BUS 496 Ch 3

Globalization of industries is occurring for all the reasons except:

A worldwide trend toward different consumption patters.

Which state has the highest percentage of minorities?

Alaska

The world of biopolitics includes:

All of the above (assisted suicide, cloning, genetic engineering, abortion)

________ is not part of an external audit.

Analyzing financial ratios.

The fastest growing state, in number of residents, is:

Arizona

The process of performing an external audit needs to include:

As many managers and employees as possible.

Learning from the partner is a major reason why _____ firms enter into cooperative agreements.

Asian

Planning would be impossible without:

Assumptions

If suppliers are unreliable or too costly, which of these strategies may be appropriate?

Backward integration

One difference between CPM and EFE is that:

CPM includes both internal and external views.

Which state is leading the way in pushing for higher environmental standards?

California

Who is Japan's largest trading partner?

China

In 2006, which company had the dominant market share in the beverages industry?

Coca-Cola Enterprises

Technological advancements can create new _______ advantages that are more powerful than existing advantages.

Competitive

A systematic and ethical process for gathering and analyzing information about the competition's activities and general trends to further a business' own goals is called:

Competitive intelligence

Which of the following is not a characteristic that describes the most competitive companies in America?

Divestiture is essential to growth

Which type of trend is exemplified by the increasing numbers of two-income households in American?

Economic

What happens to the demand for discretionary goods when interest rates rises?

First rises then declines

What are educated assumptions about future trends and events?

Forecasts

Keeping strategies secret from employees and stakeholders can do all of the following except:

Provide competitive advantage to competitors.

Freund emphasizes that key external factors should be all of these except:

Relatively few in number.

According to Porter, what is usually the most powerful of the five competitive forces?

Rivalry among competing firms.

What effect do trends in the dollar's values have on companies in different industries and in different locations?

Significant and unequal

Collecting and evaluating information on competitors is essential for successful:

Strategy formulation

The term that refers to the EU's effort to end competitive tax breaks among member countries is:

Tax harmonization

Americans are on the move in population shift to:

The south and West

Chinas current rank in automobile production is:

Third

________ is not a basic mission of a competitive intelligence program.

To identify industry executives who could be hired by the firm.

"Innovate or evaporate; particularly in technology-driven businesses, nothing quite recedes like success," is a characteristic given that describes the most competitive companies in America.

True

A characteristic that describes the most competitive companies in America is "whether it's broke or not, fix it—make it better; not just products, but the whole company if necessary."

True

The U.S. Air Force is one of the top five buyers of green power.

True

What is the range for a firm's total weighted score in an External Factor Evaluation Matrix?

1 to 4

What is not one of Michael Porter's five competitive forces?

Bargaining power of unions.

Because of the Internet, barriers to personal and business success are:

Being eliminated

Which statement about business intelligence is least accurate?

Business intelligence is not equal to espionage

To perform an external audit a company first must:

Gather competitive intelligence and information about external trends.

Which of the following is a process of worldwide integration of strategy, formulation, implementation and evualtion actives?

Globalization

What level of bargaining power do consumers have when the products being purchased are standard or undifferentiated?

High

The international challenge faced by U.S. business is twofold:

How to gain and maintain exports to other nations and how to defend domestic markets against imported goods.

What is the first step in designing an EFE Matrix?

Identifying key external factors in the industry.

Whenever new firms can easily enter a particular industry, the intensity of competitiveness among firms:

Increases

According to I/O theorists, which of the following contributes least to firm performance?

Internal resources

Intensity of competition ______ in lower-return industries

Is highest

Who are the world's longest-living people?

Japenese

Which state has the oldest average population?

Maine

In general, what happens to American goods in overseas markets when there is a strong dollar?

More expensive

Which company is the top buyer of green power?

PepsiCo

Identifying and evaluation key social, political, economic, technological and competitive trends and events comprise:

Performing an external audit.

Which sector of the economy would be most impacted by technological developments?

Pharmaceuticals

When an industry relies heavily on government contracts, which forecasts can be the most important part of an external audit?

Political

A global strategy seeks to meet the needs of customers worldwide with the lowest cost at the highest value.

True

According to Business Week, and 9 out of 10 large companies have employees dedicated solely to gathering competitive intelligence.

True

According to Michael Porter, five competitive forces create vital opportunities and threats to organizations: (1) new entrants, (2) substitute products or services, (3) bargaining power of suppliers, (4) bargaining power of buyers, and (5) rivalry among existing firms.

True

An economic trend in america is the increases numbers of two-income households.

True

An effective CI program allows all areas of a firm to access consistent and verifiable information in making decisions.

True

Both a Competitive Profile Matrix and an EFE Matrix have the same meaning in the weights, ratings and total weighted scores.

True

Competitive intelligence is not considered corporate espionage because 95 percent of the information a company needs to make strategic decisions is available and assessable to the public.

True

External audits attempt to identify key variables that offer actionable responses.

True

Forecasts are educated assumptions about future trends and events.

True

Globalization is a process of worldwide integration of strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation activities.

True

In 2006, china produced more automobiles than Germany.

True

In an EFE Matrix, opportunities often receive higher weights than threats, but threats too can receive high weights if they are especially severe or threatening.

True

In practice, critical technology decisions are too often delegated to power organizational levels or are made without an understand go their strategic implications.

True

Industry analysis is also referred to as external management audit.

True

It is predicted that, by 2025, over 18% of the population in the United states with be over 65 years old.

True

Laser eye surgery would be considered a substitute for eyeglasses and contact lenses.

True

Nevada has the highest percentage of minority residents.

True

Political forecasts can be the most important part of an external audit for firms that depend heavily on government contracts.

True

Population growth in Idaho makes it one of the five fastest growing states.

True

Quantitative forecasts become less accurate as historical relationships become less stable.

True

Rampant corruption and the absence of a legal system are risks that still restrain firms from initiating business with China.

True

Significant barriers to entry are not always sufficient to keep some new firms from entering industries with higher-quality products lower prices and substantial marketing resources.

True

The Internet is changing the very nature of many industries by altering product life cycles and changing the historical trade-off between production standardization and flexibility.

True

The United States is getting older and less Caucasian.

True

The average age of the residents in Texas makes it one of the five youngest states.

True

The bargaining power of consumers can be the most important force impacting competitive advantage.

True

To perform an external audit, a company first must gather competitive intelligence and information about social, cultural, demographic, environmental, economic, political, legal, governmental and technological trends.

True

Without reasonable assumptions, the strategy-formation process could not proceed effectively.

True

As many managers and employees as possible should be involved in the process of performing an external audit

Ture

Which state has the youngest average population?

Utah

The I/O approach to competitive advantage advocates that external factors are _______ internal factors in a firm achieving competitive advantage.

more important than

It is predicted that the United States will have how many racial or thence majorities by the year 2075?

none