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In which of the following circumstances are competitive pressures associated with the bargaining power of buyers relatively moderate-to-weak?

A) The supply of soccer balls increases during the World Cup season.

Which of the following is not a question asked to deduce a marketing-related key success factor?

A) What are the industry product R&D capabilities and expertise in product design?

Angela and Jeff are co-owners of five specialty cupcake baking stores in their region. Which of the following questions would not help them to predict the next strategic moves and countermoves of their rivals?

A) Which mode of transport does the rival's supplier use?

The payoff of good scouting reports on rivals is an improved ability to

A) anticipate what moves rivals are likely to make next

The key success factors in an industry

A) are those competitive factors that most affect industry members' abilities to prosper in the marketplace—the particular strategy elements, product attributes, operational approaches, resources, and competitive capabilities that spell the difference between being a strong competitor and a weak one, and between profit and loss.

Using the five forces model of competition to determine the character and strength of the competitive forces within a given industry involves

A) building the picture of competition in three steps: (1) identify the different parties involved, along with specific factors that bring about competitive pressures; (2) evaluate how strong the pressures stemming from each of the five forces are (strong, moderate or weak); and (3) determine whether the collective impact of the five competitive forces is conducive to earning attractive profits in the industry.

Competitive intelligence can be gleaned from

A) company press releases, company websites, management presentations, annual reports, and 10-K filings

To succeed in predicting a competitor's next moves, company strategists need to appraise a rival's

A) current strategy, financial health, market share, resources and capabilities

When evaluating whether an industry's environment presents a company with an above-average profitability and an attractive business opportunity, it primarily involves

A) determining the industry's outlook for future profitability.

The competitive pressures from substitute products tend to be stronger when

A) good substitutes are readily available

Determining how strong the threat of substitutes will be entails

A) identifying the relative price/performance relationship of the substitutes, the switching costs, and the overall buyer demand for the substitute.

Potential entrants are more likely to be deterred from actually entering an industry when

A) incumbent firms are willing and able to be aggressive in defending their market positions against entry.

A competitive environment where there is strong rivalry among sellers, low entry barriers, strong competition from substitute products, and considerable bargaining leverage on the part of both suppliers and customers

A) is competitively unattractive from the standpoint of earning good profits.

What is the best technique for revealing the different market or competitive position that rival firms occupy in the industry?

A) strategic group mapping

One of the steps of driving-forces analysis is to identify which

A) strategy changes a company may need to make to prepare for the impacts of the driving forces

The most powerful and widely used conceptual tool for diagnosing the principal competitive pressures in a market is

A) the five forces framework.

The intensity of rivalry among competing sellers does not depend on whether

A) the industry has more than two strong driving forces and whether the industry has more than two diverse and capable strategic groups.

Which of the following is particularly pertinent in evaluating whether an industry presents a sufficiently attractive business opportunity?

A) the industry's growth potential, whether competition appears destined to become stronger or weaker, and whether the industry's overall profit prospects are above average, average, or below average

Which of the following factors should a company consider when determining if an industry offers good prospects for attractive profits?

A) the industry's growth potential, whether competition appears destined to become stronger or weaker, how the industry's driving forces might affect overall industry profitability, the company's competitive position relative to rivals, and the company's proficiency in performing industry key success factors

The five forces of competitive pressures do not include

A) the power and influence of social/demographic trends.

The stronger the collective impact of competitive pressures associated with the five competitive forces,

A) the stronger are the industry's driving forces.

The bargaining leverage of suppliers is greater when

A) the suppliers' products/services account for a small percentage of industry members' costs.

Rivalry among competing sellers decreases

A) when buyer demand is growing rapidly

Which of the following conditions acts to weaken buyer bargaining power?

A) when buyers are unlikely to integrate backward into the business of sellers

In which one of the following instances is supplier bargaining power and leverage not weakened?

A) when industry members pose a credible threat of backward integration into the business of suppliers

The strength of competitive pressures that suppliers can exert on industry members is MAINLY a function of

A) whether needed inputs are in short supply and whether suppliers provide differentiated input that enhances performance of the product.

In which of the following instances are industry members not subject to stronger competitive pressures from substitute products?

B) Buyers are dubious about using substitutes.

Which of the following is not a factor that causes buyer bargaining power to be stronger?

B) Buyers are small and numerous relative to sellers

External forces in the natural environment include

B) air and/or water pollution, the depletion of irreplaceable natural resources, or inefficient energy/resource usage.

The extent to which firms are meeting objectives suggests they

B) are likely to continue their present strategy with only minor fine-tuning.

In identifying an industry's key success factors, strategists should

B) consider on what basis customers choose between competing brands, what resources and competitive capabilities firms need to be competitively successful, and what shortcomings are almost certain to put a company at a significant competitive disadvantage.

As a rule, the collective impact of competitive pressures associated with the five competitive forces

B) determines the extent of the competitive pressure on industry profitability.

A rival's strategic moves and countermoves are

B) enabled and constrained by the set of capabilities they have at hand

The higher the switching costs for industry members, the more it can

B) enhance supplier bargaining power.

