WPC 480 Midterm

Suppose that several senior managers recently left Target Corporation and went to work at rival Walmart. What part of the ""stocks and flows"" of resources does this represent for Target Corporation?

LeakageThe market capitalization of a public company is $5 billion. Each share of the company is traded at $200. What do you infer from this financial data?

When conducting a _______________, it's best to examine both PESTEL and Porter's five forces analyses because these tools focus on the external environment.

SWOT Analysis

The market capitalization of a public company is $5 billion. Each share of the company is traded at $200. What do you infer from this financial data?

The firm's number of outstanding shares is 25 million.

First Pharma Inc. and GeoVax Inc. are two competing firms in the pharmaceutical industry. While First Pharma Inc.'s vision is "to be a preeminent drug manufacturer in the industry," GeoVax Inc.'s vision is "to make good health a reality for everyone around the world." Which of the following is an implication of these different visions?

GeoVax Inc. will be more flexible than First Pharma Inc. when adapting to changing environments.

A firm always has a competitive disadvantage when its return on invested capital is

below the industry average

Samsung and Google cooperate as complementors to compete against Apple's strong position in the mobile device industry, while at the same time Samsung and Google are increasingly becoming competitive with one another. This scenario best illustrates the process of

co-opetition

Maria and Tom both serve as SBU managers of their divisions. They have both been asked by the CEO to generate two different courses of action for a new product launch. This strategic decision-making technique can be described as

dialectic inquiry

Managers use the AFI strategy framework to

explain and predict differences in firm performance.

Which of the following strategy plans might work best in an industry that is considered a fast-changing environment with new laws going into effect regularly?

In scenario planning, top management envisions different scenarios, to anticipate plausible futures in order to derive strategic responses.

TalkaLot Inc. is a cell phone manufacturing company. Its latest range of smartphones are visually similar to the Y-series range of smartphones from Talkie Gen Inc., in terms of its shape and look-and-feel. Which of the following strategies has TalkaLot Inc. used to replicate the valuable and rare resource of Talkie Gen Inc.?

Direct Imitation

Which of the following is an advantage of the balanced-scorecard?

It allows managers to translate a firm's vision into measureable operational goals.

Urst Ammunition Inc., a firm controlled and managed by the government of Urst, is the only company that has the license to produce defense arms in the country. Which of the following industry competitive structures does this best illustrate?

Monopoly.

WeBreak4Bikes Inc. has a new U.S.-based client in the bicycle industry. The client's company produces only bicycles for riding on the road. The bicycles are used for reliable general purpose transportation. When asked to identify a potential substitute for the bicycle industry from the Five Forces perspective, you would select

Motorcycles.

ABC Inc., It's Electric Inc., and Wares Inc., the three largest firms in the consumer electronics industry, hold close to 85 percent of the industry's market share. These companies mainly compete against each other by providing unique features in their products rather than pricing them low. These firms are interdependent, and each firm must consider the strategic actions of its competitors. Which of the following industry competitive structures does this scenario best illustrate?

Oligopoly.

________ are considered the ethical standards and norms that govern the behavior of individuals within a firm.

Organizational core values.

Toyago Inc. is a leading educational toy company. Competitors across the globe have failed to imitate Toyago's production models, supply chain systems, knowledge systems, and culture. These attributes have remained unique to Toyago Inc. for a long time. Which of the following assumptions of the resource-based model of competitive advantage does this scenario best illustrate?

Resource Immobility

Wheat and Steak is a restaurant located inside a five-star hotel. It caters mainly to customers who are concerned about quality dining rather than the prices. In this scenario, which of the following will be a part of Wheat and Steak's strategic group?

a premium rooftop restaurant in the same city.

Jill is exploring multiple suppliers in order to find the best price. However, instead of calling all eight potential suppliers, she only reaches out to the first three and bases her selection on those instead of contacting all suppliers. Jill's action best describes the concept of

cognitive limitations.

Bill Burke is the CEO of Project Inc. a supply chain firm. Bill's company considers installing a new piece of machinery in one of his factories. Installing this new machinery will cost money; paying the technicians to install the machinery, transporting the machinery, buying the parts and so on. Bill plans on financing his operations by issuing stock (equity) and issuing bonds (debt). He needs his return on invested capital (ROIC) to exceed his ________ in order to determine if he should take on the project.

cost of capital

The best example of a firm's external stakeholder is a(n)

government agency that regulates the prices of products manufactured by the firm.

ECO Jeans, Inc. had a mission to become the leading producer of environmentally friendly blue jeans, an emerging and in-demand category in the apparel industry. Its strategy involved leveraging a network of organic cotton farmers and suppliers of environmentally responsible synthetic materials to create a product that is durable, attractive, affordable, and 100% recyclable. However, because it did not upgrade its outdated production facilities, ECO Jeans could not assemble its products at a low-enough cost to offer the jeans at a price that was attractive to customers. ECO Jeans' strategy failed because

it was not backed up with strategic commitments.

An observer may conclude that the organizational culture of Zappos, an online retailer for shoes and clothing, might be the basis for its competitive advantage. However, reverse social engineering to crack Zappos' code of success might be much more difficult for a company trying to exactly imitate its strategy. Thus, the source of Zappos competitive advantage is

socially complex.

Denise is the CEO of a profitable business called 4-Ever-Sun Inc. which harnesses solar power, a renewable energy source that is sustainable over time. Instead of pursuing a sustainable competitive advantage, Denise decides to focus on minimizing detrimental effects on society and the planet. This strategy is known as

sustainable strategy.

Swedish furniture giant IKEA reported sales of $44 billion in 2019. The company turned a profit by recycling waste into some of its best-selling products. Before, this waste had cost the company more than $1 million per year. And the company is well on its way to "zero waste to landfill" worldwide. According to Joanna Yarrow, IKEA's head of sustainability for the United Kingdom, "We don't do this because we're tree huggers, we do this because it's very cost-effective." This passage best represents which of the following frameworks below?

the triple-bottom-line framework

Most consumers and investors today want the firms they do business with to look beyond just the profit motive. In fact, they want firms that behave legally and ethically while also giving back to their communities via philanthropic activities. The framework that attempts to reconcile these wants is known as

corporate social responsibility.