Capstone Chap.9 Strategy Review, Evaluation, and Control

13) Which of the following is NOT included in measuring organizational performance? A) Comparing results to competitors' expectations B) Examining progress being made toward meeting stated objectives C) Investigating deviations from plans D) Evaluating individual performance E) Comparing expected results to actual results

A

17) Research suggests that which of the following is one of the best ways to overcome individuals' resistance to change in strategy evaluation? A) Participation B) Command-and-control C) Laissez-faire system D) Rational argument E) Emotional reactions

A

18) Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, cost and threats that represent the bases of current strategies should continually be monitored for change because it is not really a question of whether these factors will change, but rather when they will change and in what ways.

A

20) Taking corrective actions does not necessarily mean that existing strategies will be abandoned, or even that new strategies must be formulated.

A

22) Controls need to be ________ rather than ________. A) action-oriented; information-oriented B) cultural; political C) qualitative; quantitative D) measurable; timely E) universal; diverse

A

23) The strategy-evaluation process should foster A) mutual understanding. B) doubt. C) corporate culture. D) complexity. E) division.

A

26) What term is defined as "a systematic process of objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence regarding assertions about economic actions and events to ascertain the degree of correspondence between these assertions and established criteria, and communicating the results to interested users"? A) Auditing B) Innovation C) R&D D) Strategic Management E) Financial ratios

A

30) Most organizations can afford to pursue only a few corporate-level strategies at any given time.

A

14) Which of these is a potential problem associated with using only quantitative criteria for selecting strategies? A) Most quantitative criteria are geared to long-term objectives rather than annual objectives. B) Different accounting methods can provide different results on many quantitative criteria. C) Intuitive judgments are almost never used in deriving quantitative criteria. D) Quantitative criteria include human factors that may be underlying causes of declining performance. E) Quantitative criteria are not useful for comparisons of the firm's performance over different periods of time.

B

19) Most quantitative evaluation criteria are geared to long-term objectives rather than annual objectives.

B

2) Competitive advantage normally is the result of superiority in resources, skills, or A) employees. B) position. C) consistency. D) feasibility. E) governance

B

25) In contingency planning it is crucial that strategists cover all bases

B

28) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports a change from to IFRS to GAAP, saying it will help the United States compete in the world economy.

B

3) Rumelt's criteria of consonance refers to the need for strategists to examine A) inconsistent goals. B) trends. C) impractical objectives. D) competitive advantages. E) the costs associated with particular strategies

B

7) Success today A) guarantees success tomorrow. B) is no guarantee of success tomorrow. C) provides significant assurance of success tomorrow. D) is all that really matters. E) none of the above

B

29) Mintzberg's notion of "crafting" strategies A) is consistent with the view that strategic management is more a science than an art. B) contends that firms need to assess their environments, do research, evaluate alternatives, analyze, and then choose a course of action. C) suggests that strategic decision making be based primarily on holistic thinking, intuition, creativity, and imagination. D) reject strategies that result from subjective imagination in favor of objective analysis. E) insists on formality.

C

4) If success for one organizational department means failure for another department, then strategies may be A) synergistic. B) advantageous. C) trendy. D) feasible. E) inconsistent

E

6) Which of the following is NOT a reason for the increasing difficulty of evaluating strategies? A) Product life cycles are longer. B) Domestic and world economies are less stable. C) Product development cycles are shorter. D) Technological advancement is more rapid. E) Change is occurring more frequently.

A

1) In Rumelt's work, the final broad test of strategy is its A) advantage. B) feasibility. C) consonance. D) consistency. E) distinctiveness

B

11) A revised ________ should focus on changes in the organization's management, marketing, finance and accounting, production and operations, research and development (R&D), and management information systems (MIS) strengths and weaknesses. A) mission B) IFE Matrix C) vision D) EFE Matrix E) EPM Matrix

B

27) International financial reporting standards (IFRS) comprise approximately ________ pages. A) 1,000 B) 5,000 C) 10,000 D) 25,000 E) 100,000

B

8) It is most effective to conduct strategy evaluation annually, at the end of the fiscal year.

B

9) Corrective actions are almost always ________ except when external and internal factors have not significantly changed and the firm is progressing satisfactorily toward achieving stated objectives. A) unnecessary B) needed C) undesirable D) prohibitively expensive E) futile

B

10) If you discover during the course of strategy evaluation that major changes have occurred in the firm's internal strategic position, you should A) continue on the present strategic course. B) wait until the next quarter to see if things revert. C) take corrective actions. D) follow the original strategic plan. E) none of the above

C

12) A revised ________ should indicate how effective a firm's strategies have been in response to key opportunities and threats. A) IFE Matrix B) mission C) EFE Matrix D) vision E) CPM Matrix

C

15) Most quantitative criteria are geared to ________ objectives rather than to ________ objectives. A) top-management; employee B) short-term; annual C) annual; long-term D) environmental; community E) long-term; short-term

C

16) According to author Alvin Toffler, what occurs when the nature, types, and speed of changes overpower an individual's or organization's ability and capacity to adapt? A) Corporate insecurity B) Corrective actions C) Future shock D) Corporate agility E) Projected performance

C

24) ________ 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. A) Non-profit; for-profit B) For-profit; non-profit C) Large; small D) Small; large E) Foreign; domestic

C

21) The strategy-evaluation process should A) dominate decisions. B) be complex. C) be cumbersome. D) foster mutual understanding and trust. E) be highly restrictive.

D

5) All of the following are reasons strategy evaluation is more difficult today EXCEPT A) a dramatic increase in the environment's complexity. B) the increasing number of variables. C) the increase in the number of both domestic and world events affecting organizations. D) the increasing time span for which planning can be done with any degree of certainty. E) the rapid rate of obsolescence of even the best plans.

D