Mgt. 4335 Ch. 11
An organization has few rivals in the industry. These rivals are considering such moves as price changes, capacity adjustments, or new product features. Which of the following will help the organization predict the strategic actions most likely to be taken by its rivals? Strategic canvas Game theory Study of productivity Structural analysis
Game theory
A research institute plans to build a competitor response profile for a study. Which of the following is the first step to build such a profile? Creating a structural chart Focusing on productivity Studying the strategic ideas of competitors Identifying the assumptions
Identifying the assumptions
An automobile manufacturing firm has dominated its market by consistently releasing automobile upgrades and enhancements. Which of the following is being exemplified in this case? Representing the Nash equilibrium Introducing new products frequently Limiting competitive access to scarce resources Implementing a tit-for-tat strategy
Introducing new products frequently
Determining the best way to respond to _____________ is often a company's most central concern. difficult employees upset customers competitive threats ups and downs of the economy
competitive threats
A restaurant chain serves common dishes that are also available in other restaurants. As it does not offer any unique dishes, it introduces other options to customize the products such as the choice of cheese, bread, and spices. It also promises a short waiting time for take-away and free home deliveries. In this case, the restaurant chain is __________. learning its strengths and weaknesses neutralizing vulnerability bringing strength against weakness developing strategies that cannot be easily copied
neutralizing vulnerability
Southwest and Delta compete in the same strategic group. True False
False
Which of the following statements is true about the principles of competitive strategy? A company's strengths are the resources and capabilities that are subject to rapid obsolescence. A company's strengths are the resources and capabilities that deliver unique value. A company's own weaknesses must be strengthened instead of being neutralized. A company's weaknesses should always be masqueraded as strengths so that companies are afraid of attacking competitive strengths.
A company's strengths are the resources and capabilities that deliver unique value.
Lucy, a researcher, wants to identify the main differences in different healthcare firms competing to deliver value. She studies the relative price, product line breadth, and geographic placement to identify the differences. Which of the following is Lucy likely to rely on to identify how the firms compete? A workflow analysis A quality control measure A strategic group map An employee survey
A strategic group map
A research firm creates a graph to represent how companies compete with each other. The X-axis represents the competitive offerings and Y-axis represents performance. Which of the following does the graph represent? A workflow analysis A strategic group map A strategy canvas A structural analysis
A strategy canvas
Zeal Inc., an electronic goods manufacturer, launches an air conditioner that contributes to the downfall of Ochre Corp., a company struggling to stay in the market amidst bankruptcy. Which of the following concepts is exemplified in this scenario? Knowing the strengths and weaknesses Neutralizing vulnerability Bringing strength against weakness Developing strategies that cannot be easily copied
Bringing strength against weakness
Switching from one strategic group to another is usually difficult. True False
True
Why is visualizing strategic group structure an important component of competitive analysis? It eliminates any potential changes in the competitive landscape. It helps companies retain only their old and loyal consumers. It identifies the major arenas of competition. It focuses on the indirect competitors in an industry.
It identifies the major arenas of competition.
Identify a feature of a monopoly. It is a market of up to 8 or 10 firms. It is typically a market of 2 to 5 firms. It is a market of one highly dominant firm. It is a market with hundreds of firms.
It is a market of one highly dominant firm.
Lieme Inc. and Pola Inc. are oligopolistic rivals in the automobile industry. Lieme has staked out a price position that is slightly higher than that of Pola. Even so, if Pola raises its price, Lieme would too, in order to maintain the differential. Which of the following is being exemplified in this case? Limiting competitive access to scarce resources Monitoring and mimicking rival behaviour Introducing new products frequently Implementing an entry barrier
Monitoring and mimicking rival behaviour
An organization wants to maximize its payoff given the choices of rivals and remove incentive to defect in the sense that no organization can improve its payoffs by changing its choice. Which of the following concepts will help the organization create such a structure? D'Aveni's hypercompetition Nash equilibrium Strategic group map Strategic canvas
Nash equilibrium
Peach Line Inc., manufacturers of furniture, identifies that its choice of suppliers is its weakness and makes this irrelevant by standardizing the production process irrespective of the source of raw materials. This way, its choice of suppliers does not become the target of competitors. Which of the following is exemplified in this case? Bringing strength against weakness Neutralizing vulnerability Developing strategies that cannot be easily copied Knowing the strengths and weaknesses
Neutralizing vulnerability
Which of the following statements is true about strategic groups? The firms within each group compete in similar ways. They exclude rivals who share a similar business model. They identify allies in business groups. The firms within each group are unlikely to target the same customer segment.
The firms within each group compete in similar ways.
What does market structure mean in the simplest terms? The number of rivals in a particular market The number of competitive actions that are effective for a certain environment The structure of a rival's objectives and assumptions The structure of a rival's resources and capabilities
The number of rivals in a particular market
How do companies in different strategic groups differ from each other? They employ different business models. They go after customers with different value propositions. They are in completely different industries (e.g., automobile vs. medicine). They are in completely different industries and employ different business models. They employ different business models and go after customers with different value propositions.
They employ different business models and go after customers with different value propositions.
Zara, a research analyst, is studying the business decisions of some restaurant owners. During the data analysis stage, she employs a strategic canvas. Which of the following is likely to be her primary reason to employ this tool? To study the differences in the ways the restaurants compete with each other To identify the combined target audience of strategic groups as a whole To observe the similarities in the employees' views of their respective organizations To understand the pricing strategy used for different dishes within each restaurant
To study the differences in the ways the restaurants compete with each other
Companies that are in your industry but not in your strategic group are not direct competitors. True False
True
Most companies are in competition with their rivals each and every day, month, or year with no certain end date. This is an example of __________. a parallel game a simultaneous game the Nash equilibrium an infinitely repeated game
an infinitely repeated game
Nash equilibrium is represented by a set of moves in a game that ________. maximizes each firm's payoff given the choices of rivals improves the firms' payoffs by changing the choice sustains an incentive to defect by changing the choice minimizes each firm's input based on the number of rivals
maximizes each firm's payoff given the choices of rivals
A company wants to form the foundation of a competitive strategy. It decides to assess its strengths and weaknesses. In this case, the company should first assess its __________. organizational structure structural chart resources and capabilities competitors' strategies
resources and capabilities
An organization studies the strategies of its competitors closely. At the current stage, it studies factors such as geographic location, characteristics of business model, services provided, and time management. At this stage, the organization is identifying the competitor's __________. organizational structure goals and achievements resources and capabilities objectives
resources and capabilities
A set of companies that compete in similar ways with similar business models pursuing similar sets of customers is called a __________. strategic alliance supplier group strategic group joint venture
strategic group
An organization watches it rivals closely and chooses actions that mimic what its rivals are doing. This is an example of a __________. parallel game tit-for-tat strategy simultaneous game structural analysis
tit-for-tat strategy
In order to compete effectively, a firm must ________. understand the structure of the competitive environment in which it operates neutralize its strengths and weaknesses devise and use the same competitive action across all market environments generate only reactive strategies
understand the structure of the competitive environment in which it operates