Strategic Management chapters 9-12
A strategic objective that is NOT considered a part of the business case for why companies should act in a socially responsible manner can be stated as,
"Every business has a moral duty to be a good corporate citizen."
Which of the following statements about a company's culture is NOT true?
A company's culture, once established, tends to remain stable and entrenched over time.
A local dairy that produces organic milk, yogurt, butter, and ice cream has asked you to provide a tool for its managers to promote operating excellence in performing value chain activities. Which tools and methods would you NOT recommend to the owners of the local dairy?
Adopt standard industry techniques.
While outsourcing has allowed Apple to reap the benefits of lower cost and more flexible manufacturing, its lack of direct control has proven to be a challenge. How did Apple step in to improve working conditions at Foxconn, one of its major suppliers?
Apple tightened its supplier standards and increased its efforts at monitoring conditions and enforcing its standards, such as over 700 comprehensive site audits each year to ensure compliance
Cavco Construction divests funds from its commercial property ventures to invest in gated community properties close to New York, signaling a change of strategy. Which of the following statements about Cavco is most likely true?
Cavco is marshalling resources to support a new strategic initiative.
Which organization uses business process reengineering to attain operational excellence?
Cellkon pulls the pieces of an activity out of different departments to create a cross-functional work group.
Imagine you have been asked to present a strategy implementation plan to the top management of Didrickson, a Swedish multidomestic manufacturer and marketer of outdoor activewear. Your presentation would NOT likely include which implementation option as a means of building and strengthening its competitively valuable resources and capabilities?
Didrickson needs to shift from decentralized to centralized decision-making so as to give senior executives more authority and control in driving cultural change
Which of the following exemplifies one of the most widely used methods of gauging how well a company is executing its strategy?
Fizz-Cola judges the efficiency of internal operations by benchmarking them against best-in-industry performers.
Which organization uses Six Sigma programs to improve quality and strategy execution?
Froedtert Hospital improves the accuracy of administering the proper drug doses to patients.
Imagine you were asked to work for a residential construction company. How would you build a moral case for this company to engage in corporate social responsibility and environmentally sustainable business practices?
If the construction firm makes a strong commitment to socially responsible behavior, doing so will reduce the risk of reputation-damaging incidents
What is the function of the Global Reporting Initiative?
It promotes greater transparency and facilitates benchmarking CSR efforts across firms and industries.
Although exposing children to hazardous work and long work hours is unquestionably deplorable, which of the following, if true, leads to a moral dilemma?
Many child laborers come from poverty-stricken families
Which organization does NOT use business process reengineering?
PayPal segregates payment notification operations from mobile transfer operations to expand its customer base.
What is the advantage of acquiring capabilities through merger and acquisition?
Speed, because developing new capabilities internally can take many years of effort.
What is a good example of how NOT to facilitate strategy execution?
Tesla resists standardization of the way activities are performed at its service centers because its personnel have primarily been poached from BMW, Chevrolet, and VW's electric vehicle divisions.
Ethical relativism implies that
There are important occasions when local cultural norms and morality and the circumstances of the situation determine whether certain behaviors are right or wrong, for there are no absolutes when it comes to business ethics.
How do ethical principles apply to businesses?
They are not materially different from ethical principles in general.
How do good corporate citizens function?
They pursue discretionary activities that contribute to the betterment of society, especially in areas where government has chosen not to focus its efforts or has fallen short.
Sandi has been hired as a consultant to develop a state-of-the-art information and operating system for a local winery to enable better strategy execution. How have Mike and Chris, owners of the winery, justified retaining Sandi and adopting the new IT system?
They want to gain a competitive edge over wine industry rivals.
Unilever's goal is to double the size of the business while halving its environmental footprint by 2020. What actions has it NOT taken in pursuit of this goal?
Unilever dedicated significant resources and time to pursuing profit maximization strategies in order to boost its sustainability scores
What is a substantive culture-changing action that a company's managers would refrain from undertaking to alter a problem culture?
Urging company personnel to search outside the company for work practices and operating approaches that may be an improvement over what the company is presently doing, and paying sizable bonuses to those employees who identify practices that the company ends up adopting
Who is most likely to have strong strategy implementation capabilities?
Valery typically probes with tough, incisive questions.
Kaitlin is manager of the county library and is considering developing and implementing a reward and incentive system that helps promote good strategy execution. What should she AVOID doing in her strategy implementation effort?
Ways must be found to reward deserving nonperformers who, for some reason, do not fare well under the incentive system.
Which of the following statements is NOT accurate with respect to building a company's competencies and capabilities?
When a company succeeds in hiring talented employees and training them properly, competencies and capabilities tend to develop quickly and, once put in place, can last for a decade or more.
For their final business class in college, Bill and Jill have been assigned a client that needs to improve its accounting and budgeting systems. Bill received the assignment by claiming on his résumé to have majored in accounting. His consulting partner, Jill, a marketing major, learns that he never actually passed any accounting courses. Jill is deciding whether or not to overlook the false claim, since Bill is otherwise conscientious and honorable and failure to pass the course might jeopardize his graduation. In her conversation with the instructor, which question will Jill NOT raise?
Would the potential outcome of the proposed action pose a risk of embarrassment?
On August 1, 2018, Reddit, an American social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website reported that it had been hacked. A spokesperson for Reddit said publicly, "Think about whether there's anything on your Reddit account that you wouldn't want associated back to that address." The company also included instructions for users to remove their Reddit data. Do Reddit company managers have an obligation to observe ethical norms when crafting and executing a strategic response to this breach of data security and potential loss of consumer privacy?
Yes, because ethics in business are not materially different from ethical principles in general
The implementation process is likely to be hampered by missed deadlines, misdirected efforts, and managerial ineptness if
a capable results-oriented management team is not in place.
The notion of social responsibility as it applies to businesses is concerned with
a company's duty to operate in an honorable manner and provide good working conditions for employees.
The three dimensions of performance are often referred to in terms of the "three pillars" and include all of the following EXCEPT
a company's efforts to reduce research and development funding to boost profits.
Companies engaged in a single line of business most commonly utilize an organizational structure that can be
a functional (departmental) organizational structure.
Among the known structural forms of organization, which is non-existent?
a network structure where independent organizations are involved in a common undertaking
In formulating an action agenda to implement and execute a new or different strategy, the place for managers to begin is with
a probing assessment of what the organization must do differently and better to carry out the strategy successfully.
The emergence and sustainability of a strong culture like Epic Systems has been fostered by
a sincere, long-standing company commitment to operating the business according to established traditions, thereby creating an internal environment that supports decision-making and strategies based on cultural norms.
