Strategic Management Final 2

Which of the following is a corrective action a company might take to correct unfavorable variances?

A) Allocating resources differently B) Divesting a division C) Revising objectives D) Raising capital with stock or debt

A document that discloses to shareholders information about a firm's labor practices, product sourcing, energy efficiency, environmental impact, and business ethics practices is known as

a sustainability report.

Most quantitative criteria are geared to ________ objectives rather than ________ objectives.

annual; long-term

Retained earnings is obtained by subtracting

any dividends to be paid for that year from net income

Wellness programs

are becoming more prevalent as companies realize the benefits to the firm

Alaska and oil companies contend that protections for polar bears ________.

are diminishing opportunities for Alaska energy development

Responsibility for encouraging ethical decision making and ensuring ethical behavior in a firm lies with

both a firm's strategists and its managers

If a firm has a bad sustainability record this will

cause investors to closely scrutinize the firm

Aspects of an existing culture that are antagonistic to a proposed strategy should be

changed.

The strategic-management process for multinational firms is ________ for purely domestic firms, and the process is ________ for international firms.

conceptually the same as; more complex

Formal statements of organizational philosophy, charters, creeds, materials used for recruitment and selection, and socialization help an organization

link culture to strategy

Increased education and diversity of the workforce at all levels are reasons why

middle- and lower-level managers, and even nonmanagers, should be involved in the strategic planning process

All of the following are ways and means for altering an organization's culture EXCEPT

retrenchment.

Japan's prescription for dealing with problems associated with an aging society includes

reversing the old-fashioned trend of keeping women at home

A code of business ethics is

sorely needed in light of a new wave of ethical issues including product safety, employee health, and sexual harassment

A concern in matching managers with strategy is that jobs have relatively ________ responsibilities, while people are ________ in their personal development

static; dynamic

The United Kingdom's new Bribery Law

stipulates that failure to prevent bribery is an offense.

Corrective actions should always

strengthen an organization's competitive position in its industry

Mintzberg's notion of "crafting" strategies

suggests that strategic decision making be based primarily on holistic thinking, intuition, creativity, and imagination.

Perhaps the most dramatic new market segmentation strategy is the

targeting of regional tastes.

Financial ratios are used to compare a firm's performance over different time periods, to compare the firm's performance to industry averages, and to compare a firm's performance with

the performance of competitors.

A firm's power and prestige in domestic markets may be significantly enhanced if the firm competes globally

which can translate into improved negotiating power among important groups

Which of the following is a management issue central to strategy implementation?

A) Developing an effective human resources function B) Revising reward and incentive plans C) Minimizing resistance to change D) Devising policies E) All of the above

How should financial budgets be thought of

As a method for obtaining the most productive and profitable use of an organization's resources

What are the three categories of approaches for managing and resolving conflict?

Avoidance, defusion, and confrontation

Which is a rule from the Wall Street Journal article "The New Rules of Flirting"?

Do not make physical contact with the person you are flirting with, unless it is within a desired relationship

Who has mandated that every publicly held company in the United States must issue an annual cash-flow statement in addition to the usual financial reports?

FASB

In preparing projected statements, to project cost of goods sold and the expense items in the income statement, which of these methods is recommended?

Percentage-of-sales method

What entails developing schematic representations that reflect how your products or services compare to competitors' on dimensions most important to success in the industry?

Perceptual mapping

What is a central strategy-implementation technique that allows an organization to examine the expected results of various actions and approaches?

Projected financial statement analysis

A firm uses information technology to reconfigure work, jobs, and processes. As a result, cost, quality, service, and speed are improved. What has the firm engaged in?

Reengineering

What action involves reconfiguring or redesigning work, jobs, and processes for the purpose of improving cost, quality, service, and speed?

Reengineering

Which term is best defined as a central management activity that allows for strategy execution?

Resource allocation

Which term is primarily concerned with shareholder well-being rather than employee well-being?

Restructuring

Which of these is a basic activity of strategy evaluation?

Reviewing the underlying bases of current strategies Comparing expected results with actual results Taking corrective actions

Which is NOT a required step in perceptual mapping?

Serve two segments with the same strategy

What becomes a more attractive financing technique when cost of capital is high?

Stock issuance

Which of the following statements about contingency plans is NOT true?

Strategists should plan for all possible contingencies

________ are the individuals primarily responsible for ensuring that high ethical principles are espoused and practiced in an organization

Strategists such as CEOs and business owners

Why do changes in company strategy often require changes in the way an organization is structured?

Structure dictates how goals and objectives will be established. Structure should be designed to facilitate the strategic pursuit of a firm Structure dictates how resources will be allocated.

Which state generates the greatest number of megawatts of wind power?

Texas

In projected financial statements, what is used as a plug figure?

The cash account

________ is NOT a major factor that commonly prohibits effective resource allocation.

Underprotection of resource

Which group generally softens up executives with praise before they criticize?

Americans

Which of these is NOT a rule of thumb when using product positioning as a strategy-implementation tool?

"The best opportunity might be an unserved segment."

If an initial stock issuance is $800,000, what would be the expected cost paid to lawyers, accountants, and underwriters, based on the average for IPOs in this range?

$200,000

Which word or phrase would most be best to use in written objective statements?

10% increase

Policies

A) allow coordination across organizational units. B) reduce the amount of time managers spend making decisions. C) let both employees and managers know what is expected of them. D) provide a basis for management control. E) all of the above

Resistance to change can manifest itself through

A) sabotaging production machines. B) absenteeism. C) unwillingness to cooperate. D) filing unfounded grievances. E) all of the above

A divisional structure by product is most effective when

A) special emphasis needs to be placed on specific services. B) an organization's products or services differ substantially. C) special emphasis needs to be placed on specific products. D) an organization offers few products. E) all of the above

What is the cornerstone of effective strategy evaluation?