Market maneuvering and jockeying for buyer patronage that goes on among rival sellers in the industry

B) is the strongest force among the five forces that drive profitability in an industry.

Having good competitive intelligence about rivals' strategies and moves to improve their situation is important because

B) it allows a company to anticipate what moves rivals are likely to make next and to craft its own strategic moves with some confidence.

The lower the user's switching costs, the

B) more intense the competitive pressures posed by substitute products

Which of the following can aid company strategists in identifying key success factors in their industry?

B) product attributes and service characteristics that buyers consider to be crucial

A company's strategy is increasingly effective the more it can match the company strategy to competitive conditions, so the firm can

B) shift the competitive battle in favor of the firm by altering the underlying factors driving the five forces.

Not all buyers of an industry's product have equal degrees of bargaining power with sellers because

B) some sellers may be less sensitive than others to price, quality, or service differences

Which of the following is most. likely to qualify as a driving force?

B) successful introduction of innovative new products or new ways to market products

What makes the marketplace a competitive battlefield

B) the constant rivalry of firms to strengthen their standing with buyers and win a competitive edge over rivals

Which of the following factors is not a relevant consideration in determining the strength of buyer bargaining power?

B) the degree to which the seller is a manufacturer of goods and services in substantial quantities

In analyzing the strength of competition among rival firms, an important consideration is

B) the diversity of competitors in terms of long-term direction, objectives, strategies, and countries of origin.

Whether buyer-seller relationships in an industry represent a strong or weak source of competitive pressure is a function of

B) the extent to which buyers can exercise enough bargaining power to influence the conditions of sale in their favor and whether strategic partnerships between certain industry members can adversely affect other industry members

The value net framework includes an analysis of

B) the firm, suppliers, customers, competitors, and driving forces

A strategically relevant political factor in the macro-environment that will influence the performance of all firms across the board is most likely to be

C) Apple launching a global network of driverless cars, buses, and trucks on demand via a mobile app.

The biggest strategy-shaping impact on on-demand transportation providers such as Uber and Lyft is most likely to be

C) Apple launching a global network of driverless cars, buses, and trucks on demand via a mobile app.

Which of the following is not a good example of a substitute product that triggers stronger competitive pressures

C) Coca-Cola as a substitute for Pepsi

The impact of the macro-environment on a company's strategic opportunities is not exemplified by the following situation?

C) Netflix squares off with Amazon Prime as its most potent rival in the streaming television and film industry

Competitive pressures stemming from buyer bargaining power tend to be weakest in which of the following circumstances?

C) The commercial jet aviation manufacturing industry offers highly differentiated products

Which of the following is not an appropriate guideline for developing a strategic group map for a given industry?

C) The variables chosen as axes for the map should be highly correlated.

The strategically relevant factors outside a company's industry boundaries—economic conditions, political factors, sociocultural forces, technological factors, environmental factors, and legal/regulatory conditions—are known as

C) a company's macro-environment.

The "driving forces" in an industry

C) are major underlying causes of changing industry and competitive conditions and have the biggest influences in reshaping the industry landscape and altering competitive conditions.

Which of the following does not qualify as potential driving forces capable of inducing fundamental changes in industry and competitive conditions?

C) changes in the economic power and bargaining leverage of customers and suppliers, growing supplier-seller collaboration, and growing buyer-seller collaboration

Legal and regulatory factors in the external environment typically do not include

C) genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and solar energy technology.

A strategic group

C) is a cluster of industry members with similar competitive approaches and market positions in the market.

Driving-forces analysis has

C) practical value and is basic to the task of thinking strategically about where the industry is headed and how to prepare for the changes ahead.

Collaborative relationships between particular sellers and buyers in an industry can represent a source of strong competitive pressure when

C) sales are made to buyer groups with either strong bargaining power or high sensitivity.

Which of the following driving forces would have the least impact on the attractiveness of the automobile industry?

C) shifts in who buys the product and how the product is used

An industry's key success factors can always be deduced by asking what factors

C) such as product attributes and service characteristics are crucial, and what resources and competitive capabilities are needed, and what shortcomings are evident to put a company at a competitive disadvantage

When drawing a strategic group map

C) the best variables to use as axes for the map are those that identify the competitive characteristics that delineate strategic approaches used in the industry.

Strategic group mapping is a visual technique for displaying

C) the different market or competitive positions that rival firms occupy in an industry and for identifying each rival's closest competitors.

The homebuilding industry is not affected by such macro-influences as

C) the distinctive competences of incumbent firms.

When an industry member is a major customer of the supplier, and the relationship (partnership) is unusually effective and mutually advantageous

C) there is a strong likelihood such partnerships will put increased competitive pressure on those industry members who lack productive collaborative relationships with their suppliers

Which of the following factors is not a relevant consideration in judging whether buyer bargaining power is relatively strong or relatively weak?

C) whether buyer needs and expectations are changing rapidly or slowly

You have been asked to analyze the Value Net of the major regions of the California wine industry and have observed close relationships between wineries and local hospitality businesses (such as restaurants and lodging facilities) in the regions under study. Those local hospitality businesses can be said to be

D) complementors.

