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_____ are incidents that describe highly improbable but high impact events

Black swan events

When a firm adopts a differentiation strategy to attain competitive advantage, it focuses on:

Delivering unique features to its customers

Due to several black swan events in the past, the:

Implicit trust relationship between the corporate world and society at large has deteriorated

Which of the following products was introduced by apple in 2007

Iphone. The company revolutionized the smartphone market with the intro of the iphone

Which of the following was a key driver in the Occupy movement of 2011?

Issues of income disparity

The average cost of production for a bottle of vitamin water in the industry is $4 while its average price is $7. StoreAll Inc. manufactures the same product for $3 per bottle ad sells it for $7 per bottle. Which of the following statements is most likely true of StoreAll Inc. in the scenario?

It has a competitive advantage in the industry. A firm that achieves superior performance relative to other competitors in the same industry or the industry average has a competitive advantage.

Which of the following factors most effectively contributed to the success of JetBlue airlines in comparison to other airlines like Delta, United, or American

Its point-to-point business model it lowers cost by not offering baggage transfers and schedule coordination with other airlines.

Which of the following statements about strategy is NOT true?

Operational effectiveness and competitive benchmarking should be treated as strategy. tactical tools are not strategy. Parts to support its competitive strategy.

Which of the following statements should ideally reflect a firms strategy for a competitive advantage

Our aim is to create superior customer value while controlling costs.

Not an example of a software companys external stakeholder

Project managers

If a company wants to gain a competitive advantage in a highly competitive industry, it should ideally

Stake out a unique position within the industry. Performing different activities or performing the same activities differently than rivals are doing

Derek, a retired CEO, invests capital in a start-up company that creates mobile applications. He mentors the entrepreneur and the employees of the company because he wants the company to perform well and survive in the market. Thus, Derek is the start-up company's _____.

Stakeholder

Through ___, a firm uts a guiding policy into practice by employing a set of coherent actions.

Strategy implementation

___ is best described as a set of goal-directed actions a firm takes to gain and sustain superior performance relative to competitors

Strategy.

Which of the following forces tends to be more important in determining a firm's performance

The actions of managers within the firm

In the US which of the following was born out of dissatisfaction with the capitalist system in 2011?

The occupy movement

Which of the following forces is most closely related to industry effects within the automobile industry

The types of products and the services offered within the industry

Which of the following statements accurately describes firm effects?

They attribute firm performance to the actions managers take within a chosen industry

Which of the following scenarios illustrates a firm that has a sustainable competitive advantage?

Truelink Corp. was able to hold its market share of 68 % in the social networking industry for more than three years. Prolonged period of time

For a firm that operates in an industry where competition is high, which of the following practices will result in inferior performance

Trying to be everything to everybody by combining different competitive strategies

When the strong dictatorial rule in Canria unexpectedly collapsed due to the shocking mass murder of the royal family, the nation's economy experienced drastic changes. The laws became more restrictive, the country lost many locally produced resources and products, and the distribution of wealth became inequitable. The unexpected event that led to these changes can best be described as a(n) _____ event.

black swan

Shortly after the small island of Balamia experienced multiple unexpected high-intensity earthquakes that caused massive destruction, many banks and insurance companies filed for bankruptcy. This left the economy of the country in a poor state. The natural calamity in Balamia best exemplifies _____.

A black swan event a high impact of a highly improbable event

If SA Pharmaceuticals obtains an 18 % return on invested capital, which of the following will help determine if it has a competitive advantage over other pharmaceutical companies?

Comparing the return to the return on invested capital obtained by other firms in the industry. Always relative not absolute

A firm that achieves superior performance relative to other firms in the same industry of the industry average has a

Competitive advantage

New Communications Inc. is a newspaper publishing company whose average return on invested capital is approximately 5 percent. Because newspaper publishing is a declining industry, the industry average has been negative (-5 percent) for the last few years. In this scenario, New Communications Inc. has a _____.

Competitive advantage.

