Strategic Management Mid-Term Study Guide

What is the range for a firm's total weighted score in a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM)

1 to 4

Individual age 65 and older in the United States as a percentage of the population will rise to ______ percent by 2030

19

The average total weighted score in the IFE Matrix is

2.5

The World Economic Outlook report predicts a global growth rate of around ______ percent

3.6

Which ratio would be considered an activity ratio?

Average collection period

What is NOT one of Michael Porter's five competitive forces?

Bargaining power of unions

________ are the individuals most strongly identified with an idea or product and whose futures are linked to its success

Champions

A ________ statement specifies a firm's commitment to integrity, fairness, discipline, equal employment opportunity, teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, and/or other such exemplary attributes

Core values

_________ is the unique way an organization does business

Culture

A mission statement should motivate stakeholders to action, as well be _______, orientated, informative, inspiring, and enduring

Customer

What is the first step in the comprehensive strategic-management model

Developing vision and mission statements

Which component of a mission statement addresses the firm's major competitive advantage?

Distinctive competence

Which of the following states has zero state income tax?

Flordia

During what stage of strategic management is a firm's specific internal strengths and weaknesses determined?

Formulation

In which phase of strategic management are long-term objectives especially important?

Formulation

The fact that Apple has no manufacturing facilities of its own

Has enabled it to remain financially lean

Although a firm positioned in Quadrant ________ of the Grand Strategy Matrix is in a growing industry, it is unable to compete effectively and needs to determine why the firm's current approach is ineffective and how to best change to improve competitiveness

II

In which phase of strategic management are annual objectives especially important?

Implementation

Which statement best describes intuition?

It should be coupled with analysis in decision making

The recommended length of an effective mission statement is ________ words

Less than 100

What are enduring statements of purpose that distinguish one business from other similar firms?

Mission statements

Organizations using strategic management are generally _____ than those that do not

More profitable

Which of the following is the process of influencing people to accomplish specific objectives?

Motivating

How many cells are in a SWOT Matrix

Nine

Which of these is NOT a SPACE Matrix quadrant

Offensive

Terms such as objectives, mission, strengths, and weaknesses were first formulated to address problems

On the battlefield

The ideal length of a vision statement is

One sentence

Which of the following is NOT an external force that must be examined in formulating strategies?

Organizational

Which function of management includes areas such as job design, job specifications, job analysis, and unity of command

Organizing

An _____with expertise in developing vision and mission statements and with unbiased views, can at times manage the process more effectively than an internal group or committee of managers

Outside facilitator

Which component of a mission statement address the basic beliefs, values, aspirations, and ethical priorities of the firm?

Philosophy

Which of the following does the text call an up-front investment in success

Planning

When an industry relies heavily on government contracts, which forecasts can be the most important part of an external audit

Political

Which strategy-formulation technique reveals the relative attractiveness of alternative strategies and thus provides an objective basis for selecting specific strategies

Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM)

Who should perform an internal audit

Representative managers and employees from throughout the firm

_________ forces are shaping the way people live, work, produce, and consumer

SCDE

What are the two external dimensions of the SPACE Matrix?

Stability position and industry position

In the BCG Matrix, when a division of an organization has a high relative market share and is in fast-growing industry, it is called a

Star

According to Webster's New World Dictionary, _____ is "the science of planning and directing large-scale military operations, of maneuvering forces into the most advantageous position prior to actual engagement with the enemy"

Strategy

An important activity in _______ is taking corrective action

Strategy evaluaation

Strategy analysis and choice largely involves making ________ decisions based on _________ information

Subjective; objective

When using External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix, what is done after multiplying each factor's weight by its rating to determine a weighted score?

Summing the weighted scores for each variable to determine the total weighted score for the organization

Business or military success is

The product of both attention to changing external and internal conditions and the insightful adaptations to those conditions

Which statement is TRUE

The vision statement should be established before the mission statement

What is the highest number of strategies that can be examined at one time with the QSPM?

There is no limit

In general, what happens to American goods in overseas markets when there is a strong dollar?

They are more expensive

Which of the following is NOT a reason given for poor or no strategic planning in an organization?

Trust of management make it unnecessary

A strong dollar enables _______ firms to purchase raw materials more cheaply from other countries

United States

Which type of statement should be created first and foremost?

Vision

What question is asked in conjunction with the philosophy component of a mission statement?