Studies done on the correlation between good corporate behavior and good financial performance have generally found
a small positive correlation
Apple Inc.'s strongly implanted corporate culture has a powerful influence on the behavior of its personnel with the exception of
a strong leader that uses coercion and the threat of punishment to enforce norms.
The most important leadership trait in the strategy execution process is
a strong, confident sense of what to do and how to do it.
Management's most powerful tool for winning employee commitment to good strategy execution is
a structure of rewards and incentives tied tightly to the achievement of the organization's strategic priorities.
What does a good strategy execution require?
a team effort with all managers having strategy executing responsibility in their areas of authority, and making all employees active participants in the strategy execution process
From the standpoint of promoting successful strategy execution, it is important that the firm's motivation and reward system
accentuate positive rewards but also carry out the "up-or-out" policy for performance that does not meet expectations.
The strength of integrated social contracts theory is that it
accommodates the best parts of ethical universalism and ethical relativism.
Steps to update a company's capabilities to match changing market conditions and customer expectations take place often include
acquiring, developing, and strengthening key resources and capabilities.
The rationale for businesses to act in a socially responsible manner include all of the following reasons, with the EXCEPTION of
acting in a socially responsible manner is in the best financial interest of shareholders.
The outcomes of why acting in a socially responsible manner is good business, do NOT include
acting in a socially responsible manner nearly always results in higher profits and a higher stock price for shareholders.
Which actions would Blair Kellison, CEO of Traditional Medicinals Inc., a California-based manufacturer of herbal medicines and teas, NOT typically consider in crafting his company's strategy of social responsibility?
actions to benefit Traditional Medicinals' shareholders such as raising the dividend or boosting the stock price
A company's social responsibility strategy typically comprises all of the following EXCEPT
actions to keep the company's profits at a reasonable and acceptable level to ensure the company's products/pricing will not be viewed by the general public as obscenely high or exorbitant.
Good strategy execution can involve policies and procedures manuals in order to maintain consistency in product quality and service behavior patterns to allow for
activities that need to be strictly prescribed and activities to allow room for independent action on the part of company personnel.
Actions that would NOT help to rectify a company's unethical and greed-driven culture encompass
adopting accounting principles that make the company's financial performance appear better than it really is.
The business case behind why companies should act in a socially responsible manner does NOT include
aggressive pursuit of market share, revenues, and profits
The process of recruiting and retaining capable employees is
always an essential ingredient of successful strategy execution.
A counterproductive cultural trait of an organization is NOT evidenced by
an aversion to incentive compensation and overemphasis on working in teams
When a company's culture is out of sync with what is needed for strategic success and good strategy execution
any unhealthy or dysfunctional cultural traits must be changed as fast as possible and management needs to be aggressively striving to ingrain new behaviors and work practices that will enable first-rate strategy execution.
Building organizational bridges with external allies is aided by
appointing "relationship managers" and giving them responsibility for making particular strategic partnerships or alliances generate the intended benefits.
A step management can take that is INAPPROPRIATE to change a problem culture is
appointing a team of key managers and employees to design a plan for cultural change and then lead the internal effort to change the culture.
Many executives want the work climate at their companies to mirror certain values and ethical standards because they
are committed to improving the company's strategy execution, performance, and reputation.
According to integrative social contracts theory, the ethical standards a company should try to uphold
are governed both by (1) a limited number of universal ethical principles that are widely recognized as putting legitimate ethical boundaries on actions and behavior in all situations and (2) the circumstances of local cultures, traditions, and shared values that further prescribe what constitutes ethically permissible behavior and what does not—but universal norms always take precedence over local ethical norms.
According to integrated social contracts theory, the ethical standards a company should try to uphold
are governed both by a limited number of universal ethical principles and the circumstances of local cultures, traditions, and shared values.
Short-termism is NOT likely to be an impetus for company managers to
avoid stock repurchases made to increase earnings-per-share of a company
The essence of socially responsible business behavior is
balancing strategic actions to benefit shareholders against the duty to be a good corporate citizen
The managerial approach to implementing and executing a strategy should always
be customized to fit the particulars of a company's situation.
From a strategy-implementing/strategy-executing perspective, operating budget allocations should
be strategy-driven and based on how much each organizational unit needs to carry out its piece of the strategic plan efficiently and effectively.
Why would Belinda, owner of GC Micro, a $70 million company that manufactures customized IT equipment and software for Fortune 1000 companies and defense contractors, decide to invest in a total quality management (TQM) program?
because a TQM program entails creating a corporate culture bent on continuously improving the performance of every task and every value chain activity
The backbone of the process of identifying, studying, and implementing best practices is
benchmarking
The moral case for why a company should actively promote the betterment of society and act in a manner benefiting all its stakeholders
boils down to "it's the right thing to do."
When high ethical principles are deeply ingrained in the corporate culture of a company, culture can function as a powerful mechanism for all of the following EXCEPT
boosting short-termism
From the ethical relativism perspective, which action is most likely to be considered morally valid?
bribing a government official in an underdeveloped country to obtain a permit to build a hospital
Core competencies and competitive capabilities are usually
bundles of skills and know-how that most often grow out of the collaborative efforts of cross-functional work groups and departments performing complementary activities at different locations in a firm's value chain.
New strategies often entail budget reallocations because
business units important in the prior strategy but having a lesser role in the new strategy may need downsizing, while units and activities that now have a bigger and more critical strategic role may need more people, new equipment, additional facilities, and above-average increases in their operating budgets.
Providing top-down guidance can aid the task of implementing strategy
by helping align the actions and behavior of company personnel with the requirements for good strategy execution, placing limits on independent action, and helping overcome resistance to change.
Six Sigma processes
can be used for both improving existing business processes and for developing new processes or products.
Critics of companies that use outsourcing contend that shifting responsibility for performing value chain activities to outside specialists
can hollow out a company's knowledge base and capabilities, leaving it at the mercy of outside suppliers, and short of the resource strengths to be a master of its own destiny.
Multinational companies that forbid the payment of bribes and kickbacks in their codes of ethical conduct and that are serious about enforcing this prohibition
face a particularly vexing problem of losing business to competitors that have no scruples—an outcome that penalizes ethical companies and company personnel.
Without a strategic framework, managers lack the context in which to
fix things that really matter to business-unit performance and competitive success.
Diversified companies striving to capture the benefits of synergy between separate businesses have to be aware of all of the following challenges EXCEPT
forming cross-business strategic fit by enforcing close collaboration.
The purpose of managing by walking around or MBWA is to
gather information about what is happening from people at different organizational levels and learn firsthand how well the strategy execution process is proceeding.
