chp 6
Pete's Snacks enjoys a competitive advantage as a cost-leader because high demand for its products has allowed it to operate at the minimum efficient scale. Which of the following scenarios would be most concerning to the managers of Pete's Snacks?
A major winter storm shuts down Pete's production for several days.
Due to its large sales volume and low-cost structure, Bunny's Lo-Cost enjoys a cost-leadership position. Which of the following scenarios might threaten Bunny's competitive advantage?
A new competitor is perceived to provide similar value, but in addition offers innovative self-checkout that Bunny's doesn't offer.
is best described as decreases in cost per unit as output increases.
Economies of scale
While Eye Windows incurs a cost of $12 for a pair of eyeglasses, Dura Frames, its competitor, manufactures a pair of glasses at $10. Both the companies are able to sell their glasses for a maximum of $30 per pair. Which of the following statements is true in this scenario?
Eye Windows and Dura Frames have achieved differentiation parity.
Which of the following is an accurate statement about learning effects?
Learning effects occur over time as output accumulates.
Mohawk is a leader in sustainable and innovative carpeting and floorings, as evidenced by its signature product, the world's first organic cotton carpet. Its product is unique and has appealing customer attributes. If Mohawk's raw material costs increased by 12 percent this year, what would be the likely outcome?
Mohawk would pass a major portion of this increase along as a price increase to its customers.
In order to achieve a competitive advantage, the Heavenly Hotels, a chain of luxury beach resorts, wants to increase its market share. Which of the following strategies is most likely to do so?
Take advantage of economies of scale and scope by opening a chain of lower-priced economy hotels that leverage the Heavenly Hotels brand image.
When examining all the generic strategies, which of the following below is inherently superior in every industry?
There is no single superior business-level strategy.
Tablette Corp. is a consumer electronics company known for its affordable mobile devices that follows a cost-leadership strategy. In this scenario, Tablette Corp. should ideally compare its strategic position with
a consumer electronics company popular among price-conscious customers.
Tough Guy's Inc. is a chain of gyms. It offers a fitness package that allows its members to use the gym facilities for 12 months by paying only for 10 months. Included in the package are two health check-ups and a gym kit. These add-ons by themselves are not very valuable, but as a package they can enhance the perceived value of the service offerings. In this case, Tough Guy's primary value driver is
availability of complements.
Which of the following is primarily a value driver?
complements
Louis's Secondhand Store offers slightly lower quality merchandise than competitors at a much lower price. What strategy is Louis's Secondhand Store using?
cost leadership strategy
The concept of a(n) ________ attempts to capture both learning effects and process improvements at firms.
experience curve
The question that business-level strategy answers is ________ the firm will compete.
how
Which of the following drivers simultaneously increases value while lowering cost?
innovation
According to the five forces model, which of the following is viewed as a major risk to a business pursuing a cost-leadership strategy?
innovation that allows competitors to emerge with more economical replacements
NuLiver Corp. has recently introduced a new production method that will make the production of their medical devices more cost-effective. Which of the following will most likely be the result of this innovation?
jumps to a steeper learning curve
Spotless Inc. outsources its production to contract manufacturers located in underdeveloped nations where unskilled labor is at very low wages is plentiful. This has helped the company become a price leader in the chemicals industry. Which of the following is the key driver behind Spotless Inc.'s strategic position?
low-cost input factors
A firm's business strategy can lead to a competitive advantage if it allows the firm to
perform different activities than its rivals.
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
One of the reasons that big box retailers like Home Depot are able to achieve economies of scale is that
they are able to take advantage of physical properties and maximize their scale efficiencies by stocking more merchandise and handling inventory more efficiently.
Which of the following provides an example of a firm in a red ocean?
Cool Apparel offered clothing at a low price but failed to differentiate its product as being exclusive.
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
When a firm makes choices between a cost or value position to achieve competitive advantage, it is primarily involved in
strategic tradeoffs.
CooCoo Cola has successfully achieved a competitive advantage in the soft drink industry as a differentiator. Which of the following scenarios would undermine CooCoo's position?
CooCoo's customers start to consider soda a commodity.
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.
ComfySeat Furniture is a brand reputed for its wide variants of sofas that introduced a new range of mattresses and bed frames a few years ago. Since most of its products could be produced using the same resources and technology, the company's cost structure lowered, while its product portfolio widened. In this scenario, which of the following value and cost drivers is ComfySeat applying?
economies of scope
Value drivers contribute to a firm's competitive advantage only if
the increase in value creation exceeds the increase in costs.
A differentiation strategy works best when a
firm has intangible resources, is able to pass on increases in supplier cost to the customer, and its differentiation appeal creates customer loyalty.
Whole Foods focuses on a small market segment, affluent consumers who want to buy high-end, organic groceries. What is the appropriate name for Whole Foods's scope of competition?
focused
All of the following are generic business-level strategies except
focused marketing strategy.
A value curve indicates a lack of effectiveness in a firm's strategic profile when it
zig-zags
The primary goal of a firm pursuing a blue ocean strategy should be to
offer a differentiated product or service at a low cost.
At a certain output level, the per-unit cost incurred by a firm to manufacture a product was $70. Once the cumulative output doubled, the cost per unit reduced to $63. All other factors remaining constant, the firm has been able to achieve a(n)
90 percent learning curve.
CooCoo Cola has successfully achieved a competitive advantage in the soft drink industry as a differentiator. Which of the following scenarios would undermine CooCoo's position?