Adequate and timely feedback

What level of management is directly affected by strategy implementation?

Division managers Sales managers Project managers Plant managers

Which approach for managing and resolving conflict involves ignoring the problem in hopes that the conflict will resolve itself?

Defusion

Which approach for managing and resolving conflict involves playing down differences between conflicting parties, while accentuating similarities and common interests?

Defusion

Just-in-time describes

Delivering materials just as they are needed.

Which of the following is NOT an accepted approach for determining a business' worth?

Determining what the firm's return on investment has been

Which of the following is NOT true concerning the Japanese concept of Wa?

Discussions potentially disruptive to Wa are generally conducted in very formal settings

Medium-sized firms tend to use which type of structure?

Divisional

What are the questions used to determine whether a performance-pay plan will benefit an organization?

Does the plan capture attention? Does the plan pay out when it should? Does the plan reduce management layers? Is the plan improving communications?

Which statement is NOT true? A) Having an effective management information system may be the most important factor in differentiating successful from unsuccessful firms. B) In many firms, information technology is doing away with the workplace and allowing employees to work at home or anywhere, anytime. C) Like inventory and human resources, information is now recognized as a valuable organizational asset that can be controlled and managed. D) Improved quality and service often result from an improved management information system. E) Computer vulnerability has been eradicated by recent innovations, and it is now possible to secure and safeguard all corporate communications, files, and business conducted over the Interne

E) Computer vulnerability has been eradicated by recent innovations, and it is now possible to secure and safeguard all corporate communications, files, and business conducted over the Interne

What corrective actions might a firm take during strategy evaluation?

Issue stock Revise objectives Revise the business mission Sell a division

If a firm incurs a loss during a particular year, or if the firm had positive net income but paid out dividends more than the net income, what happens to the RE amount

It decreases

Why is market segmentation an important variable in the strategy-implementation process?

It directly affects marketing mix variable

Which of these is true about strategy implementation?

It is primarily an operational process

How does life in Mexico compare to life in the United States?

It is slower.

________ recently cut its corporate tax rate by five percentage points, leaving ________ with the highest corporate tax rate among all the nations in the world.

Japan; the USA

________ can enable firms to learn the technology, culture, and business practices of other people and to make contacts with potential customers, suppliers, creditors, and distributors in foreign countries

Joint ventures

________ organizations require more elaborate and detailed strategy-evaluation systems than ________ ones because it is more difficult to coordinate efforts among different divisions and functional areas

Large; small

Which of the following is NOT true regarding European workers and workplaces?

Many Europeans respond enthusiastically to pay-for-performance, commission salaries, and objective measurement reward systems.

Which two variables rank as marketing's most important contributions to strategic management?

Market segmentation and product positioning.

Preserving the environment should be a permanent part of doing business for which of the following reasons?

More lenders are examining the environmental liabilities of businesses seeking loans

Information collection, retrieval, and storage can be used to create competitive advantages in ways such as

coordinating activities among divisions cross-selling to customers. keeping managers and employees informed monitoring suppliers all of the above

Modern organizational realities demand that employees demonstrate greater

creativity flexibility initiative. D) innovation. E) all of the above

Communication between domestic headquarters and overseas operations is often made difficult by

cultural differences. national differences. geographic distance. variations in business practices

In low-earning periods, too much ________ in the capital structure of an organization can endanger stockholders' return and jeopardize company survival.

debt

Establishing objectives is a

decentralized activity

An area on a perceptual map without ideal points indicates a

demand void

The various opportunities and threats that face multinational corporations are almost limitless, and the number and complexity of these factors ________ the number of products and the number of geographic areas served

drastically increase with

Joint ventures and partnerships between domestic and foreign firms are

extremely commonplace

According to Rumelt, the final broad test of strategy is it

feasibility.

All of the following are potential advantages to initiating, continuing, and/or expanding international operations EXCEPT

foreign operations could be seized by nationalistic factions

The strategy-evaluation process should

foster mutual understanding and trust

It is ________ for a business to provide a sustainability report annually to the public.

good business

Most economists argue that protectionism ________ the world economy because it ________ trade among countries

harms; inhibits

When developing an organizational chart, you should

have division presidents report to a chief operating officer

Unethical activities that plague online commerce include all of the following EXCEPT

inappropriate gifts

With the passage of time strategy evaluation is becoming

increasingly difficult

Simply having a code of ethics

is insufficient to guarantee that employees behave in an ethical manne

Changing a strategy to fit an existing culture

is usually less effective than changing a firm's culture to fit a new strategy.

Projected financial analysis is an important strategy-implementation technique because

it allows an organization to examine the expected results of various actions and approaches

Most strategy literature advocates that strategic management is

more of a science than an art.

In an effort to manage ecological challenges, many companies are

moving environmental affairs from the staff side of the organization to the line side

Strategy-evaluation activities should ideally be performed

on a continuous basis.

A divisional structure by geographic area is most appropriate when

organizations have similar branch facilities located in widely dispersed areas

In 2013, ________ of CEO compensation was directly associated with the performance of the firm, rather than salary

over 50 percent

Multidimensional scaling is used to determine

perceptual mapping

The first step in performing projected financial analysis is to

prepare the projected income statement.

Also important in evaluating strategies are ________ criteria, like high absenteeism and turnover rates, or low employee satisfaction.

qualitative

A change strategy that attempts to convince people that the change is to their personal advantage is

rational

Strategy formulation

requires coordination among a few individuals.