Shelina, who runs a motorbike riding camp for girls, is considering the creation of an effective compensation system for her staff. What should Shelina do first?
generously reward and recognize people who meet or beat performance targets and deny rewards and recognition to those who don't.
Ben & Jerry's, Whole Foods Market, Stonyfield Farm, TOMS, Keurig Green Mountain, and Patagonia all have engaged in visible and well-publicized activities as socially conscious companies with which major result?
increasing buyer patronage
The contention that ethical standards should reflect the collective views of multiple societies in establishing a set of universal ethical principles (that are widely recognized as laying legitimacy to ethical boundaries on actions and behavior in all situations) and in allowing inclusion of a set of prevailing customary actions of local cultures or groups (with their traditions and shared values), that further prescribe to what represents ethically permissible behavior and what does not, constitutes the basic principles of
integrated social contracts theory.
Following public revelations of pressures on bank staff to set up fraudulent accounts in order to reach sales quotas, the CEO of Wells Fargo Bank was forced to apologize to and recompense customers for whom the bank had set up false credit card and auto loan accounts. As a consequence, over 100,000 account managers were terminated, a $186 million fine was paid to the U.S. government, the CEO was forced to resign, and the company's stock price also sharply declined. Which of the following costs did Wells Fargo incur?
internal administrative costs, tangible costs, and intangible costs
In July 2018, the Papa John's pizza chain decided to distance itself from John Schnatter, its founder and pitchman, after it was reported that he had used a racial slur in a comment about black people. Mr. Schnatter apologized and resigned as chairman. The company said Mr. Schnatter's image, a fixture on its marketing materials, would be removed as the "first of several key steps to rebuild trust from the inside-out." Papa John's suddenly faced the tricky task of disentangling itself from its founder and convincing its customers and investors to move on, and also began considering whether or not to rebrand itself. Papa John's strategy needs to be ethical because
it is good business and in the best interest of shareholders.
A company must do all of the following to match structure to strategy EXCEPT
knit the efforts of outsourced groups together.
The effect of ethical standards on a company's strategy does NOT
lead to lower employee morale and higher employee turnover
After it came to light in 2017 that Wells Fargo employees fraudulently opened customer accounts to hit sales quotas, rehabilitating this bank's shattered reputation was expected to be time-consuming and costly because its employees' actions could
lead to unnerved creditors and increased risk of default on loans due to potential business fallout
Visible costs that are incurred by companies and imposed for ethical wrongdoing include all of the following EXCEPT
legal and investigative costs.
A simple organizational structure is also known as a _______ structure.
line-and-staff
A compensation and reward system designed to help drive successful strategy execution does NOT normally encompass
offering rewards that amount to 3 percent of an employee's total compensation
A dynamic capability is the
ongoing capacity to modify existing resources and capabilities to create new ones.
Imagine that you are a senior executive of a large organization such as Starbucks that has geographically scattered operating units. What would NOT be on your agenda?
orchestrating the action steps and implementation sequence
When strategies fail, it is often because of
poor execution of the strategy.
The traits of the capability-building process involve all of the following EXCEPT
saving time by creating capabilities from scratch to remain aligned with external conditions and company strategy rather than updating and remodeling existing capabilities.
There is evidence that Six Sigma can
stifle innovation and creativity in organizations.
The hallmarks of a high-performance corporate culture include a
"can-do" spirit, pride in doing things right, no-excuses accountability, and a pervasive results-oriented work climate where people go the extra mile to meet or beat stretch objectives.
Shannon and Ian, student consultants, chose a home construction business as a client for a semester strategic planning assignment. Upon examination of the client's financial statements, the students discover that their client has been cheating the government out of several thousand dollars a year in taxes. Their client is a company owned by a couple who are in their late 50s and who have two children in college. Shannon and Ian are the only persons other than the owners who are in a position to know about this situation. Which ethical principle should guide Shannon and Ian in their decision whether or not to report the owners to the Internal Revenue Service?
Adherence to universal ethical norms always takes precedence over local ethical norms.
The statistical thinking underlying Six Sigma is based on which of the following three principles?
All work is a process, all processes have variability, and all processes create data that explains variability.
The characterization of these companies' corporate cultures are all correct EXCEPT
Apple's employee-centric culture fosters openness and sharing of company-developed technology.
Which companies unethical practices will tend to incur mainly internal administrative costs?
Company U must retrain its employees who are working in a toxic culture due to widespread reports of sexual harassment.
What is NOT part of the process of upgrading core competencies and competitive capabilities?
Core competencies generally grow out of company efforts to master a strategy-critical technology or to invent and patent a valuable technology.
Aimée, owner of The Discerning Equestrian, a local apparel, tack, and equipment outlet, is facing growing competition from online retailers such as Equestrian.com. She has sought your advice about the managerial task of executing strategy. What would you NOT be likely to advise her to do?
Employ new techniques to overcome managerial resistance to change.
Glassdoor is a California-based social media company that provides a space for employees and former employees to anonymously review companies and their management. You have recently had a job offer to relocate and work for Glassdoor. Based on what you have learned about strategy-supportive talent management practices, what might be a good reason NOT to accept Glassdoor's offer?
Glassdoor has a track record of eliminating the bottom 10 percent of the lowest-performing employees each year to increase the overall quality performance metrics to above-average industry standards
What actions did recruiting managers at Goldman Sachs NOT take to change the bank's culture and push for good strategy execution and operating excellence?
Goldman weeded out managers who were consistently in the ranks of the lowest performers (the bottom 10 percent) and who were not enthusiastic about the strategy or how it is being executed
How can a company enhance the quality of life for its employees to support its attempt to uphold its reputation as a socially responsible business?
It can provide work-at-home opportunities
The strength of the beliefs underlying the moral case for an ethical strategy relates to all EXCEPT which of the following?
It starts with managers that involve themselves in creating strategies based on risks and loss of reputation that implementing an unethical strategy can cost.
The top management at a new social media technology company would like to revamp its incentive compensation system to attract ambitious employees. What would be their best approach?
Make the performance bonus at least 10 to 12 percent of base salary to have some impact.
What is the rule for organizing the work effort to support good strategy execution?
Match the firm's organizational structure to its unique strategy.
Which company is NOT listed on the 2017 Dow Jones Sustainability Index recognizing triple-bottom-line performance?
Nike Inc. (USA)
What is NOT a rationale for a company to pursue outsourcing as a strategy execution step in order to enhance the performance of value chain activities?
Outsourcing critics contend that shifting responsibility for performing value chain activities to outside specialists can hollow out a company's knowledge base and capabilities, leaving it at the mercy of outside suppliers and short of the resource strengths to be a master of its own destiny.
What is a faulty or invalid reason why a company's strategy should be ethical?