What are the basic beliefs, values, aspirations, and ethical priorities of the firm?

Which question is NOT addressed in an effective mission statement?

What are the updated balances of leading accounts on the firm's balance sheet?

Which of these basic questions should a vision statement answer?

What do we want to become?

According to Drucker, which question is synonymous with asking "What is our mission?"

What is our business?

To gain ______ firms need to provide unique products and services

a sustainable competitive advantage

The purpose of a mission statement is to declare all of these EXCEPT

an annual financial plan

A _______ integration strategy is used by firms to gain control or ownership of suppliers

backward

The critical success factors in a Competitive Profile Matrix and EFE Matrix include

both internal and external issues

A(n) _______ ideally supports the collective commitment of an organization's people to a common purpose

culture

The mission statement should reflect the anticipation of

customers

A firm's strengths that cannot be easily matched or imitated by competitors are called

distinctive competencies

According to Drucker, a business' mission is the foundation for all of the following EXCEPT

employee wage rates

For companies located in Quadrant III of the Grand Strategy Matrix, the first strategy recommended is

extensive cost and asset reduction

_____________ exemplifies the complexity of relationships among the functional areas of business

financial ratio analysis

To perform an external audit, a company first must

gather competitive intelligence and information about external trends

What category of ratios measures how effectively a firm can maintain its economic position in the growth of the economy and industry

growth

Successful strategists minimize their own political exposure on issues that are _________ and in circumstances where opposition from major power centers is likely

highly controversial

Without assumptions, planning would be

impossible

External audit is sometimes called

industry analysis

________ ties all business functions together and provides the basis for all managerial decisions

information

Competition in virtually all industries is

intense

The _______ decision is the allocation and reallocation of capital and resources to projects, products, assets, and divisions of an organization

investment

The times-interest-earned ratio would be classified as a

leverage ration

Which of the following is NOT one of the steps involved in constructing a SWOT Matrix?

list the firm's external weaknesses

The question, "geographically, where does the firm compete?" is part of the _________ component of the mission statement

markets

A pattern of behavior developed by an organization as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, and that has worked well enough to be considered valid and to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel is called

organizational culture

The management function that is most important for strategy implementation is

organizing

In determining the ___________, marketers often make decisions related to areas such as warehousing, distribution channels, and retail site locations

place

All of the following are political, governmental, and legal variables that can represent key opportunities or threats to organizations EXCEPT

population changes by race, age, sex, and level of affluence

After a draft mission statement has been developed, it is important to

request modifications, additions, and deletions

Often, an effective way to gain commitment and achieve desired results is to shift from ______ to _______ issues and concerns

short-term; long term

Forward integration would be an appropriate strategy for which of the following types of divisions in the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix

star

Sometimes _______ is used to refer to strategic formulation, implementation and evaluation, with ______ referring only to strategic formulation

strategic management; strategic planning

Internal politics affect the choice of ______ in all organizations

strategies

Because of the success of the iPad and the iPhone, Apple has tremendous brand recognition. Brand recognition is one of Apple's

strengths

Internal _________ are controllable activities in an organization that are performed especially well

strengths

Which section of the SWOT Matrix involves matching internal strengths with external opportunities

the SO cell

All of the following are limitations of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix EXCEPT

the matrix requires at least three years worth of data

Which ratio is calculated by dividing profits before interest and taxes by total interest charges?

times-interest earned ration

What term is defined as the product of multiplying the weights by the Attractiveness Scores in each row of the QSPM?

total attractiveness scores

Distribution includes

warehousing

What marketing function includes test marketing?

Product and service planning

Which of the following is similar to the actuarial methods used by insurance companies to rate customers by the chance of positive or negative outcomes

Business analytics

What can be defined as the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives?

Strategic Management

What are the means by which long-term objectives will be achieved?

Strategies

Which of the following is NOT one of the nine recommended components of a mission statement?

Strategies

Whenever new firms can easily enter a particular industry, the intensity of competitiveness among firms tend to

Increase

Which of the following is NOT a pitfall an organization should avoid in strategic planning?

Involving all managers rather than delegating planning to a "planner"

The strategic-management process

Is a continuous process

The investor relations pages of a company website ____ information about a firm

Is a good place to start to find

Which of these is a limitation of QSPM

It requires intuitive informed judgements