Chapter 13

What are the three Building Blocks of a Learning Organization? Place your answers in alphabetical order.

Concrete Learning Processes and Practices Leadership that Reinforces Learning Supportive Learning Environment

Julian Inc., a manufacturer of snacks, decides to take the social media route to understand consumer preferences. It expects to launch its next product using the data collected through various online platforms.

Crowdsourcing

Peony Corp., a biotechnology research firm, places emphasis on a culture of inquiry at the workplace. it encourages critical thinking and rewards and appreciate employees who excel at providing value to the output they create.

Learning Organization

Poppy Inc., an international perfume company, uses a time-tested method of assessing its internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats in various regions of the world.

SWOT Analysis

Netflix founder Reed Hastings developed a concept for an organization, developed the organization, and inspired large numbers of people to help him achieve his purpose.

Strategic Leadership

Olivia uses a set of methods to arrive at the choice of strategy her team will use to achieve its goals.

Strategic Planning

Genesis Inc. drafts an integrated, overall concept of how it will achieve growth targets for the next year.

Strategy

Scarlet Inc., a high-end fashion retail store, has been successful over the years due to its consistent focus on quality and customer satisfaction. Despite a number of retailers diversifying their portfolios to include all kinds of customers, Scarlet Inc. has consistently focused on one particular segment, high-end consumers, by manufacturing high-end products. Based on this information, which of the following concepts introduced by strategist Jim Collins is most likely followed by the store in this scenario? a. Hedgehog b. Crowdsourcing c. Cost leadership d. Strategic alliance

a. Hedgehog

Concerned and disappointed with the company's overall performance, the CEO of Saratoga Supply, Wes, addresses his sales heads and says, "We need to develop a business strategy to prevent going out of business. Maybe we should meet for an all-day strategy session real soon." If you were the CEO, what kind of immediate solutions would you propose in the strategy session as an intuitive leader? a. Incorporate e-commerce into the business model and keep adequate stocks so that delivery is not interrupted. b. Keep adequate stocks so that delivery is not interrupted. c. Concentrate only on government agencies and cancel distribution contracts with schools and hospitals. d. Incorporate e-commerce into the business model. e. Cut labor expenditure by hiring temporary, less-skilled workers.

a. Incorporate e-commerce into the business model and keep adequate stocks so that delivery is not interrupted.

Which of the following is a disadvantage of the first-mover strategy? a. It may provide only a temporary market advantage. b. It could result in a reduction in customer service. c. It could discourage product innovation. d. It interrupts knowledge dissemination.

a. It may provide only a temporary market advantage.

Magnolia Inc., a producer of athletic shoes, has introduced an on-the-job training program for its marketing executives to minimize training costs and increase employee productivity. Which of the following components best explains Magnolia Inc.'s program? a. Knowledge application b. Knowledge hierarchy c. Knowledge dissemination d. Knowledge creation

a. Knowledge application

The top management at the Saratoga Supply Company is considering various options to increase its market share and sales. It seeks the advice of a marketing expert to initiate this strategy. If you were the marketing expert, which of the following business strategy options would you recommend to Saratoga Supply? a. Concentrate only on government agencies and cancel distribution contracts with schools and hospitals. b. Form alliances or joint ventures with other online companies to exploit a market opportunity. c. Avoid contrarian thinking in order to find ways to improve the business. d. Reduce advertisement spending and invest it on capital expenditure.

b. Form alliances or joint ventures with other online companies to exploit a market opportunity.

According to strategy professor Cynthia Montgomery, most great companies start with: a. placing bets and making hard choices. b. great purposes formulated by the founder. c. delivering information just in time, or at the point at which it is most needed. d. producing a product or service at a low cost in order to lower the selling price and gain market share.

b. great purposes formulated by the founder.

Which of the following is true of servant leadership? a. It creates more power distance within an organization. b. It hinders constructive reasoning and evaluation of ideas. c. It leads to more information exchange among group members. d. It emphasizes hierarchical boundaries and encourages one-way communication

c. It leads to more information exchange among group members.

Which of the following is useful in identifying a niche that a company has not already exploited? a. Transactional leadership b. Crowdsourcing c. SWOT analysis d. First-mover strategy

c. SWOT analysis

Hailey, the head of the research and development team at an international cosmetics company, has been entrusted with the task of introducing a new range within its existing product line. Hailey visualizes how this move of introducing new variants could possibly impact the sales of existing products. She also gathers information on whether brand loyal customers would welcome such a move. She goes a step further to gauge the potential impact on total profits of the company and its stock valuation. In the context of the high levels of cognitive activity needed for strategic leadership, Hailey is ______. a. a pessimistic leader b. a cautious leader c. a systems thinker d. a transactional leader

c. a systems thinker

Christopher Corp., a multinational technology firm, is working on an expansion plan to increase its market share. To understand its position, the company undertakes a SWOT analysis. Meanwhile, the government has brought in a new program that seeks to increase spending in the technology sector. This move by the government is beneficial to the company. In a SWOT analysis, Christopher Corp. is most likely to consider this new government program as an _____. a. internal strength b. internal weakness c. external opportunity d. external threat