CooCoo's customers start to consider soda a commodity
Connell Inc. has been successful at differentiating itself from competitors by claiming a premium price for its digital cameras based on superior image quality and advanced technology. In this scenario, which of the following is the key value driver?
product features
Customer service and ________ are two of the value drivers that managers can utilize when trying to improve a firm's differentiation strategic position.
product uniqueness
When a blue ocean strategy goes bad, a firm has neither a clear differentiation nor a clear cost-leadership profile. This situation is referred to as
stuck in the middle.
A blue ocean strategy differs from a low-cost strategy in that
the intent of a blue ocean strategy is not to be the absolute lowest-cost provider because a blue ocean must also increase perceived value.
Which of the following best describes a strategic tradeoff?
the tension between value creation and the pressure to keep costs in check
When a firm operates at an output level of 9,000 units, the per-unit cost is $5. When the production is between 10,000-12,000 units, the per-unit cost is $4. At a production level of 13,000 units, the production cost is again $5 per unit. At 14,000 units and above, the production cost increases further. At what output level does the firm experience economies of scale?
11,000 units
When a firm manufactures 2,000-3,000 units of a product, it incurs an average cost of $10 per unit. When it manufactures 3,000-4,000 units of the same product, the average cost per unit reduces to $7. However, manufacturing beyond 4,000 units will raise the average cost per unit to $9. Which of the following is the firm's minimum efficient scale?
3,000-4,000 units
AcerWare Inc. manufactures external hard disks for $32 per unit, and the maximum price customers are willing to pay is $47 per unit. Data Driver Inc. is a competitor of AcerWare Inc. that produces external hard disks for $37 per unit, and customers are willing to pay a maximum price of $50 per unit. What does this imply?
AcerWare creates a greater economic value than Data Driver.
Which of the following describes an airline that is most likely stuck in the middle?
Eastern Airlines offers high-quality beverages and meals, plush airport lounges, only a few connections via hubs domestically, poor customer service, and low prices.
Both Tom's Car Repair and Fast Engines. incur a cost of $9,000 to manufacture a vehicle. However, the economic value created by Fast Engines. is more than that created by Tom's Car Repair. What does this indicate?
Fast Engines can charge a premium price on its automobiles.
Although JetBlue used a blue ocean strategy to achieve an initial competitive advantage, it failed to maintain this advantage. Which of the following provides the best reason for this development?
It failed to refine its strategic position over time.
How is a cost-leader protected from threats from powerful suppliers?
It is more able to absorb price increases through accepting lower profit margins.
How did Marriott use economies of scope to achieve greater economic value than its competitors?
Marriott lowered its cost structure by sharing its production assets over several types of hotels, which increased the diversity of its hotel line and thus its differentiated appeal.
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
All of the following are questions that managers should ask before crafting a business-level strategy except
When should we introduce our product/service in the market?
When wireless service providers offer free or discounted mobile phones for subscriptions to their wireless voice and data service, the perceived value of the service offering increases. In this case, the value driver would be
availability of complements.
When a firm is able to successfully employ a blue ocean strategy, it will create a competitive advantage by
beating rivals on product attributes while offering a better price.
In the multiplex industry, Home Again Movies Inc. is an upscale multiplex that focuses on superior customer experience. The firm charges premium prices for its movie tickets and services. Movies-for-less Inc., in contrast, charges the lowest price in the industry with its no-frills approach. In between these two segments is Just Right Films Inc., which offers a customer experience comparable to that of Home Again Movies at a price almost as low as that of Movies-for-less. What strategy is Just Right Films pursuing in this scenario?
blue ocean strategy
When pursuing a cost-leadership strategy, a business must remember that
buyers will be reluctant to pay for a product unless the quality is acceptable.
Benny's Closet Inc. is an apparel company that caters to highly price-conscious customers. Through its simple apparel designs, acceptable quality levels, and minimal customer service, the company has been able to sell its merchandise at the lowest prices in the industry. Which of the following generic business strategies is Benny's Closet applying?
cost-leadership
A differentiator is least likely to be threatened by increases in input prices due to powerful suppliers when the
differentiator is able to create a significant difference between perceived value and current market prices.
Marriott is able to create greater economic value than its competitors due to their ability to take advantage of ________, which describe the savings that come from producing two (or more) outputs at less cost than producing one output individually, while utilizing the same amount of resources and technology.
economies of scope
Finger Lickin' 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 strategy canvas for movie theaters includes factors such as prices, comfort, customer service, concessions variety, and hours of operation. Which of the following value curves is most likely to represent a theater that successfully positions itself as a differentiator?
high price, high comfort, high customer service, high concessions variety, low hours of operation
Trader Joe's differentiates itself from competitors by offering top-quality foods obtained through sustainable agriculture. This business strategy implies that Trader Joe's focuses on
increasing the perceived value created for customers, which allows it to charge a premium price.
We Cut Corners lawn service 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
To initiate a strategic move that allows a firm to open up new and uncontested market space through value innovation, managers must address four key questions when formulating a blue ocean business strategy. These questions focus on
lowering cost and increasing perceived customer benefits.
Which of the following sources of differential appeal is least effective in helping a firm sustain its advantage?
observable product features
A firm experiences diseconomies of scale when it
produces at an output level beyond the minimum efficient scale.
The goal of a strategic position is to create the largest gap possible between the ________ that a firm creates through its offerings and the ________ required to create these offerings.
value; cost
Power Juice is the owner of a firm that produces sports drinks. Since there are a number of firms in the industry competing on cost, Power Juice has decided to pursue a differentiation strategy. In this case, she should
focus on adding unique features to her product that customers will value.
Trader Joe's successfully used a blue ocean strategy by offering lower-cost food than Whole Foods for the same market of patrons. By doing this, Trader Joe's was able to
gain a market share and make up the loss in margin through increased sales.
When a firm combines experience-based learning and process innovation, the firm
jumps to a steeper learning curve.