BUS 496 Ch5
Through which bases of competitive advantage do firms attempt to alter the perceptions of current and potential customers, whether or not specific attributes of a firm's products or services are altered?
Consumer marketing
Which of the following bases of Coach's competitive advantage is likely to be the easiest to duplicate?
Product features
Which of the following bases of product differentiation is almost always easy to duplicate?
Product features
In general, firms selling differentiated products face a demand curve that is
downward sloping.
When considering the impact of product differentiation on the threat of rivalry, product differentiation
reduces the threat of rivalry because each firm in an industry attempts to carve out its own unique product niche.
_______________ is the ability to use organizational structure to facilitate coordination among specific disciplines to conduct research.
Architectural competence
In its international expansion activities, Coach is establishing operations that will allow it to control international distribution and to maintain a consistent brand strategy domestically and abroad. In doing this Coach is employing which international strategy?
Integrated international strategy
If Coach had an organizational structure that used cross-functional teams, the members of which reported not only to their functional boss (i.e. the head of production), but also to the head of the team, Coach could be said to be using which organizational structure?
Matrix
Which of the following bases of product differentiation attempts to create the perception that a firm's products or services are unusually valuable by focusing directly on the attributes of the products or services a firm sells?
Product complexity
Which of the following bases of product differentiation attempts to create the perception that a firm's products or services are unusually valuable by focusing on the relationship between a firm and its customers?
Product customization
Which generic business level strategy is Coach pursuing?
Product differentiation
______________ is a business strategy whereby firms attempt to gain a competitive advantage by increasing the perceived value of their products or services relative to the perceived value of other firms' products or services.
Product differentiation
Which of the following statements regarding the impact of product differentiation on the threat of new entry is accurate?
Product differentiation helps reduce the threat of new entry by forcing potential new entrants to absorb costs associated with overcoming incumbent firms' product differentiation advantages.
Which bases of product differentiation is by far the most popular way for firms to try to differentiate their products but is identified as almost always being easy to duplicate?
Product features
Which of the following bases of product differentiation attempts to create the perception that a firm's products or services are unusually valuable by focusing on links within and between firms?
Product mix
Which of the following bases of Coach's competitive advantage is likely to be the most difficult to duplicate?
Reputation
Which of the following bases of product differentiation is generally viewed as the most difficult to duplicate?
Reputation
Which of the following bases of product differentiation is usually costly to duplicate?
Reputation
Which of the following bases of product differentiation does Coach appear to be employing?
Reputation, consumer marketing, and product features
Under which of the following conditions is the product mix advantage as a basis of product differentiation the least difficult to duplicate?
When the base of a product mix advantage is a common customer
The fact that Nestlé has 8,000 brands of which only 750 are registered in more than one country, and only 80 of which are registered in more than 10 countries is an example of
a locally responsive strategy.
The most obvious way that firms can try to differentiate their products is by
altering the features of the products they sell.
By increasing the perceived value of a firm's products or services, a firm will be able to
charge a higher price than it would otherwise be able to do.
Coach's agreement with Lexus to produce automobiles with Coach leather interior is an example of
co-branding.
More recent work in the area of strategic management regarding Porter's assertion about being stuck in the middle
contradicts Porter's argument and finds that firms that successfully pursue cost leadership and product differentiation simultaneously can often expect to gain a sustained competitive advantage.
When the television show American Idol shows the judges drinking beverages from cups with the Coca-Cola label, or when a corporate sponsor places its logo on a NASCAR car, this is an attempt at product differentiation by linking with other firms through
creativity; opportunities
The Lockheed Corporation Skunk Works is an example of a
cross-divisional or cross-functional team.
The business level strategy Coach is pursuing is likely to
decrease the threat of new entrants due to the additional cost they would face to overcome Coach's reputation advantages.
Given that the leather handbag market that Coach largely competes in can be considered a mature market, Coach should focus its product differentiation efforts on
exploiting a first mover advantage as a basis of product differentiation.
In emerging industries
firms that are first movers can gain product differentiation advantages based on perceived technological leadership.
Small entrepreneurial firms
have relatively few bureaucratic controls which allow information and ideas to flow freely and to facilitate innovation.
If an individual is considering purchasing a Toyota Camry or a Ferrari and decides that it is worth paying the extra money for the prestige that is associated with the Ferrari, the additional money the customer is willing to pay for the prestige is know as a(n)
hedonic price.
The price premium that customers are willing to pay for the superior quality and perceived prestige of Coach's products over the prices of similar products are known as
heroic prices.
In a declining industry
highly differentiated firms may be able to discover a viable market niche that will enable them to survive despite the overall decline in the market.
A ___________ structure exists when individuals in a firm have two or more bosses simultaneously.
matrix
According the Porter, firms that are stuck in the middle attempt to sell
medium-priced products and gain medium market share.
According to Chamberlin, firms selling differentiated products and facing a down-ward sloping demand curve are in an industry described as
monopolistic competition.
Research on architectural competence in pharmaceutical firms suggests that
not only do some firms possess this competence, but also that other firms do not and firms without this competence have, on average, been unable to develop it.
While firms often alter the ___________ of their products or services in order to implement a product differentiation strategy, the existence of product differentiation, in the end is always a matter of ___________.
objective properties; customer perception
The U-form structure used to implement a product differentiation strategy
often uses temporary cross-divisional and cross functional teams to manage the development and implementation of new, innovative, and highly differentiated products.
A __________ exists when firms are committed to engage in several related product differentiation simultaneously.
policy of experimentation
The ability of companies that produce complex software packages to tailor these packages to the specific needs of their customers is an example of product differentiation through
product customization.
With regard to the threat of suppliers, product differentiation
reduces the threat of suppliers because a firm with a highly differentiated product can pass increased costs on to customers.
A firm's ___________ is really no more than a socially complex relationship between a firm and its customers and can serve as a basis for product differentiation.
reputation
In developing a compensation policy used to implement a product differentiation strategy, firms will
simultaneously use multiple dimensions to examine employee performance.
To ensure that the different operations in an internationally integrated firm are appropriately coordinated, these firms typically manufacture more __________ products using more __________ components, than do locally responsive firms.
standardized; standardized
The _________ strategy treats its international operations as an integrated network of distributed and interdependent resources and capabilities.
transnational
The ___________ strategy exploits all of the advantages of both international integration and local responsiveness.
transnational
Product features, by themselves, are
usually not a source of sustained competitive advantage, but they can be a source of a temporary competitive advantage.
