Strategic Management

TicToc Corp. is a manufacturer of smart watches that track the wearer's heart rate and sleep patterns. Which of the following is most likely an implication of new firms entering this industry?

The incumbent firms will spend more to satisfy their existing customers.

Which of the following is a feature of the maturity stage of the industry life cycle?

The market reaches its maximum size.

Todd is a manager in an industry that has a few large players and that has remained relatively stable over the past few years. He finds out that legislators are proposing new laws to deregulate the industry. If the laws pass, which of these scenarios will Todd most likely face?

many new competitors

Which of the following will most likely be considered as an airlines core competency?

the airline's ability to make its fleet more fuel efficient than their competitors

Which of the following is a drawback of the SWOT analysis?

A problem with this framework is that a strength can also be a weakness, and that an opportunity can also simultaneously be a threat.

While implementing strategic group mapping for the U.S. domestic airline industry, two strategic groups become apparent: low-cost, point-to-point airlines (Virgin Atlantic, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, and Southwest Airlines) versus differentiated airlines using a hub-and-spoke system (American, Delta, and United). Which of the following statements is true about these two strategic groups?

Competitive rivalry between Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue is likely to be higher than that between American and Southwest Airlines.

Which of the following statements is true of customer-oriented visions?

Customer-oriented vision statements are not the same as listening to your customer.

Why is it better for firms to keep their vision statements customer-oriented rather than product-oriented?

Customer-oriented visions tend to be more flexible when adapting to changing environments.

Digital Prosper, a web services firm, has experienced a 7 percent decline in revenues in consecutive quarters. In an effort to reduce operating costs, managers reduced the customer service staff from 12 employees to 6. Management also enlisted the remaining employees to help produce a new company vision: to give customers of all budgets a customizable, stress-free web hosting experience. What is wrong with this scenario?

Digital Prosper's organizational structures do not align with the vision.

Which of the following is not an advantage when it comes to "first-mover advantages"?

First movers must educate potential customers about the product.

MoreCash Inc. is a major financial services corporation. With the CEO of MoreCash Inc. preparing to retire, several top managers are vying for the position. Jared considers himself to be a leading candidate. He not only has advanced degrees from business schools and more than a decade of experience working for MoreCash Inc., but he also has personally ensured that his division has exceeded its performance benchmarks over the past three years, even though many of his employees are dissatisfied because they feel they are stagnating in their jobs. According to the Level-5 leadership pyramid, why has Jared failed to exhibit the qualities of a Level-5 leader?

He is not able to help others reach their full potential.

You are the manager in charge of setting the strategy for a new fast-casual restaurant. Which of the following questions would be appropriate for you to ask during the analysis phase of the AFI strategy framework?

How have consumer preferences in the fast-casual restaurant industry changed in the last five years?

Deep Earth Gardening has a vision of helping every American learn how to grow their own food. Its management team recently unveiled the mission statement "A garden at every home." What is wrong with this mission statement?

It does not indicate how the company will accomplish its goals.

Feran is the founder of an innovative "impromptu catering" business that provides elegant, healthy party food and decorations on less than 24 hours' notice. The company has grown by over 150 percent in the past year. Feran credits some of the company's success to studying the strategies of prominent social entrepreneurs, such as Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales. What can Feran do to exemplify the social entrepreneurship model?

Provide free weekly catered meals for the homeless.

In an industry, the threat of entry is high when

capital requirements are low.

Samsung and Google cooperate as complementors to compete against Apple's strong position in the mobile device industry, while at the same time Samsung and Google are increasingly becoming competitive with one another. This scenario best illustrates the process of

co-opetition.

If Modern Furniture LLC obtains an 18 percent return on invested capital, which of the following will help determine if it has a competitive advantage over other pharmaceutical companies?

comparing the value to the history of the firm's return of investment over a number of years

All of the following are external stakeholders except which of the following?

competitors

Demand for traditional fast-food providers such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's has been on a decline in recent years. Consumers have become more health-conscious and demand has shifted to alternative restaurants like Subway, Chick-fil-A, and Chipotle. Attempts by McDonald's and Wendy's to steal customers from one another include frequent discounting tactics such as dollar menus. Such competitive actions are indicative of

cutthroat competition.

Sam, owner of Sam's Hand Sanitizer Inc., is in the middle of the strategy formulation stage. He has already allocated a substantial amount of money that covered his employees' salaries from the prior year (sunk costs) but has failed to see any positive outcomes. Given the money he has already spent, he feels as if he needs to recover those costs and pushes forward even though the outcome seems dim. This best illustrates the concept of

escalating commitment.

LightningDrive is a leading automobile company. The company has been able to sustain its competitive advantage primarily due to its high-quality and efficient electric motors. Most of its competitors have failed to develop similar electric motors at a reasonable price. Which of the following resource attributes listed in the VRIO framework has helped LightningDrive sustain its competitive advantage?

high costs involved in imitation

In a radical innovation, a firm targets

new markets by using new technologies.

Value chain analysis consists of systematically analyzing a firm's key activities that for analysis purposes are categorized into two groups:

primary activities and support activities.

Yellow Ride Service is a new entrant to the taxi industry. It has achieved success by staking out a unique position in the industry. How did Yellow Ride Service mostly likely achieve this position?

providing long-distance cab fares at a lower rate than competitors; servicing the same area as competitors

Toyago Inc. is a leading educational toy company. Competitors across the globe have failed to imitate Toyago's production models, supply chain systems, knowledge systems, and culture. These attributes have remained unique to Toyago Inc. for a long time. Which of the following assumptions of the resource-based model of competitive advantage does this scenario best illustrate?

resource immobility

As the legal owners, ________ have the most legitimate claim on a company's profits.

shareholders

Who among the following is responsible for making business strategies in a large conglomerate?

the general managers of individual business units

If you examine various barriers to entry facing firms that might wish to enter the airline industry, this would be most helpful in assessing which of the five forces in that industry?

threat of new entrants

Which of the following scenarios best exemplifies a platform business?

