SM Chapter 3 Book

Which of the following are typical financial goals? (Check all that apply.)

growth shareholder value profitability

Two approaches to evaluate firm performance include which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

financial ratio analysis stakeholder view (balance scorecard)

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 potential limitations of using the balanced scorecard approach? (Check all that apply.)

poor execution of the approach lack of long term senior management commitment poor alignment with individuals' scorecards

______ is a method of evaluating a firm's performance using performance measures from four perspectives: customer, internal, innovation and learning, and financial.

Balanced scorecard

______ 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.

Causal ambiguity

Which of the following actions should firms take to build sustainability capabilities in both primary and support activities in the value chain? (Check all that apply.)

Finance Marketing Research and development Procurement

______ includes all activities associated with transforming inputs into the final product.

Operations

Two valuable firm resources are strategically equivalent (substitutes) when each ______.

can be exploited separately to implement the same strategies

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

Which of the following describe activities associated with the technology development support function? (Check all that apply.)

research and development activities that lead to new products developing a company-wide Intranet developing technologies that train personnel

______ is associated with receiving, storing, and distributing product inputs.

Inbound logistics

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? (Check all that apply.)

Manager bargaining power Employee bargaining power Employee exit cost Employee replacement cost

______ 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

______ is collecting, storing, and distributing products or services to buyers.

Outbound logistics

______ is a characteristic of resources that is developed and/or accumulated through a unique series of events.

Path dependency

Which of the following processes are included in inbound logistics? (Check all that apply.)

Returns to suppliers Material handling Warehousing

______ includes the actions associated with providing assistance to enhance or maintain the value of the product.

Service

______ is a characteristic of a firm's resources that is costly to imitate because the social engineering required is beyond the capability of competitors.

Social complexity

______ resources are organizational assets that include physical and financial assets and are relatively easy to identify.

Tangible

______ includes activities that are associated with the development of new knowledge that is applied to the firm's operations.

Technology development

Which of the following are reasons why competitors have difficulty imitating resources that were developed over time? (Check all that apply.)

Their uniqueness is due in part to all that happened along the path of development. They cannot go out and buy these resources quickly and easily.

Which of the following statements describe the relationships among value-chain activities? (Check all that apply.)

They are interrelationships among activities within the firm. They are relationships among activities within the firm and other stakeholders.

Which of the following is the greatest limitation of the balanced scorecard?

Treating the balanced scorecard as a quick fix.

Which of the following are examples of physical uniqueness? (Check all that apply.)

a company's mineral rights a beach resort location on a one-of-a-kind island patented products that cannot be copied

Which of the following describe the two forms that resource substitutability may take? (Check all that apply.)

a substitute that is a similar resource that enables the firm to implement the same strategy a substitute that is a very different resource that becomes a strategic substitute because it provides the same end result differently

Valuable resources can be a source of competitive ______.

advantage

Which of the following are marketing and sales activities? (Check all that apply.)

advertising pricing products

Which attributes must a resource have to provide a firm with a sustainable competitive advantage? (Check all that apply.)

be rare among competitors ability to exploit opportunities have no substitutes

The stakeholder view takes a(n) ______ approach than the financial ratio analysis in evaluating the firm.

broader

Internal business perspective measures should focus on the ______ processes that have the greatest effect on customer satisfaction.

business

Which of the following are examples of tangible resources? (Check all that apply.)

cash equipment

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.)

comparisons with industry norms key competitor comparisons historical comparisons

The ______ perspective provides a measure of firm performance that indicates how well firms are satisfying customer expectations.

customer

A firm's expanded value chain includes ______.

customers

When addressing the value-chain concept, it is important to focus on the interrelationship between the organization and its most important stakeholders, which are ______.

customers

JIT has helped companies like Toyota to do which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

decrease storage costs, since parts arrive only hours before needed decrease the time it takes to deliver products to customers

Resources are only rare when other companies ______.

do not possess the same valuable resource

True or false: The only thing a firm needs to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage is a resource that is difficult to imitate.

false

True or false: The value-chain concept does not apply to service organizations.

false

The ______ perspective measures a firm's monetary performance to see how well strategy implementation and execution are contributing to bottom-line improvement.

financial

Resources are valuable only when they enable a firm to ______.

formulate and implement strategies that improve its efficiency or effectiveness

Human resource management's activities include which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

hiring engineers and forklift operators training employees negotiations with labor unions

Which of the following processes are associated with outbound logistics? (Check all that apply.)

order processing warehousing delivery vehicle operation

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

Operations includes which of the following activities? (Check all that apply.)

packaging machining testing

Which of the following are examples of organizational capabilities? (Check all that apply.)

providing outstanding customer service having strong product development capabilities flexible manufacturing Being innovative. Offering stellar customer service. Designing products that customers want.

