strat and policy test 2

To help a firm achieve a competitive advantage, each distinct activity performed in the value chain needs to

contribute to the firm's strategic position as either low-cost leader or differentiator.

Which of the following competitively important assets is typically excluded from a firm's balance sheet?

customer experience

Which of the following is a macroeconomic factor that can affect a firm's strategy?

levels of employment

According to Porter's Five Forces approach, the overall goal of applying the Five Forces analysis to an industry is to make a judgment about its

overall attractiveness.

Which of the following approaches to assess competitive advantage is based on the view that noneconomic factors can have a significant impact on a firm's financial performance?

the triple-bottom-line approach

When performing internal analysis of firms, how would you answer the question, "why do companies exist?"

Companies exist because they create value for customers in ways that customers are unable to replicate on their own.

All Signal Inc., a telephone service provider, has a large user base mainly because phone calls and messages between all All Signal users are free. When a person switches to an All Signals network, his or her entire network of family and friends is likely to switch to the same network to receive the benefit of free calls and messages. In addition, an existing user who gets a new user to register with All Signal Inc. is given a free wireless connection. This has helped to keep competition away from All Signal. In this scenario, which of the following factors is acting as an entry barrier for All Signal Inc.?

network effects

Which of the following is a disadvantage of measuring firm performance through total return to shareholders and firm market capitalization?

Market volatility makes it difficult to assess firm performance through these measures, particularly in the short term.

Which of the following below are not one of the three dimensions that make up the Triple Bottom Line framework?

None of the answers are correct.

Which of the following is a drawback of the SWOT analysis?

A problem with this framework is that a strength can also be a weakness, and that an opportunity can also simultaneously be a threat.

________________ allow(s) a firm to differentiate its products and services from those of its rivals, creating higher value for the customer or offering products and services of comparable value at lower cost.

Core competencies

The ________ allows the scanning, monitoring, and evaluating of changes and trends in a firm's macro environment.

PESTEL framework

After conducting a SWOT analysis, your firm has decided to focus on addressing issues located in the Weaknesses-Opportunities quadrant. Which of the following steps are you most likely to take?

Reorganize the inefficient research and development department to bring innovative products to market more quickly.

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.

In a firm's external environment, ________trends primarily capture population characteristics related to age, gender, family size, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and socioeconomic class.

demographic

The difference between the price charged for a product and the cost to manufacture it is referred to as the

producer surplus.

Which of the following will most likely be considered as an airlines core competency?

the airline's ability to make its fleet more fuel efficient than their competitors

CarTsar Inc. is a manufacturer of automobile parts, which it sells to retail auto supply stores. Its core competencies include superior design and engineering capabilities, as well as a highly integrated and efficient supply chain. To sustain its competitive advantage, CarTsar should first

upgrade its engineering department and improve its supply chain.

A firm's ________ relates to its ability to create value for customers (V) while containing the cost to do so (C).

strategic position

During an interview for a CEO position, Jennifer's potential employers ask her, "If you get this job, will you focus more on industry effects or firm effects?" What should her answer be?

"Firm effects. I will be able to have the most impact on those."

The working capital turnover of Complete Systems Corp. is 6.0. What does this financial data suggest?

For every dollar Complete Systems puts to work, the company realizes $6.00 of sales

________ precisely indicates how much of a firm's sales is converted into profits.

Return on revenue

How does causal ambiguity act as an isolating mechanism for organizations?

It makes it difficult for the competitors to understand why a company has been so successful.

A new company named Waves Inc. entered the radio retail business, which is a fairly consolidated industry. In response, two large incumbent radio retailers, SMS Radio and TruRadio, lowered the price of their radios. Also, they spent more money to improve their radios and on additional marketing. By doing this, SMS Radio and TruRadio

decreased industry profit potential.

According to an evaluation using the VRIO framework, Crocs Shoes was unable to sustain its competitive advantage primarily because its products were

easy to imitate.

According to the resource-based view, a firm's competitive advantage often stems from its

intangible resources.

Core competencies are derived from the combination of

key strategic resources and a firm's capabilities.

