460

Cirque Du Solei

Blue Ocean

Unlike the financial ratios based on accounting data, total return to shareholders is

an external performance metric

Beach Grub is a chain of "fast casual" restaurants that sells its menu items at higher prices than its competitors. Yet, the restaurant has a large customer base due to its wide product portfolio and superior customer service. Which of the following generic business strategies has Beach Grub adopted in this scenario?

Differentiation

C.F. Martin

Focused Differentiation

Victoria's Secret

Focused Differentiation

How is a cost-leader protected from threats from powerful suppliers?

It is more able to absorb price increases through accepting lower profit margins.

What must a cost-leadership strategy accomplish to be successful?

It must reduce the firm's cost below that of its competitors while offering adequate value.

Which of the following best explains why a blue ocean strategy is difficult to implement?

It requires the reconciliation of fundamentally different strategic positions—differentiation and low cost.

______is best described as the output range needed to bring down the cost per unit as much as possible, allowing a firm to stake out the lowest-cost position that is achievable through economies of scale

Minimum efficient scale

Both Bison Autos and Sparrow Inc. incur a cost of $9,000 to manufacture a vechile. However, the economic value created by Sparrow Inc. is more than that created by Bison Autos. What does this indicate?

Sparrow Inc. can charge a premium price on its automobiles.

Which of the following is an external performance metric?

Total return to shareholders

_______ is a business model in which the manufacturer sets a fixed price on a product, but the retailer is free to set it's own price.

Wholesale

Airbase is a consumer electronics company known for its affordable mobile devices that follows a cost-leadership strategy. In this scenario, Airbase should ideally compare its strategic position with

a consumer-electronics company popular among price-conscious customers

Due to its large sales volume and low cost structure, Quick Serve Mini-Marts enjoys a cost leadership position. Which of the following scenarios might threaten Quick Serve's competitive advantage?

a new competitor is perceived to provide similar value, but in addition offers innovative self-checkout.

Ikea

blue ocean

Walmart

broad cost leadership

kia motors

broad cost leadership

coke

broad differentiation

delta Airlines

broad differentiation

liberty mutual

broad differentiation

porcshe

broad differentiation

A _____ primarily details the goal-directed actions managers take in their quest for competitive advantage when competing in a single product market.

business-level strategy

Tangles Costume Jewelry offers slightly lowerquality merchandise than competitors at a much lower price. What strategy is Tangles using?

cost-leadership

Threadless allows consumers to submit their own designs and to vote on which designs they would like to see printed on a T-shirt. This business uses a _________ technique.

crowdsourcing

DiscountHaven Inc. is a large chain of hypermarkets. It has cost benefits due to its extensive operation. The company's marketing and sales, logistics, administrative, and other such related costs get divided between a large number of product units stocked in its stores. This makes it difficult for smaller retail stores and supermarkets to compete against DiscountHaven's low prices. Thus, DiscountHaven has a competitive advantage due to its

economies of sale

Backyard BBQ is a chain of casual restaurants that promises affordable barbecue using top-quality local ingredients. However, the company has struggled to achieve a competitive advantage because of its high overhead costs. Which of the following scenarios is most likely to result in a competitive advantage?

eliminating brick-and-mortar locations and offering delivery from a central kitchen

The concept of an ______ attempts to capture both learning effects and process improvements at firms?

experience curve

Bic

focused cost leadership

Netflix

focused cost leadership

Ryanair

focused cost leadership

Ferrari

focused differentiation

cliff bar

focused differentiation

Aguilar Industries has produced a new piece of technology that will monitor the soil moisture in auser's garden and send a notification to an app on the user's phone when it is time to water theirplants. The goal of this inexpensive technology is to entice users to purchase Aguilar's moreexpensive automated watering system, so that they can trigger the watering process from the appon their phones. Which business model is most likely to help Aguilar Industries accomplish its goals?

freemium

When a differentiator charges a similar price as its competitors in the same strategic group but offers more perceived value, it

gains market share from other firms.

Meadows Mowers initially spent nine man-hours to assemble a lawnmower. But as the production doubled, the number of hours spent on assembling a mower reduced by 20 percent. This increase in productivity reduced the company's cost per unit. What is this phenomenon referred to as?

learning curve effect

From an investors' or shareholders' perspective, the measure of competitive advantage that matters most is the

return on risk capital.

Shark Fin Golf Club requires its members to pay a quarterly or an annual fee to use its services. Irrespective of whether they frequently use the services during the payment period or not, members have to pay in advance. Which of the following business models does this best illustrate?

subscription based

Which of the following is a firm effect that has an impact on the competitive advantage of a firm?

the value and the cost position of the firm relative to its competitors