SMCT

True or false: When leadership must make corrective adjustments in the company's strategy or strategy execution, it is a sure sign that the strategy is a complete failure and should be abandoned.

False

Which of the following is not one of the three most common approaches to building core competencies and competitive capabilities?

Restructuring and de-layering the organizational hierarchy

Which of the following are examples of substantive culture-changing actions that signal unmistakable support for a culture change?

Rewarding employees who participate in the new culture Requiring employees to participate in training programs about the new culture Hiring new employees who can adhere to the new culture

Information systems for companies need to provide accurate data in which of the following areas?

supplier and partner data employee data financial data customer data

To carry out an organization's strategy proficiently, executives should

take the lead in the implementation process.

Which of the following are components of an organization's corporate culture?

the company's standards and tenets the company's "personality" the general way a company does business

Which of the following are ways that managers can support strategy execution?

-by creating an organizational structure that promotes strategy execution -by developing policies and procedures that enable strategy execution -by creating a conducive corporate culture

How do well-designed policies and procedures support successful strategy execution?

-by imposing consistency -by offering guidance -by helping to create a conducive corporate climate

Which of the following are practices that companies use to ensure that they have a creative workforce?

-carefully choosing who to hire -training workers routinely -giving workers interesting and engaging assignments that challenge them

A company can attain capabilities through collaborative partnerships by: (Check all that apply.)

-contracting work to another company. -entering into a relationship with another company and working together toward a shared goal. -entering into a relationship with another company in order to learn its techniques.

When is an acquisition or merger essential to the functioning of a company?

-when there is not enough time for internal development -when there is rapid change occurring in area of the market that is related to a product or service they offer

______ is a process by which strategy-critical activities are unified in a single division or work group.

Business process reengineering

To change an unhealthy corporate culture, what is the first step management should take?

Recognize the aspects of the existing culture that are unhealthy.

What is a downside of the Six Sigma DMADV and DMAIC quality control methods?

They can suppress creativity and experimentation.

A travel company sells tours in Costa Rica on its website. Instead of designing the website themselves, the company hired an outside software development company to design, run, and manage the website for them. This is an example of

accessing capabilities through a collaborative partnership.

Putting constructive pressure on employees to achieve successful outcomes works in which of the following ways?

by supporting continuous improvement by motivating employees in numerous ways

What has the largest effect on changing corporate culture?

capable leadership at the top of the organization

What is the trouble with a highly decentralized organization?

ensuring that lower-level employees are making appropriate decisions

The actions that top executives should take to lead the strategy execution process include

helping employees execute strategy successfully. knowing what's going on at all levels of the organization. making sure results are strategy-oriented.

In a(n) ______ organizational culture, employees get things done well and work hard to achieve positive results.

high-performance

In a company with ______, the presence of contradictory business values, beliefs, and philosophies can lead to uneven execution of strategy.

incompatible subcultures

Hero Rent-A-Car has been the market leader in auto rentals for many years. Its employees are confident that they understand everything it takes to be successful in the industry and they feel they have nothing to learn from other companies both inside and outside the auto rental industry. Hero likely has what type of corporate culture?

insular

The most common approaches to capability building are internal development, acquiring capabilities through _____ and _____, and accessing capabilities through collaborative partnerships.

mergers and acquisitions

A ______ is the arrangement linking a number of independent organizations involved in some common undertaking.

network structure

An approach that executives use to keep abreast of strategy execution by employees is to regularly visit a variety of people at different levels in the organizational structure. This approach is commonly referred to as MBWA, or managing by _____ around.

walking

Which of the following statements are true concerning decision-making authority in organization?

-In a centralized organization, decision-making authority is located at the highest level. -In a decentralized organization, decision-making authority is located at the lowest level.

Which qualities suggest that managers will be successful in their job?

-They can determine the steps that need to be taken to get the job done. -They can get the job done. -The results of their work are of high quality.

