BSP CH2

Blank______ are products or services that have an impact on the value of a firm's products or services.

Complements

______ is the process of removing the organizations or business processes responsible for intermediary steps in the value chain.

Disintermediation

Blank______ groups are clusters of firms that share similar strategies.

Strategic

Blank______ products and services limit the potential returns of an industry by placing a ceiling on the prices that firms in that industry can profitably charge.

Substitute

Blank______ may exert bargaining power by threatening to raise prices of the materials needed by a firm or reduce the quality of goods and services.

Suppliers

Substitute products or services must be Blank______ the industry's offerings.

able to perform the same function as

Interest rate increases, currency exchange rates, and the Dow Jones are examples of factors to be considered in which segment of the general environment?

economic

The Blank______ segment of the general environment consists of the characteristics of the economy, including national income and monetary conditions.

economic

Which of the following are included in the six segments of the general environment? (Check all that apply.)

economic and global,demographic and sociocultural,political/legal and technological

The Blank______ environment is composed of segments external to an industry that are usually beyond a firm's control, such as demographics and economic factors, that can affect a firm's strategy.

general

The Blank______ segment of the general environment consists of influences from foreign countries, including market opportunities, foreign-based competition, and expanded capital markets.

global

Which of the following are examples of advantages some existing competitors might have that are independent of size or economies of scale? (Check all that apply.)

government subsidies,proprietary products,favorable government policies

Competitive intelligence Blank______.

helps companies avoid surprises by anticipating competitors' moves and response time

Which of the following pairings are examples of products that are complements? (Check all that apply.)

hot dogs and buns,binders and paper,video game consoles and games

Rivalry among competitors is likely to be ______ due to digital technologies and the Internet.

more intense

The purpose of environmental forecasting is to Blank______.

predict change

A CEO can improve perceptual acuity by Blank______. (Check all that apply.)

seeking out information,meeting with and listening to others

Developments in computer software and hardware, nanotechnology, and R&D in exotic materials are examples of trends in which segment of the general environment?

technological

The Blank______ segment of the general environment is concerned with innovation and state of knowledge in industrial arts, engineering, applied sciences, and pure science, and their interaction with society.

technological

In which of the following ways can suppliers exert bargaining power? (Check all that apply.)

By threatening to raise prices of raw materials,By reducing the quality of purchased goods and services,By squeezing the profitability of firms

Which of the following must firms be able to do in order to capture greater profitability using technology and the Internet? (Check all that apply.)

Provide faster delivery.,Lower the cost of providing products or services.,Increase product selection.

Which of the following describe factors that result in intense rivalry? (Check all that apply.)

Slow industry growth.,High fixed or storage costs.,Capacity augmented in large increments.,Lack of differentiation or switching costs.,Numerous or equally balanced competitors.,High exit barriers.

Which of the following statements are correct regarding strategic groups? (Check all that apply.)

Strategic groups are clusters of firms that share similar strategies.,No two firms are totally different.,No two firms are exactly the same.

Which of the following is an example of when the bargaining power of suppliers may be low?

The suppliers provide an input that has many substitutes.

Which of the following are key arguments against H-1B visas?

They drive down wages for American workers.,They take jobs away from Americans.

High exit barriers include which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

They sometimes are due to having specialized assets or strategic interrelationships.,High exit barriers can be economic, strategic or emotional factors.,High fixed or storage costs that create strong pressures for firms to increase capacity.,Government and social pressures due to concern for job loss.

Spotting key trends requires a combination of which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

Understanding one's customers.,Knowing one's business.,Keeping an eye on what's happening.

Online shopping robots, or \bots

\" on the web have increased competitive rivalry by allowing the consumer to focus only on the best possible ."

The Internet allows customers to shop around for the best price, thus it has ______ products that were previously regarded as rare or unique.

commoditized

Michael Porter's five forces model is the most commonly used analytical tool for examining which of the following type of environment?

competitive

The Internet has intensified rivalry, because ______.

competitors seem more equally balanced

Environmental monitoring enables firms to evaluate Blank______.

how the dynamic competitive landscape is being changed by environmental trends

A good industry analysis does which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

identifies the root causes of profitability for the industry,seeks to understand the underpinnings of competition in the industry,distinguishes short-term fluctuations from structural changes in the industry

The bargaining power of buyers depends on the Blank______.

importance of purchases from that group compared with the industry's overall business

The Internet may ______ buyer power by providing consumers more information to make buying decisions and by ______ switching costs.

increase; lowering

A buying group is considered powerful when it Blank______.

is responsible for a large volume of a seller's sales

A firm's strategy should be directly tied to Blank______.

its SWOT analysis

Which of the following would be substitutes for a soft drink? (Check all that apply.)

orange juice,water,sports drinks

The Blank______ segment of the general environment consists of how a society creates and exercises power, including rules, laws, and taxation policies.

political/legal

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 greatly increased the accountability of auditors, executives, and corporate lawyers. This law is an example of which segment of the general environment?

political/legal

The Internet has increased the bargaining power of buyers by ___.

providing customers with more information to make buying decisions,decreasing switching costs

An advantage that some existing competitors have over new entrants and that does not depend on economies of scale is having favorable access to materials.

raw

The Blank______ segment of the general environment consists of the values, beliefs, and lifestyles of a society.

sociocultural

The effect on the business clothing and restaurant industries caused by an increase of women in the workforce is an example of which segment of the general environment?

sociocultural

Increases in household income due to more women entering the workforce in white collar jobs is likely to affect which two segments the most?

sociocultural and economic

SWOT stands for Blank______.