Senior executives fear public embarrassment and disciplinary action if caught doing something perceived as unethical
An erroneous justification to implement a total quality management (TQM) program is that
TQM produces significant results very quickly, with very little benefit emerging after the first six months.
Among the merits of why acting in a socially responsible manner is "good business," what remains to be proven in practice?
That there is a high correlation between socially responsible behavior that addresses social issues and a firm's competitive advantage and financial performance
Imagine that you are proposing that your organization reconfigure itself into a highly centralized organizational structure. What would NOT be one of your supporting rationales for this change?
The decision about where to draw the divisional lines depends foremost on the nature of the relatedness and the strategy-critical building blocks, in terms of which businesses have key value chain activities in common.
When should a culture be changed as rapidly as can be managed?
When a strong culture is unhealthy or otherwise out of sync with the actions and behaviors needed to execute the strategy successfully
Notions of right and wrong, fair and unfair, moral and immoral, ethical and unethical
are present in all societies, organizations, and individuals
The overriding aim in building a management team should be to
assemble a critical mass of talented managers who can function as agents of change, work well together as a team, and produce organizational results that are dramatically better than what one or two star managers acting individually can achieve.
Because of the many managerial tasks involved and the role of leadership in strategy execution, when implementing a strategy
assembling a strong management team is especially important.
Firms generally leverage the expertise of their talent pool in building capabilities by
augmenting or recombining well-established capabilities with existing resources.
A strong culture company like W.L. Gore or Nordstrom is UNLIKELY to be characterized by
centralized decision-making, strict enforcement of company policies, diligent pursuit of a distinctive competence, and a bold strategic intent that are the hallmarks of a strong-culture company.
A company's ability to marshal adequate resources in support of new strategic initiatives and steer them to the appropriate organizational units is important to the strategy execution process because
changes in strategy often require resource reallocation, and organizational units need the proper funding to carry out their part of the strategic plan effectively and efficiently.
Cultural demands to employ unethical means if circumstances become challenging can prompt
clever ways to operate outside established policies to boost profits.
Epic Systems' code of ethics does NOT include
committing to a no-layoff policy and to adequate funding of employee retirement programs.
Internal information business systems generally DO NOT track _______ data.
competitor
Which structure combines two or more organizational forms, with multiple reporting relationships, and is used to foster cross-unit collaboration?
composite structure
Six Sigma quality control
consists of a disciplined, statistics-based system aimed at producing not more than 3.4 defects per million iterations for any business process.
Once company managers have decided on a strategy, the emphasis turns to
converting the strategy into actions and good results.
The broad areas that internal information business systems need to cover include all of the following EXCEPT
corporate culture data.
The capabilities and core competencies that Zara has developed in the execution of its strategy, i.e. rapid production processes and new apparel introductions, are NOT concerned with
cost-effectively hiring a cadre of people with the right talent and expertise, putting them together in a single work group, and then teaming the work group with Zara's key strategic allies/partners to mesh the skills, expertise, and competencies needed to perform the desired capabilities with some proficiency.
Internal administrative costs which are incurred by companies for ethical wrongdoing
costs attached to adverse effects on employee productivity.
Codes of conduct based on ethical relativism ARE NOT ethically problematic for multinational companies if they
create standards that mostly relate to ethical codes in a company's home market, which might trigger compliance issues in the local market.
Delegating greater authority to subordinate managers and employees
creates a more horizontal or flatter organizational structure with fewer management layers and usually acts to shorten organizational response times.
Company strategies and value creating processes can't be effectively executed without internal information systems that include
customer data, employee data, supplier/partner data, operations data, and financial performance data.
Essential state-of-the-art operating and information systems that support company strategies and value-creating internal processes are NOT concerned with
data management systems for undertaking benchmarking, TQM, and Six Sigma quality control.
Ethical principles as they apply to the conduct of personnel and business decisions
deal primarily with the company's duty to comply with legal requirements and conform to ethical norms of society, in general.
A multidivisional structure consists of a
decentralized structure with of a set of operating divisions organized along business, product, customer groups or geographic lines, and a central corporate headquarters that allocates resources, provides support functions, and monitors divisional activities.
Organizing a company's work effort to promote successful strategy execution involves
deciding which value chain activities to perform in-house and which to outsource, and making internally performed strategy-critical value chain activities the main building blocks in the organization structure.
A decentralized organizational structure is predicated on the belief that
decision-making authority should be pushed down to the lowest organizational level capable of making timely, informed, and competent decisions.
When a company uses outsourcing to zero in on even better performance of those truly strategy-critical activities where its expertise is most needed, then it may also be able to
decrease internal bureaucracies, flatten its organizational structure, and shorten the time it takes to respond to changing market conditions.
For Uber, what was NOT a consequence of pursuing a strategy that had unethical or shady components?
defections of investors who nevertheless believed that the company's ride-sharing industry will grow
Strategy execution
depends on management's ability to direct organizational change.
Organizing the work effort in ways that promote successful strategy execution is NOT likely to include
determining which functions and organizational units require superior intellectual capital
Six Sigma's DMADV process of define, measure, analyze, design, and verify is a particularly good vehicle for
developing new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels.
The capability building process entails
developing the ability to do something, however imperfectly or inefficiently, and molding these efforts into an organizational ability, and as experience grows and personnel perform the activity consistently well and at an acceptable cost, it is transformed into a tried-and-true competence and as they continue to polish and refine their know-how into further improvements, they then create a real competitive capability.
The most common approaches to capability building include all of the following, EXCEPT
divesting underperforming units.
The likelihood of ethical lapses as well as poor long-term company performance tends to increase when there are
dramatic cuts in research and development expenditures in years when low earnings are reported by the company
The "triple bottom line" refers to what three performance metrics a company should simultaneously succeed in?
economic, social, and environmental
Sometimes a company can short-circuit the task of building an organizational capability in-house by
either acquiring a company that has already developed the capability or else acquiring the desired capability through collaborative efforts with outsiders having the requisite skills, know-how, and expertise.
Managerial actions to develop core competencies and competitive capabilities internally generally take one of two forms. What are they?
either strengthening the company's base of skills, knowledge, and experience or coordinating and integrating the efforts of various work groups and departments
Angela, owner of Sift Cupcakes, a specialty baking company, has decided to consult with her staff before introducing nonmonetary incentives to enhance employee motivation. When she asked her staff for with some ideas, she decided to implement all of the following EXCEPT
eliminating perks and fringe benefits, such as maternity leave and onsite child care.
Information systems provide managers with a means for monitoring all of the following EXCEPT
employees with over-the-shoulder supervision.