______ is a company's internal work climate shaped by core values, beliefs, and business principles.

Corporate culture

How should performance payoffs be structured?

Employees who perform at higher levels than their peers should receive substantially higher payoffs.

Which of the following is generally true regarding allocation of resources in a company that is executing a new strategy?

If a company does not have enough funds, it may need to borrow money or sell stocks.

Which of the following statements about business process reegineering and continuous improvement programs are true?

If used in tandem, total quality programs are best suited to follow up the reengineering of a business process. Both can be used to improve performance in value chain activities.

______ systems provide organizations with helpful data regarding personnel, finances, partners, and customers.

Information

Which statements about changing corporate culture are accurate?

It is very difficult. Managers at all levels of the organization must be involved. Workers may be hesitant to change.

______ is a statistics-based method used to ensure that products are of the highest quality possible.

Six Sigma quality control

What is a disadvantage of having too many policies and procedures in place?

They curtail the extent to which employees can make decisions on their own.

______ is a philosophy that emphasizes continuous improvement at all levels of strategy execution.

Total quality management

In a(n) ______ organizational culture, there is support for managers and employees at all levels who propose or help initiate useful change.

adaptive

In a high-performance culture, employees

are results-oriented.

Which type of unhealthy corporate culture is especially risk-avoidant?

change-resistant

As an activity in leading the strategy execution process, management by walking around refers to

communicating and interacting with employees at different levels of the organization.

An aspect of _____ development is hiring good workers and training them well.

internal

Which of the following are part of the leadership challenge in taking corrective actions to improve strategy?

deciding when adjustments to strategy are needed deciding what adjustments to strategy should be made

Developing capabilities internally can be a slow process because it

depends in some degree on trial and error.

If a company does not have enough funds, it may need to borrow money or sell stocks.

ensuring that lower-level employees are making appropriate decisions

In adaptive cultures,

entrepreneurship is valued.

The purpose of a relationship manager is to

facilitate collaboration and communication with strategic partners.

True or false: One of the best ways to promote good strategy execution is to tie incentives and rewards to employees' satisfactory performance of job duties.

false

Which of the following are elements that help a manager achieve good results and operating excellence?

focusing attention on continuous improvement

A ______ organizational structure organizes strategy-critical activities into distinct functional, product, geographic, process, or customer groups.

functional (or departmental)

When building a management team, the most important goal to achieve is

gathering a group of high-functioning managers who can get things done well.

Business process reengineering and continuous improvement efforts, such as TQM, both seek which of the following?

improved efficiency greater customer satisfaction better product quality

Specifying lines of authority and reporting relationships

is an important part of building an organization capable of good strategy execution.

What is a disadvantage of mergers and acquisitions as a way of acquiring capabilities?

knowledge and knowhow are not easily transferred from an existing company

In an organization, ______ are responsible for ensuring that strategy execution occurs successfully.

managers

Designer Furniture, Inc. organizes all the value chain activities involved with making each line of designer furniture into a common division and makes each division an independent profit center. This is an example of a(n) ______ organizational structure.

multidivisional (or divisional)

Which of these are traits of unhealthy corporate cultures?

politicized change-resistant incompatible multiple subcultures

The ______ of a workforce has a consequential impact on an organization's ability to successfully execute a strategy.

quality

To effectively use incentives and rewards to promote good strategy execution, managers should

reward employees for accomplishing results.

For a business to succeed, the organizational _____ should support the execution of organizational strategy.

structure

It can be very effective for ______ to perform symbolic actions in order to signal the importance of the new culture to other employees.

top executives

True or false: A company's strategic priorities should drive capital allocations and the size of each organizational unit's operating budget.

true

Which of the following are effective practices for using monetary incentives to promote good strategy execution?

tying incentives to outcomes directly linked to good strategy execution rewarding a weekly or monthly payment to employees who meet a goal extending incentives to all workers