.

growth

Group think occurs in ____.

highly cohesive groups where there is a great deal of pressure to agree with each other

Distal Goals

long-term or primary goals

Under conditions of _____, a competitive attack by a rival is more likely to produce sustained competitive advantage.

low resource similarity

The last step in effective planning is to _____.

maintain flexibility in planning

Options-based planning

maintaining planning flexibility by making small, simultaneous investments in many alternative plans

The second step in a retrenchment strategy is _____.

recovery

Significant cost reductions, layoffs of employees, closing of poorly performing stores, offices, or manufacturing plants, or closing or selling entire lines of products or services would be characteristic of a _____ strategy.

retrenchment

Cost Leadership

A business-level strategy through which a company seeks cost efficiencies in all operational areas.

Stability

A condition in which national output is growing steadily, with low inflation and full employment of resources.

Production Banking

A disadvantage of face-to-face brainstorming in which a group member must wait to share an idea because another member is presenting an idea

Purpose

Choosing an industry-level strategy that is best suited to changes.

_____ strategy is a corporate-level strategy that minimizes risk by diversifying investment among various businesses or product lines.

Portfolio

Decision Making

Process of choosing a solution from available alternatives

Which of the adaptive strategies tends to result in the poorest performance?

Reactors

_____ consists of the strategic actions that a company takes to return to a growth strategy.

Recovery

______ are the assets, capabilities, processes, information, and knowledge that an organization uses to improve its effectiveness and efficiency, to create and sustain competitive advantage, and to fulfill a need or solve a problem.

Resources

Direct competition

Rivalry between or among businesses that offer similar types of goods or services

Strategic Reference Points

____ are the targets that managers use to measure whether their firm has developed the core competencies that it needs to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage

A-type conflict (affective conflict)

____ is the emotional reaction that can occur when disagreements become personal rather than professional.

Tactical Plans

____ plans specify how a company will use resources, budgets, and people to accomplish specific goals within its mission.

​Planning

_____ is choosing a goal and developing a method or strategy to achieve a goal.

Operational Plans

_____ plans are the day-to-day plans for producing or delivering the organization's products and services.

Shadow-strategy task force

a committee within a company that analyzes the company's own weaknesses to determine how competitors could exploit them for competitive advantage

Attack

a competitive move designed to reduce a rival's market share or profits

Slack resources

a cushion of extra resources that can be used with options-based planning to adapt to unanticipated changes, problems, or opportunities

Devil's advocacy

a decision-making method in which an individual or a subgroup is assigned the role of critic

strategic dissonance

a discrepancy between a company's intended strategy and the strategic actions managers take when implementing that strategy

Management by objectives

a four-step process in which managers and employees discuss and select goals, develop tactical plans, and meet regularly to review progress toward goal accomplishment

Action Plan

a plan that lists the specific steps, people, resources, and time period needed to attain a goal

Relative Comparisons

a process in which each decision criterion is compared directly with every other criterion

Absolute Comparisons

a process in which each decision criterion is compared to a standard or ranked on its own merits

Response

a reaction to a stimulus

Recovery

a rise in business activity after a recession or depression

Purpose statement

a statement of a company's purpose or reason for existing

Rational decision making

a systematic process of defining problems, evaluating alternatives, and choosing optimal solutions.

Evaluation Apprehension

fear of what others will think of your ideas

Secondary Firms

firms that use strategies related to but somewhat different from those of core firms

SMART goals

goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely

Budgets are a type of ____ plans.

operational

Single-Use Plans

plans that cover unique, one-time-only events

Standing Plans

plans used repeatedly to handle frequently recurring events

Budgeting

quantitative planning through which managers decide how to allocate available money to best accomplish company goals

Retrenchment

reducing staff or forces; conserving resources

Competitive Inertia

reluctance to change strategies that have been successful in the past

Resources

the assets, capabilities, processes, employee time, information, and knowledge that an organization uses to improve its effectiveness and efficiency and create and sustain competitive advantage

Core Firms

the central companies in a strategic group

Goal Commitment

the determination to achieve a goal

One of the important conditions that a firm must meet in order to gain a sustainable competitive advantage with its capital is:

the firm's resources must be imperfectly imitable.

Focus Strategy

the positioning strategy of using cost leadership or differentiation to produce a specialized product or service for a limited, specially targeted group of customers in a particular geographic region or market segment

Decision Criteria

the standards used to guide judgments and decisions

The _____ is a measure of the degree to which barriers to entry make it easy or difficult for new companies to get started in an industry.

threat of new entrants

​_____ is the rivalry between two companies that offer similar products and services, acknowledge each other as rivals, and act and react to each other's strategic actions.

Direct competition

____ is the phase of a technology cycle characterized by technological substitution and design competition.

Discontinuous change

Which of the following is the first step in management by objectives?

Discussing possible goals

Differentiation

actually differentiating the market offering to create superior customer value

Satisficing

choosing a "good enough" alternative

Maximize

choosing the best alternative

Reactors

companies that do not follow a consistent adaptive strategy but instead react to changes in the external environment after they occur

Analyzers

companies using an adaptive strategy that seeks to minimize risk and maximize profits by following or imitating the proven successes of prospectors

Prospectors

seek fast growth by searching for new market opportunities, encouraging risk taking, and being the first to bring innovative new products to market

Proximal Goals

short-term goals or subgoals

Rules and Regulations

standing plans that describe how a particular action should be performed or what must happen or not happen in response to a particular event

Policies

standing plans that indicate the general course of action that should be taken in response to a particular event or situation

Procedures

standing plans that indicate the specific steps that should be taken in response to a particular event

Top management is responsible for developing ____.

strategic plans

According to the S.M.A.R.T. guidelines, goals should be ____.

task-oriented