Policy Midterm

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

Internal ________ are controllable activities in an organization that are performed especially well. A) opportunities B) incompetencies C) strengths D) objectives E) factors

C) strengths

One difference between a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) and an External Factor Evaluation (EFE) is that

CPM includes both internal and external issues.

The following excerpt from a mission statement illustrates which of the nine essential components of a mission statement? "We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses, patients, mothers, and all others who use our products and services."

Customers

Middle managers are generally the most visible and critical of all strategic managers.

False

Opportunities are a firm's distinctive competencies that cannot be easily matched or imitated by competitors.

False

What is the first step in designing an External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix?

Identifying key external factors

What category of ratios measures a firm's ability to meet its short-term obligations?

Liquidity

Which of the following is NOT an external force that must be examined in formulating strategies?

Organizational

________ captures the subtle, elusive, and largely unconscious forces that shape a workplace.

Organizational culture

Which component of a mission statement addresses the basic beliefs, values, aspirations, and ethical priorities of the firm?

Philosophy

What is the essential bridge between the present and the future that increases the likelihood of achieving desired results?

Planning

What category of ratios includes return on total assets and return on stockholders' equity?

Profitability

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

Rivalry among competing firms

What can be defined as the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives?

Strategic management

What step in the strategic management process involves mobilizing employees and managers to put strategies into action?

Strategy implementation

________ is NOT a strategy-implementation activity.

Taking corrective actions

Which statement is TRUE?

The vision statement should be established before the mission statement.

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

They are more expensive.

A vision statement should answer the question, "What do we want to become?"

True

Major competitors' strengths may represent key threats.

True

The terms "strategic management" and "strategic planning" are used synonymously in this text.

True

Which of the following is NOT true of vision statements?

Vision statements should indicate the expected amounts of profits the firm wants to make.

Which of these basic questions should a vision statement answer?

What do we want to become?

The goal of strategic management is to

achieve and maintain competitive advantage.

Anything that a firm does especially well compared to rival firms is referred to as

competitive advantage.

Uber has fewer fixed assets than the typical taxi fleet company. This type of benefit that a company such as Uber has is called a(n)

competitive advantage.

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.

All of the following are basic activities of management EXCEPT

consolidating

The initial step in developing an IFE Matrix is

developing a full and narrow list of key internal factors.

To perform an external audit, a company first must

gather competitive intelligence and information about external trends.

The United States' population is

getting older and less white.

An effective mission statement should do all of the following EXCEPT

include monetary amounts, numbers, percentages and ratios.

The recommended length of an effective mission statement is ________ words.

less than 100

The strategic-management process represents a(n) ________, ________, and ________ approach for determining an enterprise's future direction.

logical; systematic; objective

The question, "geographically, where does the firm compete?" is part of the ________ component of the mission statement.

markets

A resource is valuable if it is rare, hard to imitate, or

not easily substitutable.

The ideal length of a vision statement is

one sentence

Which management function includes breaking tasks into jobs, combining jobs to form departments, and delegating authority?

organizing

In determining the ________, marketers often make decisions related to areas such as warehousing, distribution channels, and retail site locations

place

All of the following are political, governmental, and legal variables that can represent key opportunities or threats to organizations EXCEPT

population changes by race, age, sex, and level of affluence.

An organization should take a(n) ________ approach in its industry

proactive rather than a reactive

Because of the success of the iPad and the iPhone, Apple has tremendous brand recognition. Brand recognition is one of Apple's

strengths

2 + 2 = 5 is the mathematical expression of the concept of

synergy

Since ________ resources can more easily be bought and sold, ________ resources are often more important for gaining and sustaining competitive advantages.

tangible; intangible

The emergence of 3D printing is an example of a(n) ________ force that impacts organizations.

technological

Generally, external opportunities and threats are

uncontrollable by a single organization.

All of the following are basic functions of marketing EXCEPT

value chain analysis.