Industry conditions change because of

D) important forces enticing or pressuring certain industry participants (competitors, customers, suppliers) to alter their actions in important ways.

Which of the following is most unlikely to qualify as driving forces?

D) increasing efforts to collaborate with suppliers via strategic alliances and partnerships, escalating risk levels and normalization of cost and efficiency in the industry

Not all positions on a strategic group map are equally attractive because

D) industry-driving forces and competitive pressures favor some groups and disadvantage others.

A competitive environment where there is weak to moderate rivalry among sellers, high entry barriers, weak competition from substitute products, and little bargaining leverage on the part of both suppliers and customers

D) is conducive to industry members earning attractive profits.

Which of the following pairs of variables are least likely to be useful in drawing a strategic group map?

D) level of profitability and size of market share

Which of the following is not generally a "driving force" capable of producing fundamental changes in industry and competitive conditions?

D) movement in the economy and in interest rates

Based on an analysis of the five competitive forces, in which of the following industries is profitability likely to be lowest?

D) pizza restaurants

Correctly diagnosing an industry's key success factors

D) raises a company's chances of crafting a sound strategy

Rivalry among competing sellers is generally less intense when

D) rivals are wary of making fresh moves to lower prices, introduce new products, increase promotional efforts and advertising, and otherwise gain sales and market share.

The competitive battles among rival sellers striving for better market positions, higher sales and market shares, and competitive advantage, suggest the rivalry force

D) tends to intensify when strong companies with sizable financial resources, proven competitive capabilities, and respected brand names hurdle entry barriers looking for growth opportunities and launch aggressive, well-funded moves to transform into strong market contenders.

One of the things that can be gleaned from a strategic group map of industry rivals is

D) that some strategic groups are more favorably positioned than others because they confront weaker competitive forces and/or because they are more favorably impacted by industry driving forces.

When all sellers pursue essentially identical strategies and have similar market positions

D) the industry can be said to contain one strategic group.

Whether supplier-seller relationships in an industry represent a strong or weak source of competitive pressure is a function of

D) whether demand for supplier products is high and they are in short supply.

Buyers are in position to exert strong bargaining power in dealing with sellers when

E) buyers are price sensitive because the product represents a significant portion of their purchasing budget.

The competitive threat that outsiders will enter a market is weaker when

E) buyers have little loyalty to the brands and product offerings of existing industry members.

Competitive pressures associated with the threat of entry are greater in all of the following situations except when

E) customers have low brand preferences and low degrees of loyalty to seller.

Managers must chart a company's strategic course by

E) developing a thorough understanding of the company's external and internal environment.

Which of the following is not one of the principal components of strategic significance in the PESTEL analysis?

E) environmental forces that include the competitive structure, the degree of industry fragmentation, and the mobility barriers that inhibit business

Market maneuvering among industry rivals

E) is ongoing and dynamic, with moves and countermoves of rivals producing a continually evolving competitive landscape that delivers winners and losers.

Avon Products at one point secured information about its biggest rival, Mary Kay Cosmetics, by having its personnel search through the garbage bins outside MKC's headquarters. This is an example of

E) lawful but probably unethical gathering of competitive intelligence.

Which of the following is not an example of a complementor?

E) newspapers and Internet news providers

Competing companies deploy whatever means necessary to strengthen market position, including all of the following except

E) reducing distribution capabilities and market presence

With the aid of a strategic group map for the pizza segment of the food service industry, one can

E) reveal which pizza establishments are close competitors and which are distant rivals, and that not all positions on the map are equally attractive

Whole Foods has invested heavily into a system for gathering competitive intelligence about the strategic direction and likely moves of key rivals in the supermarket industry. Doing so allows Whole Foods to determine which rivals are pursuing all of the following, except

E) similar competitive approaches.

Buyer bargaining power is stronger when

E) the industry's products are standardized or undifferentiated.

The competitive pressures on companies within an industry come from all of the following except

E) those associated with environmental factors such as water shortages.

The best test of whether potential entry is a strong or weak competitive force is

E) to ask if the industry's growth and profit prospects are strongly attractive to potential entry candidates.

Based on an analysis of the five competitive forces, in which of the following industries is profitability likely to be highest?

E) video streaming services

Which of the following is generally not considered a barrier to entry?

E) weak network effects in customer demand

In which of the following instances is rivalry among competing sellers not more intense?

E) when there are vast numbers of small rivals so the impact of any one company's actions is spread thinly across all industry members

Strategic group map analysis does not entail drawing conclusions about

E) where on the map is the easiest position to shift from to a more favorably situated position.

Whether buyer bargaining power poses a strong or weak source of competitive pressure on industry members depends in part on

E) whether demand-supply conditions represent a buyer's market or a seller's market.

In evaluating whether the industry and competitive environment presents sufficiently attractive prospects for both competitive success and attractive profits usually does not involve a consideration of which of the following factors?

E) whether the industry's product is strongly or weakly differentiated