Underperformance relative to other firms in the same industry of the industry average results in a ____ for a firm

Competitive disadvantage

Exis Inc. and Stelma Inc. are two companies that have been manufacturing typewriters for almost 30 years. Due to the reduced demand for typewriters today, both companies' average return on invested capital is approximately -5 percent. The current industry average is 2 percent. In this scenario, Exis Inc. and Stelma Inc. most likely have:

Competitive parity with each other. Refers to the performance of two or more firms at the SAME level

Which of the following is an example of a firms external stakeholder?

Customers

True Cinemas Inc. and Digi Future Inc. are two companies that own and run movie theaters in malls and other commercial areas. While True Cinemas Inc. pursues a cost-leadership strategy, Digi Future Inc. adopts a differentiation strategy. Which of the following statements is most likely true of this scenario?

Digi Future and True Cinemas will not be direct competitors to each other and their customer segments will overlap very little. Although these companies are in the same industry, their customer segments will most likely over lap very little and they will not be direct competitors.

___ is best described as an integrative management field that combines analysis, formulation, and implementation in the quest for competitive advantage

Strategic management. mastery enables an individual to view a firm in its entirety. and an individual to think like a general manager to help position his or her firm for superior performance.

FindFor Inc. is an e-commerce retail firm that sells a variety of merchandise online. Through services like cash on delivery, easy return, and online tracking, the company has created more customer value than its competitors (brick-and-mortar businesses) at the same price. Also, the company's costs are substantially low due to minimal investment in operation and administration. In this scenario, FindFor Inc. has most likely been able to provide superior value and cost control through _____.

Strategic positioning About creating superior value, while containing the cost to create it.

Which of the following stages of the strategic management process involved an evaluation of a firm's external and internal environments?

Strategy analysis

In ___, a firm frames a guiding policy to address the competitive challenge

Strategy formulation. Accomplished through strategy formulation, resulting in the firms corporate, business and functional strategies.

Cadia Foods Inc. was the first company to start selling energy drinks in its country—a product that gained popularity among diverse groups. Soon, other companies started to sell their own brands of energy drinks, thereby giving Cadia Foods ample competition. In response, Cadia Foods decided to limit its variety of energy drinks to only two. However, it ensured that these two flavors were free of calories and low in cost. With this innovation, Cadia Foods Inc. consistently outperformed its competitors for ten years. In this scenario, Cadia Foods Inc. has maintained a _____ through its innovative strategy

Sustainable competitive advantage. Maintained through its innovative strategy

TakeFlight Airways is a new entrant to the airline industry. While most of its competitors are pursuing a cost-leadership strategy, TakeFlight Airways has decided to execute a differentiation strategy. Which of the following is the most likely implication of this decision?

TakeFlight Airways will create value for customer by delivering unique features Cost leadership = low prices Differentiation strategy = unique features

A company wants to determine how industry effects have affected its profitability. Which of the following elements should the company focus on?

The barriers to entry and exit within the industry Structure of an industry is determined by elements common to all industries, entry and exit barriers, number and size of companies, and types of products and service offered.

Pink Couture Inc. and Pink Blush Inc. are two companies in the apparel industry. While Pink Couture Inc. focuses on providing unique product features and superior customer service, Pink Blush Inc. focuses on low prices and minimal customer service. Both companies have been able to gain a competitive advantage. This is most likely because:

The companies have pursued distinct strategic positions.

Which of the following is an implication of all firms in an industry pursuing a low-cost position through application of competitive benchmarking?

The firms would eventually have no resources to invest in product and process improvements all would have identical cost structures. none would gain an advantage.

Industry effects describe the underlying _____ structure of the industry

economic

Pure Food Inc., a multinational company, relies on its media partner Radio Ex to regularly advertise its offers, sales, and new products. Radio Ex is invested in this relationship because it generates most of its revenue from advertising Pure Food's products. In this scenario, Radio Ex is Pure Food Inc.'s _____.

external stakeholder

state-level gov't agencies that check whether firms re meeting statutory safety measures in their production units are considered to be firms

external stakeholders

The past black swam events in the US demonstrate that

managerial actions can affect the economic well-being of large numbers of people around the globe

A firm is said to gain a competitive advantage when it can

provide products similar to its competitors, but at lower prices. To gain a competitive advantage a firm needs to provide either goods or services consumers value more highly than those of its competitors, or similar at a lower price