Business Strategy Chapter 6

Which of the following signals would NOT warn challengers that strong retaliation is likely?

Announcing strong quarterly earnings potential to financial analysts

Which of the following ways are employed by defending companies to fend off a competitive attack?

Gain product line exclusivity to force competitors to use other distributors.

Which of the following is NOT an example of a company that uses blue-ocean market strategy?

Walmart's logistics and distribution in the retail industry

Which of the following is NOT a principal offensive strategy option?

blocking the avenues open to challengers

Which of the following is NOT among the principal offensive strategy options that a company can employ?

blocking the avenues open to challengers

An offensive to yield good results can be short if

buyers respond immediately (to a dramatic cost-based price cut or imaginative ad campaign).

Which of the following is NOT an example of a defensive move to protect a company's market position and restrict a challenger's options for initiating a competitive attack?

challenging struggling runner-up firms that are on the verge of going under

Strategic offensives should, as a general rule, be based on

exploiting a company's strongest competitive assets—its most valuable resources and capabilities.

Which of the following rivals make the best targets for an offensive attack?

firms with weaknesses in areas where the challenger is strong

The principal offensive strategy options include all of the following EXCEPT

initiating a market threat and counterattack simultaneously to effect a distraction.

A blue-ocean strategy

involves abandoning efforts to beat out competitors in existing markets and instead invent a new industry or new market segment that renders existing competitors largely irrelevant and allows a company to create and capture altogether new demand.

A hit-and-run or guerrilla warfare type offensive strategy

involves unexpected attacks (usually by a small-to-medium size competitor) to grab sales and market share from complacent or distracted rivals.

Being first to initiate a particular strategic move can have a high payoff in all of the following EXCEPT when

market uncertainties make it difficult to ascertain what will eventually succeed.

Launching a preemptive strike type of offensive strategy entails

moving first to secure advantageous competitive assets that rivals can't readily match or duplicate.

A blue-ocean type of offensive strategy

offers growth in revenues and profits by discovering or inventing a new industry or distinct market segment that renders rivals largely irrelevant and allows a company to create and capture altogether new demand.

Which one of the following is NOT a good type of rival for an offensive-minded company to target?

other offensive-minded companies with a sizable war chest of cash and marketable securities

Once a company has decided to employ a particular generic competitive strategy, then it must make the following additional strategic choices, EXCEPT whether to

pay special attention to buyer segments that a rival is already serving.

First-mover disadvantages (or late-mover advantages) rarely ever arise when

the market response is strong and the pioneer gains a monopoly position that enables it to recover its investment.

What is the goal of signaling a challenger that strong retaliation is likely in the event of an attack?

to dissuade challengers from attacking or diverting them into using less threatening options

Which of the following is NOT a purpose of a defensive strategy?

to increase the risk of having to defend an attack

Sometimes it makes sense for a company to go on the offensive to improve its market position and business performance. The best offensives tend to incorporate the following EXCEPT

using a strategic offensive to allow the company to leverage its weaknesses to strengthen operating vulnerabilities.

In which of the following instances is being a first-mover NOT particularly advantageous?

when markets are slow to accept the innovative product offering of a first-mover, and fast followers possess sufficient resources and marketing muscle to overtake a first-mover

Which of the following is NOT a strategic choice that a company must make to complement and supplement its choice of one of the five generic competitive strategies?

whether to employ a market share leadership strategy