Nye Studios is a large production company that controls a major portion of the television industry's market share along with two other firms. Despite its competitiveness with the two other firms, it is influenced by their actions and often has to consider their strategic actions before acting on its own. In this scenario, Nye Studios is most likely functioning in a(n) ________ industry.

oligopolistic

TalkaLot Corp. incurs a cost of $350 to produce one unit of a cell phone. The company's management has priced the product at $600 in the market. Considering the technological advancement of the cell phone, customers perceive its value to be around $800. What is the economic value created in this scenario?

$450

James is a novice investor who wants to decide between purchasing shares in Captial-UP or Mainframe Inc. Captial-UP's return on invested capital (ROIC) was 15 percent, and its cost of capital was 12 percent. During the same period, Mainframe Inc.'s ROIC was 22 percent and its cost of capital was 25 percent. What does this information tell James?

Captial-UP is more likely to create value while Mainframe Inc. is more likely to destroy value.

You are the CEO of a tech company and have recently undertaken a review of your company's strategy. In comparing your stock market valuation to that of your closest competitor, you note that your firm is currently valued at $50 billion, while your competitor is valued at $40 billion. How should you proceed?

Compare the current valuations with past valuations to determine a trend.

Sasha is the CEO of Enterprise Technologies, a consumer electronics manufacturer. Last year, Enterprise's return on invested capital (ROIC) was 11.6 percent, while Enterprise's closest competitor, Federation Tech, had an ROIC of 17 percent. Which of the following factors might Sasha use to convince investors to invest in Enterprise rather than Federation Tech?

Enterprise's intangible intensity was 6 percent, while Federation Tech's was 3 percent.

How is a firm's task environment different from its general environment?

Managers have some influence over external factors in the task environment; they have little direct effect over external forces in the general environment.

Ride N Style Inc. is a bus line with service to several major cities. It has several competitors that each offer service to one or two cities, and based on its current outlays, it cannot match or beat those competitors on price. Because of long-term contracts and an increase in the cost of gasoline, it is not possible to reduce expenditures at this time. Which of these strategies should Ride N Styles pursue instead?

Pursue a differentiated strategy.

In which of the following situations is the power of suppliers high in an industry?

Suppliers' industry is more concentrated than the industry it sells to.

Which of the following statements accurately brings out the difference between tangible and intangible resources?

Tangible assets can be bought on the open market by anyone with the necessary cash, whereas intangible assets cannot be easily purchased.

Organizational and managerial skills that find their expression in a company's structure, routines, and culture are referred to as

capabilities.

Both UTech Inc. and Mirco Corp. incur a cost of $200 to manufacture a single unit of a cell phone. However, UTech Inc. charges a higher price than Mirco Corp. does, but it still sells a higher number of phones. What does this imply?

UTech Inc. creates more economic value than Mirco Corp. does

Siham is a chef who owns three moderately successful restaurants with innovative menus. Based on what you have read, which of these approaches could help her improve her profits?

Use her existing knowledge, equipment, and staff to launch a catering business.

Nerissa sets up a business consulting firm in which the employees are motivated because they find their work interesting and creative. She carefully hires workers who fit well with their assigned tasks. Also, she clearly defines the results expected of each worker, but allows the workers to determine the means to these results. Which of the following best describes Nerissa's business?

a firm that relies on high output controls to tap into intrinsic motivation

The balanced-scorecard can accommodate

both short- and long-term performance metrics.

As manager of a relatively new company, you are tasked with analyzing company resources to identify core competencies capable of supporting a competitive advantage. Which of the following resources is most likely to generate a competitive advantage?

enthusiastic company culture

Managers can justify using the balanced-scorecard framework because research show that both ________ and ________ performance dimensions are important when examining the effectiveness of a firm's strategy.

quantitative, qualitative

Due to resource immobility, a critical assumption in the resource-based model of a firm, the

resource differences between firms last for a long time.

There are several major limitations of employing the balance scorecard framework; which of the following below is not one of those limitations?

the type of marketing and HR functions used to employ the framework

When the laptop market overtook the desktop market, Blue Tech Inc., a leader in desktop technology, was left at a competitive disadvantage. Later, Blue Tech Inc.'s management channeled all of the company's efforts and revenue to develop an efficient laptop from scratch in less than a year. However, the company failed because Blue Tech Inc.'s models were inferior to the third- and fourth-generation models its competitors were selling. In this scenario, Blue Tech Inc.'s failure can be best attributed to

time compression diseconomies.