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

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.

resource-based

A firm can substitute one resource for another by doing which activity?

substituting a similar resource

Which type of analysis views the organization as a sequential process of value-creating activities?

value-chain

______ is a technique for measuring the performance of a firm according to its balance sheet, income statement, and market valuation.

Financial ratio analysis

______ consists of activities that support the entire value chain and not individual activities.

General administration

Which of the following are ways that resource inimitability (difficulty to imitate) is a key to value creation? (Check all that apply.)

It makes profits more likely to be sustainable. It constrains competition. It creates a barrier to entry.

Which of the following statements about using the balanced scorecard method of evaluating a firm's performance are true? (Check all that apply.)

It takes into account organizational innovation and learning perspective. It provides managers with a fast but comprehensive view of the business. It includes financial and customer satisfaction measures.

______ is the first source of resource inimitability due to being inherently difficult to copy.

Physical uniqueness

Which of the following statements about the firm's innovation and learning perspective are correct? (Check all that apply.)

Managers must make frequent changes to existing products and introduce new products. Human capital, information capital and organization capital are critical to this perspective. The criteria for success are constantly changing due to rapid changes.

______ are the competencies and skills that a firm employs to transform inputs into outputs.

Organizational capabilities

______ 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

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

Which of the following are examples of support activities? (Check all that apply.)

Procurement Human Resources management General administration

Procurement activities include the purchase of which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

office equipment machinery raw materials

Typically, resources ______.

on their own do not yield a competitive advantage

General administration is often seen ______.

only as overhead

Which of the following are among the five types of financial ratios that are used to analyze a firm's performance? (Check all that apply.)

profitability and market value ratios asset management ratio short-term and long-term solvency measures

Competitive advantages are created and sustained through having ______.

resources that are valuable, rare, and hard to duplicate and substitute

Which of the following are among the primary activities of a firm's value chains? (Check all that apply.)

service marketing and sales operations inbound and outbound logistics

Strategic resources must meet four criteria in order for them to provide a firm with the potential for a ______ competitive advantage.

sustainable

Resources that are valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and do not have substitutes provide a firm with a ______.

sustainable competitive advantage

Match each type of resource (on the left) with an appropriate example (on the right). Instructions

tangible = accounts receivable intangible = experience of employees organizational capability = outstanding customer service

Which of the following are included in a firm's intangible resources? (Check all that apply.)

technical expertise brand name and reputation the firm's culture

Resources that competitors can easily imitate generate ______.

temporary value

Examples of intangible resources include which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

the company's brand name the experience and capabilities of employees technical and scientific skills

The resource-based view of the firm combines which of the following perspectives? (Check all that apply.)

the company's internal analysis an external analysis of the industry and its competitive environment

The application of value-chain activities is easily applied to service organizations when one understands ______.

the focus is on adding value for customers

Which of the following are the key categories of customer concerns? (Check all that apply.)

time and quality cost of the good or service performance and service

Resources must have ______ strategically equivalent and valuable substitutes in order to be a source of sustainable competitive advantage.

no

_______ consists of activities involving recruiting, hiring, training, development, and compensating personnel.

Human resources management

______ resources are organizational assets that are difficult to identify and account for and are typically embedded in unique routines and practices.

Intangible

When employees are essential to a firm's unique capabilities, they will earn higher wages and also have more ______.

bargaining power

The ______ perspective involves measures of firm performance that indicate how well a firm's internal processes, decisions, and actions are contributing to customer satisfaction.

internal business

According to value-chain analysis, a firm ______.

is profitable when the value it receives exceeds total costs

Which of the following are service activities? (Check all that apply.)

training repair installation