You are considering a career with Enterprise Holdings, parent of the Alamo, Enterprise, and National car rental companies. What facets of Enterprise's talent management strategy are NOT likely to be strategy-supportive?
employing people who have similar management styles, leadership approaches, business philosophies, and personalities.
Primary building blocks in a company's organizational structure do NOT include
empowered employee departments
To build a total quality culture and achieve full value from the use of TQM or Six Sigma initiatives, managers can take such action steps as
encouraging quality-supportive behaviors on the part of employees, while empowering employees to make changes to improve quality.
Well-conceived policies and operating procedures facilitate good strategy execution by
enforcing consistency in how strategy-critical activities are performed.
The strategic role of a company's reward system is to
enlist employees' commitment to successful strategy execution by rewarding them, both monetarily and non-monetarily, for their valuable contributions.
Motivational and incentive compensation practices that aim at winning the commitment of company personnel to good strategy execution typically
entail decidedly positive rewards for meeting or beating performance targets, but also impose sufficiently negative consequences when actual performance falls short of the target.
Total quality management (TQM)
entails creating a total quality culture that strives for continuously improving the performance of every value chain activity and is driven by a philosophy of managing a set of business practices: 100 percent accuracy in performing tasks (zero defects), involvement and empowerment of employees at all levels, team-based work design, benchmarking, and total customer satisfaction.
Putting together a capable top management team with the right mix of experiences, skills, and abilities
entails filling key managerial slots with smart people who are clear thinkers, good at figuring out what needs to be done, and who are skilled in "making it happen" and delivering good results.
Imagine that you are about to become the manager of a local chain consisting of four upscale restaurants. To prepare for the position, you have been reviewing the 10 managerial tasks of successful strategy execution. What would NOT be among those tasks?
focusing on how market conditions impact your restaurant chain's resources and capabilities.
If management is to match a company's organization structure to its strategy in an effective way, then it is essential
for strategy-critical value chain activities to be the main building blocks on the organization chart.
If management is to match a company's organization structure to its strategy in an effective way, then it is essential
for strategy-critical value-chain activities to be the main building blocks on the organization chart.
The business case for why companies should act in a socially responsible manner includes such reasons as it
generates internal operating benefits (as concerns employee recruiting, workforce retention, employee morale, and training costs).
Good corporate citizens
go beyond meeting society's expectations for ethical strategies and business behavior by fostering social benefit and balancing the interests of all
The more a manager understands what motivates subordinates and the more he or she relies on motivational incentives as a tool for achieving the targeted strategic and financial results the
greater the employees' commitment to day-by-day strategy execution and achievement of performance targets.
Superior strategy execution capabilities are
hard to imitate
A reward system that accentuates positive rewards for good performance
has considerable appeal because when cooperation is positively enlisted and rewarded, rather than strong-armed by orders and threats (implicit or explicit), people tend to respond with more enthusiasm, dedication, creativity, and initiative.
What is spurious to superior strategy execution and operating excellence?
having access to employee data of competitors
Coordinating the work efforts of internal organization units is best accomplished by
having closely related activities report to a single executive who has the authority and organizational clout to coordinate, integrate, and arrange for the cooperation of units under their supervision.
A company's value statement and code of ethics
help to mold the culture and communicate what kinds of actions and behaviors are expected of all company personnel.
A "best practice" standard
helps a company move toward performing its value chain activities more effectively and efficiently.
In 2017, it came to light that in order to meet its demanding profit target, Wells Fargo put such pressure on its employees to hit sales quotas that many employees responded by fraudulently opening customer accounts. Wells Fargo's ethical lapses are NOT a good example of
how local ethical norms always take precedence over universal ethical norms
The organizing challenge of a decentralized structure that stresses employee empowerment is
how to exercise control over the actions and decisions of empowered employees so that the business is not put at risk while trying to capture the benefits of empowerment.
The idea behind benchmarking and best practices is to
identify companies that are the best performers of an activity and then adapt their practices to fit the company's own specific circumstances and operating requirements.
The place for management to begin in trying to change a problem culture is
identifying facets of the present culture that are obstacles to executing the company's strategy and meeting performance targets.
Epic Systems' stated values and ethical standards impact its corporate culture in all of the following ways EXCEPT
identifying how best to adapt to changing market conditions.
Management's handling of the strategy implementation/execution process can be considered successful
if and when the company meets or beats its performance targets and shows good progress in achieving its strategic vision for the company.
According to the advocates of ethical relativism,
if the use of underage labor and/or the payment of bribes/kickbacks are acceptable in a particular culture/society/country, then a case can be made that it is morally correct and ethical for a company to use these practices in conducting its business activities in that culture/society/country.
Transforming core values and ethical standards into cultural norms NEVER involves
immediately dismissing any employee caught violating the company's code of ethics or disregarding core values.
Recruiting and retaining capable employees is
important because the quality of an organization's people is always an essential ingredient of successful strategy execution.
Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) has implemented Six Sigma quality programs in order to
improve the efficiency of numerous CAMC health care delivery operating processes, although the downside is that using Six Sigma approach can stifle innovative activities.
The strategic importance of deliberately trying to develop organizational competencies and capabilities is
improved strategy execution and a potential for competitive advantage.
The Six Sigma process of define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) is a(n)
improvement system for existing processes falling below specification and needing incremental improvement.
It is ideal for key management slots to be filled from outside
in turnaround and rapid-growth situations.
Uber's scandals, tarnished reputation, loss of market share to rival companies, and the ouster of its co-founder Travis Kalanick was NOT due to
inadequate returns to its shareholders owing to the delay of its planned initial public offering (IPO).
The results of strategies that cannot pass the test of moral scrutiny often are NOT manifested in
increased customer loyalty
Reward and incentive systems serve as a(n)
indirect type of control mechanism that conserves on more costly control mechanisms of supervisory oversight.
Although it is relatively easy for rivals to implement process management tools, it is much more difficult and time-consuming for them to
instill a deeply ingrained culture of operating excellence.
The contention that ethical standards should be governed both by (1) a limited number of universal ethical principles that are widely recognized as putting legitimate ethical boundaries on actions and behavior in all situations and (2) the circumstances of local cultures, traditions, and shared values that further prescribe what constitutes ethically permissible behavior and what does not are the basic principles of
integrative social contracts theory
How is a functional structure or unitary structure organized?
into functional departments, with departmental managers who report to the CEO and small corporate staff
Companies that depend upon and highly value the contribution of intellectual capital to good strategy execution, generally do NOT
invest time and money into coaching underperformers and benchwarmers to improve their skills and capabilities.