Samantha operates an industrial test kitchen in which local growers bring their produce to local chefs, who use the kitchen to try new recipes and determine which produce to buy.

Which of the following statements accurately brings out the difference between tangible and intangible resources?

Tangible assets can be bought on the open market by anyone with the necessary cash, whereas intangible assets cannot be easily purchased.

Hank runs a company that manufactures satellites for commercial and government use. It has few rivals. At the moment, the power of buyers, the power of suppliers, and the threat of substitutes are all low. Based on this information, what can Hank conclude?

The company is likely to be very profitable as long as the threat to entry is low.

Strategic leadership pertains to the use of power and influence by ________ to direct the activities of others when pursuing an organization's goals.

corporate executives

Generally, as the level of ________ innovation declines, the level of ________ innovation increases.

product; process

Better Capsules is a highly successful vitamin manufacturer. At the close of its most recent fiscal year, the company's balance sheet showed cash holdings of $110 million. Which of the following actions will provide the most benefit for stakeholders?

Reinvest profits into expanding the company and creating more jobs.

While Sesmic Inc. operates in a monopolistically competitive industry, Energy 4 All Inc. operates in a monopoly. Keeping this information in mind, which of the following statements is most likely true?

The threat of new entrants will be higher for Sesmic than for Energy 4 All.

Which of the following statements accurately brings out the difference between technology enthusiasts and early adopters?

Unlike technology enthusiasts, early adopters' demand is fueled more by intuition and vision rather than technology concerns.

Which of the following business models in the landscaping industry is likely to scale most efficiently?

a company that allows users of its website to schedule appointments with landscapers who specialize in the exact service required

Bright PAD introduced a tablet that could run completely on solar energy and was less expensive than competitors' tablets. On the downside, it required more frequent charging than the competition's tablets. However, the technology of the Bright PAD tablet improved rapidly, thereby improving its recharge frequency. This example describes ________ innovation.

disruptive

At the time when Laura decided to purchase a tablet computer, the product had just become accessible to the mass market. She did not purchase the tablet until after she was convinced that the benefits it would offer her would far exceed its price. Also, she waited for her friends to try the product and popular gadget television shows to endorse it. Which of the following customer segments does Laura best represent?

early majority

________ is best described as a set of goal-directed actions a firm takes to gain and sustain superior performance relative to competitors.

strategy

Revolve Group is a mobile platform that matches independent fashion designers with consumers who want a personalized wardrobe. Which of the following initiatives would best allow Revolve Group to fine-tune its offerings to better meet the needs of its consumers?

allowing users to provide feedback to producers on the style and fit of clothing

While creating its AFI strategy framework, Gordon's Consultants decided what markets the firm should compete in. By doing this, what type of strategy did the company devise?

corporate strategy

The goal of a good strategy is focused primarily on

creating superior value while containing costs.

TalkaLot Inc. is a cell phone manufacturing company. Its latest range of smartphones are visually similar to the Y-series range of smartphones from Talkie Gen Inc., in terms of its shape and look-and-feel. Which of the following strategies has TalkaLot Inc. used to replicate the valuable and rare resource of Talkie Gen Inc.?

direct imitation

Tesla is addressing environmental concerns regarding the carbon emissions of gasoline-powered cars by building zero-emission battery-powered vehicles. This best represents which of the following PESTEL categories?

ecological

The amount of polyethanal that can be used in household paint is legally limited to 0.03 percent. Anything beyond this amount is hazardous to health and the environment and is considered a legal offense. Consequently, PrismPaints Corp. has vouched to make its products as safe as possible. Therefore, it manufactures polyethanal-free paints even though this increases its costs and reduces the dividends paid to its shareholders in the long run. Which of the following responsibilities is Prism Paints Corp. primarily compromising in this scenario?

economic responsibilities toward its shareholders

In the context of the resource-based model of competitive advantage, if a successful firm exhibits resource immobility it means that the

firm will have a sustained competitive advantage because of its unique resources that are difficult for others to replicate.

As the CEO of a conglomerate, Sarah Cane exhibited her strong commitment toward the company's core value that customers' well-being is more important than profit when she convinced the board of directors to liquidate the company's pesticide subsidiary. The pesticide brand sold by her company was a major revenue earner in lesser-developed nations, but studies indicate that it is a carcinogen. Eva persuaded the board that the company had to be responsible toward society. In this scenario, Sarah has demonstrated

strategic leadership.

Madeline is the founder of an online service that allows users to rent out spare rooms in their homes. She has hired several extremely bright employees whose opinions are central to the company's success in the fast-paced online services industry. Which type of strategic management process would be most likely to fully utilize the strengths embodied by her team and position the company to capitalize upon autonomous actions and serendipity?

strategy as planned emergence

When the laptop market overtook the desktop market, Blue Tech Inc., a leader in desktop technology, was left at a competitive disadvantage. Later, Blue Tech Inc.'s management channeled all of the company's efforts and revenue to develop an efficient laptop from scratch in less than a year. However, the company failed because Blue Tech Inc.'s models were inferior to the third- and fourth-generation models its competitors were selling. In this scenario, Blue Tech Inc.'s failure can be best attributed to

time compression diseconomies.

The CEO of EveryCar was the child of parents who had difficulty making enough money to support their family. As a result, he and his siblings did not have access to many advantages that children from wealthier families had. This CEO, therefore, emphasized making affordable, low-maintenance vehicles that could be bought by low-income households. Which of the following does this example demonstrate?

upper-echelons theory