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

All firms within an industry compete with industries producing products and services. (Enter only one word in the blank.)

substitute

Which of the following are part of a firm's competitive environment? (Check all that apply.)

suppliers,competitors,customers

A one-time cost that customers pay when changing vendors is known as Blank______.

switching costs

The extent of the threat of potential entrants into an industry depends on which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

the combined reaction from existing competitors,existing barriers to entry

Which sector is most affected by legislation on H-1B visas?

the high-technology sector

______ is the introduction of new types of intermediaries into the value chain.

Reintermediation

Blank______ is when competitors sense pressure from others in the same industry or act on an opportunity to improve their position.

Rivalry

A technique for analyzing a basic list of internal and external conditions is called a Blank______ analysis.

SWOT

Blank______ analysis is a framework for analyzing a company's internal and external environments.

SWOT

Blank______ is an in-depth approach to environmental forecasting that involves experts' detailed assessments of social, economic, political, technology trends or other dimensions of the external environment.

Scenario analysis

Blank______ involves the development of plausible projections about the direction, scope, speed, and intensity of environmental change.

Environmental forecasting

Which of the following are examples of what companies do to gain customers? (Check all that apply.)

Increase warranties.,Increase customer service.,Decrease product/service prices.

The SWOT framework is popular with managers for several reasons, including which of the following?

It forces managers to consider both the internal and external factors simultaneously.

The six major entry barriers in Porter's five forces model include which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

Limited access to distribution channels and cost disadvantages independent of scale.,Economies of scale and product differentiation.,Capital requirements and switching costs.

Which of the following are caveats of using industry analysis? (Check all that apply.)

Managers should not always avoid low-profit industries.,The five-forces model is essentially a static analysis.,Porter's model assumes a zero-sum game, meaning there is a winner and loser.

Which of the following is an example of a CEO with perceptual acuity?

Marga starts a ride-sharing business in a city with few parking garages.

Which of the following best exemplifies how the Internet has heightened the threat of substitutes?

Pia used to save all her photos to her hard drive, but now she saves them online.

True or false: A key to successful strategic management is gathering industry information and understanding the competitive dynamics of the industry's companies.

TRUE

True or false: The threat of substitutes has increased due to digital technologies and the Internet.

TRUE

True or false: Trends in one segment of the general environment can have an effect on other segments.

TRUE

Companies enter foreign market to access which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

Technical professionals,Larger potential markets,Factors of production, such as raw materials and labor

Which of the following are among Porter's five forces? (Check all that apply.)

The bargaining power of suppliers,The threat of substitute products and services,The threat of new entrants,The intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry

Which of the following play a role in increasing the bargaining power of the buyer? (Check all that apply.)

The buyers make large purchases relative to the industry's sales.,The buyers pose a credible threat of backward integration.,The products being purchased from the industry are standard or undifferentiated.

Which of the following statements about the competitive environment are correct? (Check all that apply.)

The competitive environment often influences the nature of the competition in an industry.,The competitive environment consists of factors such as competitors, customers, and suppliers.,It is also referred to as the task environment.

Supplier groups are powerful under which of the following conditions? (Check all that apply.)

The supplier group poses a credible threat of forward integration.,One or more suppliers have built-in switching costs for buyers.,The industry is not an important customer of the supplier group.

The Internet and digital technologies are said to ______.

be a double-edged sword for suppliers

Which of the following threaten an industry by forcing down prices, bargaining for higher quality or more services, and playing competitors against each other?

buyers

According to Porter, what are the two critical issues in conducting a good industry analysis? (Check all that apply.)

choosing the appropriate time frame,conducting a rigorous quantification of the five forces

The process of examining large data sets to uncover hidden patterns, market trends, and customer preferences is known as Blank______.

data analytics

The Blank______ segment of the general environment consists of changes in a market's characteristics such as age, race, ethnicity, and education.

demographic

One important factor of the global economy, and one that has influenced more firms to expand overseas, is Blank______.

the rise of the middle class in emerging nations

Managers should understand how they can create win-win relationships with their suppliers and customers so that they can overcome Blank______.

the zero-sum game issue

Strategic group analysis helps managers do which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

think through implications of industry trends for each company within the group,identify groups whose competitive position may be marginal or tenuous,identify barriers to mobility that protect a group from attacks by other groups

The Blank______ is the possibility that the profits of established firms in the industry may be eroded by new competitors.

threat of new entrants

Firms use \Big Data\" to accomplish which of the following goals?"

to better customize their offerings to customers

Examples of key elements of the global segment of the general environment include which of the following? (Check all that apply.)

trade agreements between nations,currency exchange rates

The number of middle-class consumers in which region is rapidly rising and thus influencing hiring practices of U.S. multinationals?

Asia

Blank______ helps firms define and understand their industry and identify rivals' strengths and weaknesses.

Competitive intelligence

Blank______ tracks the evolution of environmental trends, sequences of events, or streams of activities.

Environmental monitoring

Blank______ involves surveillance of a firm's external environment to predict environmental changes and detect changes already underway.

Environmental scanning

Which of the following are examples of ways that the Internet has been positive for supplier bargaining power? (Check all that apply.)

It has allowed buyers to link directly to a supplier's website to create rapid, low-cost ordering.,It has sped up and streamlined supply chain processes.,It has created more \downstream\" outlets for suppliers."

Which of the following statements about an industry's composition are correct? (Check all that apply.)

It includes companies that sell to similar customers.,It includes companies that produce similar products or services.,It includes companies that use similar methods of production.

Which of the following statements about scenario analysis are true? (Check all that apply.)

It is an in-depth approach to forecasting.,It incorporates the ways in which societal trends may affect an issue.,It draws on a range of disciplines.

The general idea of conducting a SWOT analysis is that the firm's strategy must do which of the following?

It should take advantage of opportunities presented by the environment.