Which of the following factors most contributes to the U.S. automotive industry being characterized by high entry barriers?

Car manufacturers require large-scale production in order to be cost-competitive.

While implementing strategic group mapping for the U.S. domestic airline industry, two strategic groups become apparent: low-cost, point-to-point airlines (Virgin Atlantic, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, and Southwest Airlines) versus differentiated airlines using a hub-and-spoke system (American, Delta, and United). Which of the following statements is true about these two strategic groups?

Competitive rivalry between Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue is likely to be higher than that between American and Southwest Airlines.

Steve manages product design and development at a toy company. The junior managers who report to him tell him that new complementors for the firm's products are available. What should Steve's reaction be?

He needs to find out if his company as well as other companies can provide the complements.

How are the critical assumptions of the resource-based model of a firm fundamentally different from the way in which a firm is viewed in the perfectly competitive industry structure?

In perfect competition, all firms have access to the same capabilities, whereas in the resource-based model, resource differences exist between firms in the same industry.

Have A Seat Furniture has seen its profit margins shrink over the past several years as increased competition has driven down furniture prices. You have been tasked with improving the company's margins. Which of the following approaches makes the most sense within the context of strategic activity systems?

Install modern manufacturing equipment to improve efficiency.

Years ago, the travel industry was controlled by a few large travel companies that booked holidays, air tickets, bus tickets, and hotels for their customers. However, with the emergence of the internet, smaller travel agencies started mushrooming in the industry and customers started making their own reservations. Which of the following can be inferred from this information?

The travel industry changed from a consolidated structure to a fragmented one.

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

Which of the following is the best characterization of sociocultural forces?

a society's culture, norms, and values

How does a firm capture its producer surplus for a good or service?

as profit per unit sold

Threadbare Industries is a new high-end textile company that has raised sufficient capital from multiple sources. It is planning to use its capital to purchase certain assets. Which of the following assets will be the most difficult for Threadbare Industries to acquire using its capital?

brand name

Given the structure of the automobile industry, entering the auto manufacturing industry seemed risky. Yet Tesla Motors joined the fray. Rather than attempting to compete head-on with internal combustion engines, Tesla Motors entered the all-electric car segment, a much less crowded niche in the overall car industry. Which of the following is Tesla most hoping to benefit from in this market niche?

economies of scale

In the context of the resource-based model of competitive advantage, if a successful firm exhibits resource immobility it means that the

firm will have a sustained competitive advantage because of its unique resources that are difficult for others to replicate that are difficult for others to replicate.

Hot Wok Cuisine is a premium Asian restaurant chain that differentiates itself from a large number of competitors by providing exclusively organic Chinese cuisine. It has some pricing power because it provides differentiated products and therefore, has some entry barriers in place. In this scenario, Hot Wok Cuisine is most likely operating in a(n)

monopolistically competitive industry

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.

When company managers formulate strategy decisions resulting from their internal analysis, they are primarily making decisions about how to

obtain and allocate critical and scarce resources.

Value chain analysis consists of systematically analyzing a firm's key activities that for analysis purposes are categorized into two groups:

primary activities and support activities.

Amelia has recently started a restaurant in a commercial area that already has many other established restaurants and popular fast-food chains. Amelia owns the building in which her restaurant is located, rather than leasing premises as her competitors do. This factor allows her to offer her products at a more competitive price. Amelia has also invested a huge amount in designing the restaurant's interior and in equipping the kitchen with the appliances that are most widely used in her industry. In this scenario, which of the following is the most valuable resource for Amelia's business?

the building owned by Amelia, which reduces cost of operations

Which of the following features about a buyer indicates that the buyer has high bargaining power?

when the buyer operates in an industry where products are undifferentiated

SJobs's Computer Repair has maintained a competitive advantage based on its thorough and professional service, reasonable pricing, and money-back guarantee. Management at the company is so committed to doing repairs well that they often have rejected employee suggestions to expedite their processes. Recently, the company has begun to lose customers to a new local service offering same day in-home repairs and 24/7 online customer support. According to the dynamic capabilities perspective, SJobs's Computer Repair has lost its competitive advantage due to

core rigidity.