The most common building blocks for a company's organizational structure
involve a functional or departmental structure that includes process, geographic, product, or customer groups performing one or more major processing steps along the value chain
Business process reengineering
involves radically redesigning and streamlining the workflow (typically enabled by cutting-edge use of online technology and information systems), with the goal of achieving quantum gains in performance of the activity.
Leaving employees to their own devices in meeting performance standards
is NOT a recommended way for managers to monitor the operating performance of employees to ensure superior strategy execution.
Implementing and executing a company's strategy
is a task for every manager and the whole management team, but ultimate responsibility for success or failure falls upon the top senior executives, especially the chief executive officer of the company.
Reengineering how a firm performs a business process
is a tool for pulling the pieces of strategy-critical processes out of different departments and unifying their performance in a single department or cross-functional work group.
The degree of cross-country variability in paying bribes and kickbacks to grease business transactions
is one of the thorniest ethical problems that multinational companies face because paying bribes is normal and customary in some countries and ethically or legally forbidden in others.
The strength of the beliefs underlying ethical universalism is that
it draws upon the collective views of multiple societies and cultures to put some clear boundaries on what constitutes ethical business behavior and what constitutes unethical business behavior no matter what country or culture a company is operating in.
A primary disadvantage of a centralized organizational structure is that it results in
lengthening response times and discouraging lower-level managers and rank-and-file employees from exercising initiative.
When a company's social responsibility initiatives become part of the way it operates its business every day, these initiatives are
likely to be fully effective in creating a competitive advantage.
An important consideration in designing a strategy-supportive motivation and reward system is to
make both monetary and nonmonetary rewards integral parts of the reward system.
Once values and ethical standards have been formally adopted, a company must
make it unequivocally clear that the company's core values and ethical standards are strictly enforced cultural norms.
Lagunitas Brewing Company has successfully and methodically applied Six Sigma methods to its value chain, activity by activity, so that the company can
make major strides in improving the proficiency with which its strategy is executed without sacrificing innovation.
An important consideration in designing a strategy-supportive reward system is to
make nonmonetary rewards and recognition an integral part of the reward system.
Triple-bottom-line (TBL) reporting is emerging as an important way for companies to
make the results of their CSR strategies apparent to stakeholders and for stakeholders to hold companies accountable for their impact on society.
The guidelines for designing an incentive compensation system that will help drive successful strategy execution include
making the payoff for meeting or beating performance targets a major, not minor, piece of the total compensation package.
The guidelines for designing an incentive compensation system that will help drive successful strategy execution include
making the performance payoff a major, not minor, piece of the total compensation package.
What technique can be utilized by leaders to stay informed on how well the strategy execution process is progressing?
managing by walking around
If one concurs with the school of ethical universalism, then one believes that
many basic moral standards travel well across cultures and countries and really do not vary significantly according to local cultural beliefs, social mores, religious convictions, and/or the circumstances of the situation.
Companies that adopt the principle of ethical relativism in providing ethical guidance to company personnel
may quickly find themselves on a slippery slope with no higher order moral compass if they operate in countries where ethical standards vary considerably from country to country.
A company's stated core values and ethical principles are
meant to foster a work climate where company personnel share common and strongly held convictions about how the company's business is to be conducted and provide guidance in displaying the core values in their actions and behaviors.
An environmental sustainability strategy consists of a company's deliberate actions to
meet the current needs of customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders in a manner that protects the environment, provides for the longevity of natural resources, maintains ecological support systems for future generations, and guards against ultimate endangerment of the planet.
Designing a reward and incentive system that helps promote good strategy execution would NOT be characterized by
minor payoffs as a piece of the total compensation package.
Larger firms with more complex organizational structures are
more decentralized in their decision-making than smaller firms.
A network structure is likely to be poorly managed if
no one firm has a central control over the others.
Well-conceived, state-of-the-art information and operating systems
not only enable better strategy execution but also strengthen organizational capabilities (perhaps enough to provide a competitive edge over rivals).
A company's environmental sustainability strategy consists of its deliberate actions to
operate the business in a manner that promotes the longevity of sustainability effects
Imagine you are a consultant to a local donut shop chain. You have been asked to design a superior strategy execution effort for the owners of the company. What process management tool would you most likely NOT provide to the owners?
operating practices that generate economies of scale and scope without a reconfiguration of the donut chain's current value chain activities.
A change in strategy nearly always entails budget reallocations because
organizational units important in the prior strategy but having a lesser role in the new strategy may need downsizing, while units and activities that now have a bigger and more critical strategic role may need more people, new equipment, additional facilities, and above-average increases in their operating budgets.
When it is difficult or impossible to out-strategize rivals (beat them with a superior strategy), the other main avenue to competitive advantage is to
out-execute them (beat them by performing certain value chain activities in superior fashion).
The primary activities involved in building an organization's strategy-supportive resources, capabilities, and organizational structure are NOT concerned with
overseeing all strategic activities including: related and unrelated diversification, internal business development, joint ventures and alliances, mergers and acquisitions, modes of entry into international markets, ethics training and sustainability programs, and relationships with key stakeholders.
Unethical managerial behavior tends to be driven by such factors as
overzealous or obsessive pursuit of personal gain, wealth, and other self interests; a company culture that puts the profitability and good business performance ahead of ethical behavior; and heavy pressures on company managers to meet or beat performance targets.
What makes the managerial task of executing strategy so challenging and demanding is the
people-management skills required, the resistance to change that has to be overcome, and the perseverance necessary to get a variety of initiatives launched and kept moving along.
In 2013, Google decided to kill its 20 percent time policy, which allowed its staff to work on side projects of their choice, one day per week. The decision to end the 20 percent time policy was most likely made in order to
permit reallocation of resources to enhance Google's strategy execution capabilities.
Prescribing policies and operating procedures aids the task of implementing strategy by
placing limits on ineffective independent action and channeling efforts of individuals along a path more conducive to good strategy execution and operating excellence.
Common moral agreement about right and wrong actions and behaviors across multiple cultures and countries, also known as ethical universalism, gives rise to
principles that set forth the traits and behaviors considered virtuous, that is, which a good person is supposed to believe in and display.
In prescribing policies and procedures that facilitate independent action on the part of empowered employees for good strategy execution, companies need to do ALL of the following EXCEPT
produce policy manuals on strategy execution that prescribe exactly how daily operations are to be conducted.
Sourcing a supply from a small, women-owned business is an example of a corporate social responsibility action to
promote workforce diversity
Accessing capabilities through an external source can be accomplished through all of these EXCEPT
promoting qualified people with the right know-how in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Companies are UNLIKELY to use outsourcing to improve performance of strategy-critical activities when they are engaged in
promoting quick establishment of a total quality culture.
