BCOR 2304 - Reading 3

Which of the following best describes the core competency of the Five Guys Burgers and Fries company?

Making high-quality burgers without limiting costs

____ describes a process in which the options one faces in the current situation are limited by decisions made in the past.

Path Dependence

______ are the firm's current level of intangible resources.

Resource stocks

_____ are any assets that a firm can draw on when formulating and implementing a strategy.

Resources

______ describes a situation in which different social and business systems interact with each other.

Social complexity

According to the resource-based model, a firm is assumed to be a unique bundle of resources, capabilities, and competencies.

True

VRIO resources can lay the foundation of a competitive advantage, no competitive advantage can be sustained indefinitely.

True

The ______ is a theoretical model that explains and predicts what resource attributes underpin competitive advantage. It identifies which types of resources are key to firm performance.

VRIO framework

A resource is considered ______ if it helps a firm to deal with an external threat.

Valuable

The ______ describes the internal activities a firm engages in when transforming inputs into outputs.

Value Chain

According to the VRIO framework, to fully exploit the competitive potential of its resources, capabilities, and competencies, a firm must ______.

be organized to capture value

The value chain describes ______ of a firm.

internal activities

A firm's attempts to shorten the length of time a process takes, may lead to disappointing outcomes because of ______.

time compression diseconomies

What should a firm do in order to be organized to capture value?

- Have a good organizational structure - Have good coordinating systems - have a rare and valuable resource

The VRIO framework is used to evaluate a firm's resources. VRIO is an acronym for which of the following?

- Rare - Imitate - Valuable

Which of the following are situations in which a resource is considered valuable?

- The resource helps a firm exploit an external opportunity. - The resource helps the firm increase its economic value creation (V-C).

Which of the following can help a firm extend its competitive advantage?

- path dependence - intellectual property protection - better expectations of future resource value

Which of the following were resources and capabilities that helped Five Guys gain a competitive advantage and develop into a successful restaurant chain?

-Focusing on such details as store layout and design -Carefully choosing the supplier of the potatoes for their fries

What are the characteristics of a strategic activity system as it applies to firms?

-It is socially complex. -It consists of interconnected activities. -It is causally ambiguous.

Which of the following are examples of resources for a firm?

-intellectual property -cash -buildings

What do the best firms in an industry seek to identify and manage on an ongoing basis as sources to respond to their external environment?

-resources -core competencies -capabilities

"Time compression diseconomies" refers to the concept that ______.

Attempting to get a good outcome in less time tens to be ineffective

Isolating mechanisms are considered to be ______.

Barriers to imitation

______ describes a situation where the cause and effect of a phenomenon are not readily apparent.

Causal ambiguity

A firm's network of interconnected activities is referred to a strategic activity system because activities that are interconnected are very difficult for competitors to copy effectively.

True

For a firm to sustain any competitive advantage over time, the fit between its internal strengths and external environment needs to be ______.

dynamic

Enterprise Machinists is always improving upon its core competencies by training its machinists constantly so that they are equipped to deal with technological changes and advancements. Based on this information, this is an example of which concept?

dynamic capabilities

Resource ______ and resource ______ are the key assumptions behind the resource-based model of the firm.

heterogeneity; immobility

Core competencies of a business are generated by the interaction of ______.

resources and capabilities

The interaction of the many individual systems in the operation of a company often leads to causal ambiguity because of ______.

social complexity

The resource-based model views resources as _____

the main driver of firm performance

Which of the following is not considered an isolating mechanism?

uncertainty about future resource value

What are examples of intangible resource stock a company may have?

- reputation for quality - engineering expertise - dynamic capabilities

A(n) ______ is the unique strength, embedded deep within a firm, that is critical to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage.

Core Competency

___ suggests that sometimes even random events may have a large impacts on an outcome.

Path dependence

The resource-based view classifies all resources as ______.

tangible or intangible

A core competency can help a company achieve which of the following?

-to create higher value for the consumer -to differentiate its products and services -to offer products of comparable value at lower cost than rivals can

Cowgirl Boots, inexpensive leather boots for women, are selling at record-high numbers. The CEO of the company, however, cannot figure out why. Was it caused by the company's recent advertisement campaign or the newly reduced price of the boots or some other unknown factor? Based on this information, what concept describes the CEO's confusion regarding Cowgirl Boots' recent success?

causal ambiguity