Strat 5

Which of the following methods of implementing a differentiation strategy has been greatly enhanced because of Internet technologies?

C. mass customization

A market that mainly competes on the basis of price and has stagnant growth is characteristic of what life cycle stage?

C. maturity

In a given market, key technology no longer has patent protection, experience is not an advantage, and there is a growing need to compete on price. What stage of its life cycle is the market in?

C. maturity

In the __________ stage of the industry life cycle, there are many segments, competition is very intense, and the emphasis on process design is high.

C. maturity

The size of pricing and differentiation advantages between competitors decreases in which stage of the market life cycle?

C. maturity

Primary value chain activities that involve the effective layout of receiving dock operations (inbound logistics) and support value chain activities that include expertise in process engineering (technology development) characterize what generic strategy?

C. overall cost leadership

A manufacturing business pursuing cost leadership is likely to _______.

C. rely on experience effects to raise efficiency

As markets mature, ___________.

C. there is increasing emphasis on efficiency

Which of the following is a risk (or potential pitfall) of cost leadership?

A. Cost cutting may lead to the loss of desirable features.

The growth stage of the industry life cycle is characterized by

A. in-kind competition (from the same type of product)

One aspect of using a cost leadership strategy is that experience effects may lead to lower costs. Experience effects are achieved by ____________.

A. repeating a process until a task becomes easier

Which of the following is most often true of mature markets?

B. Advantages that cannot be duplicated by other competitors are difficult to achieve.

Which of the following is not a potential pitfall of a differentiation strategy?

B. All rivals share a common input or raw material.

Which statement regarding competitive advantages is true?

B. If several competitors pursue similar differentiation tactics, they may all be perceived as equals in the mind of the consumer.

Due to the Internet, firms that use a focus strategy have new opportunities to _________.

C. access niche markets in a highly specialized fashion

A narrow market focus is to a differentiation-based strategy as a __________________.

B. broadly-defined target market is to a cost leadership strategy

Support value chain activities that involve excellent applications engineering support (technology development) and facilities that promote a positive firm image (firm infrastructure) characterize what generic strategy?

B. differentiation

Research shows that which of the following is not a strategy used by firms engaged in successful turnarounds?

B. global expansion

A differentiation strategy enables a business to address the five competitive forces by ______.

B. lessening competitive rivalry by distinguishing itself

Dell Computer has an online ordering system that allows consumers to configure their own computers before Dell builds them. This capability is an example of _____________.

B. mass customization

One of the main reasons the Internet is eroding sustainable competitive advantages is that _______.

B. nearly all competitors will have greater access to tools for managing costs

With experience, unit costs of production decline as _________ increases in most industries.

B. output

A __________ can be defined as the total profits in an industry at all points along the industry value chain.

B. profit pool

Which of the following is not a potential pitfall of a focus strategy?

C. All rivals share a common input or raw material.

Which of the following is not a potential pitfall of an integrated overall low cost and differentiation strategy?

C. Firms that target too large a market that causes unit costs to increase.

Which of the following is FALSE regarding how a differentiation strategy can help a firm to improve its competitive position relative to the Porter five forces model?

C. Supplier power is increased, because suppliers will be able to charge higher prices for their inputs.

A firm following a focus strategy must focus on _____________.

C. a market segment or group of segments

In the __________ stage of the industry life cycle, there are few segments, the emphasis on process design is low, and the major functional areas of concern are general management and finance.

C. decline

The most likely time to pursue a harvest strategy is in a situation of _______.

C. decline in the market life cycle

High product differentiation is generally accompanied by __________.

C. decreased emphasis on competition based on price

The text discusses three approaches to combining overall cost leadership and differentiation competitive advantages. Which of the following is not one of these three approaches?

C. deriving benefits from highly focused and high technology markets

Convincing rivals not to enter a price war, protection from customer pressure to lower prices, and the ability to better withstand cost increases from suppliers characterize which type of competitive strategy?

C. differentiation focus

Which of the following is NOT one of the ways the Internet is lowering transaction costs?

C. evaluating employee performance

Piecemeal productivity improvements during a turnaround typically do NOT involve _______.

C. expansion of company product market scope

During the decline stage of the industry life cycle, __________ refers to obtaining as much profit as possible and requires that costs be decreased quickly.

C. harvesting

Research has consistently shown that firms that achieve both cost leadership and differentiation advantages tend to perform ______________.

C. higher than firms that achieve either a cost or a differentiation advantage

In the __________ stage of the industry life cycle, the emphasis on product design is very high, the intensity of competition is low, and the market growth rate is low.

C. introduction

Which of these statements regarding the industry life cycle is correct?

D. It has important implications for company generic strategies, functional areas, value-creating activities, and overall objectives.

Which of the following statements about the introduction stage of the market life cycle is TRUE?

D. Products or services offered by pioneers may be perceived as differentiated because they are new.

Atlas Door created competitive advantage by reducing the time to receive and process and order and through installing a just in time logistics operation. Which of the following is not a reason for their favorable position relative to the five forces of industry competition?

D. The product was easily imitable.

The primary aim of strategic management at the business level is __________________.

D. achieving competitive advantage

Which of the following is not a reason for the possible erosion of company competitive advantage?

D. company commitment to innovation

Which of the following is not a reason for the successful turnaround that Ford experienced in 2011 under CEO Mulally?

D. increasing its manpower across the company

A firm can achieve differentiation through all of the following means EXCEPT ________.

D. offering lower prices to frequent customers