Management's most powerful tool for mobilizing organizational commitment to competent strategy execution and operating excellence is the
proper use of a reward structure with motivational incentives.
A company that promotes carpooling among its employees, has cut its printer-paper usage in half, and has installed solar panels on its roof is an example of a corporate social responsibility action to
protect and sustain the environment
Deloitte's successful execution of its talent management strategy does NOT involve
punishment for missed deadlines, misdirected or wasteful efforts, and managerial ineptness.
An initial step that companies typically take in launching the strategy execution process is often to
put together a talented management team with the right mix of experiences, skills, and abilities to get things done.
The major disadvantage of a decentralized organizational structure is that it can result in
putting the organization at risk if higher-level management is unaware of their actions.
Good strategy execution requires which of the following?
putting those resources and capabilities into place, strengthening them as needed, and then modifying them as market conditions evolve
Business process reengineering is a tool for
radically redesigning and streamlining how an activity (workflow) is performed, by pulling the pieces of strategy-critical activities out of different departments and unifying their performance in a single department or cross-functional work group.
Recruiting and retaining capable employees does NOT entail
recruiting and retaining capable employees, which is usually much more important to good strategy execution and the achievement of true operating excellence than is assembling a capable top management team.
The principal advantage of a decentralized organizational structure is that it can
reduce the layers of management and encourage lower-level managers and rank-and-file employees to exercise initiative and act responsibly.
Valid business reasons for why companies should act in a socially responsible manner DO NOT include
reducing the triple bottom line
The big difference between business process reengineering and continuous improvement programs like TQM or Six Sigma is that
reengineering is a tool for achieving one-time quantum improvement, whereas TQM and Six Sigma programs aim at ongoing incremental improvements.
The retelling of legendary stories does a lot for establishing a company's core values, but it should NOT
reflect an aspect of company culture no longer current.
Managers charged with implementing and executing strategy need to be deeply involved in the budgeting and resource allocation process because of all the following reasons EXCEPT
resource allocation involves screening of requests for people, facilities, and equipment, and approving them whether they contribute to the strategy execution effort or not.
Enlisting employees' sustained and energetic commitment to good strategy execution and achievement of the strategic priorities and financial objectives is best done by
resourceful and effective use of motivational incentives, both monetary and nonmonetary.
PepsiCo's Global Code of Conduct provides specific guidance concerning how to make decisions, how to treat others, and how to conduct business globally, organized around four key operating principles
respect in the workplace, integrity in the marketplace, ethics in business activities, and responsibility to shareholders
A disadvantage of the centralized organization is that it
results in higher-level managers being unaware of actions taken by empowered personnel under their supervision.
Managers can alter a problem culture if they
revise policies and procedures in ways that will help drive cultural change and replace senior executives who are resisting and obstructing needed organizational and cultural changes.
To create a strategy-supportive system of rewards and incentives, a company must
reward people for accomplishing results, not just for dutifully performing assigned tasks.
NOT among the reasons that Wegmans Food Markets delivers above-average profit margins and has below-average employee turnover rates in comparison to its supermarket industry rivals is
rewards and benefits substantially lower than supermarket industry averages in order to boost profit margins.
The approach to identifying the items needed to be placed on management's action agenda of the strategy execution plan always involves
senior management's judgment about how to proceed in light of prevailing circumstances.
The menu of actions management can take to change problem culture does NOT include which of the following?
shifting from decentralized to centralized decision-making so as to give senior executives more authority and control in driving the cultural change
Marianne has opened a jewelry shop in your community and sources precious gems and metals only from Canada rather than Africa. Her rationale for her CSR and environmentally sustainable business practices includes all of the following EXCEPT
shortening the supply chain
A motivation and incentive system that is aimed at spurring stronger employee commitment to good strategy execution
should focus on incorporating more positive than negative motivational elements.
Outsourcing value chain activities has such strategy executing advantages as
shrinking internal bureaucracies, decreasing delays in decision-making, and accelerating responses to changing market conditions.
Visible actions to reallocate operating funds and move people into different and new organizational units
signal a determined commitment to strategic change and can help catalyze and give credibility to the implementation process.
Facebook has hired you to manage its launch team for its new dating app. What would be the highest priority on your list of activities to ensure a successful launch and implementation of this new app?
staffing the organization, acquiring, developing, and strengthening key resources and competitive capabilities, and structuring the organization and work effort.
The three components of building a capable organization are
staffing the organization, acquiring, developing, and strengthening key resources and competitive capabilities, and structuring the organization and work effort.
Building an organization capable of good strategy execution entails
staffing the organization, building core competencies and competitive capabilities, and structuring the organization and work effort.
The three components of building a capable organization are
staffing the organization, building core competencies and competitive capabilities, and structuring the organization and work effort.
To obtain maximum benefits from benchmarking, best practices, reengineering, TQM, and Six Sigma programs aimed at facilitating better strategy execution, managers need to
start with a clear idea of what specific outcomes really matter, such as a Six Sigma defect rate or superior customer satisfaction, and then build a total quality culture that is genuinely committed to achieving these outcomes.
Natalie and Vinnie are co-owners of the Russian River Brewing Company, a craft brewer and brewpub located in Northern California. Natalie is President and Vinnie is the brewmaster. Which three techniques are the owners NOT likely to adopt to promote the brewery's operating excellence and further the cause of good strategy execution?
strategic resource training, standard industry techniques, and competitor strength matrix techniques
What is UNLIKELY to be effective in trying to gain employees' wholehearted commitment to good strategy execution?
strictly enforcing all rules in the employee handbook with the use of fines
A no-pressure/no-adverse-consequences work environment does not necessarily lead to
superior strategy execution or operating excellence.
A company that sets aside 2 percent of its pre-tax profits to build and then fund a cancer-recovery facility for teens is an example of a corporate social responsibility action to
support philanthropy.
Apple decides to reallocate resources by curtailing online ad budgets and investing heavily in scratch-resistant Sapphire, the material that differentiates the Apple Watch from rival wearable computing device brands. What is MOST LIKELY the reason for Apple's reallocation of resources?
supporting the new strategic initiative of the brand
When companies formulate and implement a strategy of corporate social responsibility, they generally do NOT
take steps to provide suppliers, distributors, and other value chain partners with handsome profit margins
Characteristics of an unhealthy, politicized internal corporate environment DO NOT include
taking of positions on issues
One of the big weaknesses of organization structures that do not have cross-business collaboration is
that pieces of strategically relevant activities and capabilities often end up scattered across many departments, with each pursuing its own priorities, projects, and agendas.
Total quality management (TQM) emphasizes all of the following EXCEPT
the adoption of industry standard operating practices.
You are considering employment opportunities after graduation. What would you look for in identifying a prospective employer's company's culture?
the atmosphere, spirit and character that pervades the work climate and the values, business principles, and ethical standards that management preaches and practices
The two best signs of good strategy execution are whether
the company is meeting or beating its performance targets and whether it is performing value chain activities in a manner that is conducive to companywide operating excellence.
A company's CSR and sustainability strategies is NOT characterized by
the company's demonstration of an adequate degree of social responsibility or efforts to be a model corporate citizen unless it spends 5 percent (or more) of pretax profits on social responsibility initiatives.
The theory of corporate social responsibility concerns
the company's responsibility to balance between strategic actions to benefit shareholders against the duty to be a good corporate citizen.
Implementing and executing strategy successfully requires
the efforts of a company's whole management team, not just a few senior managers.
The litmus test of a company's code of ethics is
the extent to which it is embraced in crafting strategy and in the day-to-day operations of the business
A firm's organizational structure is comprised of
the formal and informal arrangement of tasks, responsibilities, lines of authority, and reporting relationships by which the firm is administered.
The school of ethical universalism holds that
the most fundamental conceptions of right and wrong are universal and apply to members of all societies, all companies, and all businesspeople
Senior executives can ensure compliance with the ethical code of conduct by considering whether
the proposed action is fully compliant and in harmony with the code of ethical conduct and whether stakeholders would consider anything ethically objectionable.
The contentions that (1) many of the same standards of what's ethical and what's unethical resonate with peoples of most societies regardless of local traditions and cultural norms and (2) to the extent there is common moral agreement about right and wrong actions, common ethical standards can be used to judge the conduct of personnel at companies operating in a variety of country markets and cultural circumstances, are defining beliefs of which of the following?
the school of ethical universalism but not the school of ethical relativism
Short-termism is defined as
the tendency for managers to focus on immediate performance objectives at the expense of longer-term strategic objectives.
In order to coordinate and control the complex set of activities, managers must ensure
the various parts of the organizational structure are aligned with one another and also matched to the requirements of the strategy.
When Robin and Rich ask for a client's financial statements in order to complete the data collection for their strategic management project, the owner of the business tells Robin that his accountants are "preparing the financials but these won't be ready for several months." The client instead suggests that Robin and Rich fabricate the financials instead, since what he "really wants is a marketing plan," and that "no one will ever know if you've seen the actual financials or not." Which of the following should NOT guide Robin and Rich in their decision whether or not to take this as an authorization to submit false data as part of their final report?
their desire to complete the project, independent of their actual performance on the project
According to the ethical relativism school of thinking,
there can be no one-size-fits-all template (set of authentic ethical norms) against which to gauge the conduct of company personnel, due to cross-cultural differences in ethical standards.
The rationale for making strategy-critical value chain activities the primary building blocks in a company's organizational scheme is based on the
thesis that if activities crucial to strategic success are to have the resources, decision-making influence, and organizational impact, they have to be centerpieces in the organizational scheme.
A well-designed reward system
ties rewards to performance outcomes directly linked to good strategy execution and the achievement of financial and strategic objectives.
What are the principal managerial components of the strategy execution process developed by Zara, the world's largest fashion retail chain?
tightly aligning design, production, advertising, and real estate with the overall strategy of fast fashion
What is an INEFFECTIVE management action to remodel a corporate culture?
to call upon first-level supervisors and rank-and-file employees to identify cultural barriers to good strategy execution and then to lead the cultural change effort
A useful guideline in designing strategy-facilitating policies and operating procedures is
to prescribe enough policies to give organizational members clear direction in implementing strategy and to place desirable boundaries on their actions, then empower them to act within these boundaries however they think makes sense.
According to the school of ethical universalism
to the extent there is common moral agreement about right and wrong actions and behaviors across multiple cultures and countries, there exists a set of universal ethical standards to which all societies and all individuals can be held accountable
Integrated social contracts theory DOES NOT apply
to the slippery slope of ethical relativism.
Although ultimate responsibility for implementing and executing strategy falls upon the shoulders of senior executives,
top-level managers still have to rely on the active support and cooperation of middle and lower-level managers in pushing needed changes in functional areas and operating units.
Merely fine-tuning the execution of a company's existing strategy normally requires
trimming costs and shifting resources to activities that have a higher priority.
What actions, behaviors, and work practices that are conducive to good strategy implementation support the strategy execution effort?
using peer pressure to company personnel to perform, enhancing worker productivity and buy-in, and focusing the attention of employees on what is most important
Six Sigma programs
utilize advanced statistical methods to improve quality by reducing defects and variability in the performance of business processes
A manufacturer and marketer of prescription pharmaceuticals decided to raise the price of its anti-malaria drug from $15.00 per dose to $750.00 per dose, a price increase of 5,000 percent. Following a public outcry, the CEO was forced to resign, the company was forced to retract the price hike, and the company's stock price sharply declined. Which of the following has the company incurred?
visible and intangible costs
A multinational automobile manufacturer issues a public statement that the company's vehicle emissions tests had been falsified to meet environmental compliance standards over recent years using software specifically designed for that purpose. Following the news, the CEO is replaced, vehicle sales plummet, and the company's stock price sharply declines. Which of the following has the company incurred?
visible and intangible costs
Practices that the most successful companies like Alphabet, Boston Consulting Group, Edward Jones, Deloitte, Facebook, Genentech, Intuit, and Salesforce.com use to hire the best people they can find do NOT include
weeding out the 20 percent lowest-performing employees each year.
When are capabilities-motivated acquisitions essential?
when industry conditions, like technology advances, are central to growth and rivalry is intense
Training and retraining of employees likely to make the LEAST important contribution to good strategy execution is
when the strategy execution effort is based on tried-and-true operating practices that vary little from year to year.
The underlying thesis of ethical relativism DOES NOT imply that
when there are cross-country or cross-cultural differences in ethical standards, it is appropriate for ethical standards in a company's home market to take precedence over what the local ethical standards may be
The school of ethical relativism holds that
when there are cross-country or cross-cultural differences in what is deemed ethical or unethical in business situations, it is appropriate for local moral standards to take precedence over what the ethical standards may be elsewhere.
When are multiple subcultures MOST problematic?
when they embrace conflicting business philosophies that are inconsistent with superior strategy execution
A belief in ethical relativism leads to the conclusion that
whether the use of underage labor and the payment of bribes/kickbacks should be deemed ethical or unethical depends on the moral standards, values, and business norms that prevail in particular cultures, societies, countries, or circumstances
What is NOT a recommended incentive when trying to gain employees' wholehearted commitment to good strategy execution and operating excellence?
withholding information from employees about financial performance, strategy, and competitors' actions.