c. external opportunity

Which of the following is a challenge faced by companies using the differentiation strategy in the case of a successful product or service? a. Lower profits b. Sluggish sales c. An increase in managerial control d. An increase in the level of competition

d. An increase in the level of competition

Avery Corp. finds its company's market share declining across their many product segments: cosmetics, shoes, apparel, and watches. An analysis of the company's performance points to the fact that the company's product portfolio is largely diversified without a substantial presence in any of the product segments in the market. Which of the following strategies would help Avery Corp. concentrate on its core competencies? a. Transactional b. Imitation c. First-mover d. Hedgehog

d. Hedgehog

Which of the following is true about formulating a new business strategy? a. Crowdsourcing can dilute the impact of truly original ideas. b. It is best to rely on inspiration, not inputs from multiple sources. c. The executive decision-maker should rely solely on his or her intuition. d. Inputs to strategy are helpful in encouraging debate and coming up with new ideas.

d. Inputs to strategy are helpful in encouraging debate and coming up with new ideas.

Which of the following explains the fact that servant leadership enhances knowledge creation? a. It ensures the confidentiality of information. b. It widens power distance. c. It emphasizes hierarchical boundaries. d. It encourages shared leadership

d. It encourages shared leadership

Verde Corp., a manufacturer of consumer durables, has observed that over the past several years the sales of new products have not shown a reasonable upward trend despite the extensive market reports on consumer preferences submitted by top statistical analysts. The market analyses were carried out by comprehensive statistical software and applications that provide an in-depth analysis. If you were assigned the position of the marketing head at Verde Corp., what would you do to improve the sales trend? a. Adopt a cost-cutting strategy that could reduce the final product prices. b. Install new, expensive software that could provide accurate statistical interpretations. c. Recruit fresh graduates as market researchers. d. Rely on intuition while making observations regarding consumer choices.

d. Rely on intuition while making observations regarding consumer choices.

Abel Inc., a multinational retail company, strongly believes in the importance of time in every aspect of its business activity. It places emphasis on promptness of service and delivery as one of its top priorities. Abel has adopted: a. crowdsourcing. b. an imitation strategy. c. differentiation. d. a high-speed strategy.

d. a high-speed strategy.

Gelsemium Corp., a television manufacturer, is a new entrant in the industry. In order to quickly acquire a share of the television market, it benchmarks the standards and practices of Ivy Corp., a leader in the television manufacturing sector. Gelsemium Inc.'s strategy is referred to as: a. crowdsourcing. b. differentiation. c. first-mover. d. imitation.

d. imitation.

Right Bank offers a range of products and services for the corporate sector. If the management encourages exploitative innovation, the bank is most likely to _____. a. focus on finding new products, services, processes, or technology b. get products to the market quickly because of competition c. purchase other banks to acquire a new technology or complete a product line d. make incremental improvements in existing products, services, or processes

d. make incremental improvements in existing products, services, or processes

Leon Corp., a construction company, has worked for many years in major cities in the continental United States, building skyscrapers and other large buildings. However, in the past few years, Leon has taken on high-end home construction and renovation, with a number of wealthy clients in Europe. Leon Corp. has adopted a(n) _____. a. first-mover strategy b. acquisition strategy c. strategic alliance d. strategy of product and global diversification

d. strategy of product and global diversification

Fritz is a new executive at Eventis Inc., a small tech start-up. He was brought into the company because of his background in the United States military, and because of his command of organizational structure and order. In his first weeks at Eventis, Fritz implements a number of new rules and regulations designed to keep employees on schedule. Fritz's leadership style is an example of: a. transformational leadership. b. imitation. c. disruptive innovation. d. transactional leadership

d. transactional leadership

Creating a shared vision enhances learning and sharing knowledge in an organization. If workers at all levels believe that the company is headed toward greatness, they will be motivated to learn to help deliver greatness. Therefore, organizational members continue learning by ________ . considering the units of an organization to be isolated systems developing a common purpose and commitment observing competitors, customers, and suppliers working on real problems with short term goals

developing a common purpose and commitment

The marketing head at the Saratoga Supply Company is asked to provide his suggestions for improving the company's sales trend. As a distributor having already capitalized on diversification, in terms of both products and consumers, which of the following would you suggest to Saratoga Supply, if you were its marketing head? a. Do not enter the online retail space. b. Conduct a SWOT analysis to evaluate the company's position. c. Stick to the existing model. d. Focus on the product's environmental sustainability. e. Focus on the product's environmental sustainability and conduct a SWOT analysis to evaluate the company's position.

e. Focus on the product's environmental sustainability and conduct a SWOT analysis to evaluate the company's position.

Which of the following is an outcome of action learning? a. Workers embrace individualism. b. Attrition rates increase. c. Attrition rates increase and workers acquire and use new skills. d. There is an increase in the duplication of effort. e. Workers acquire and use new skills.

e. Workers acquire and use new skills.

Shared leadership de-emphasizes hierarchical boundaries and leads group members to believe in the importance of their opinions and suggestions. This results in ________ . free communication between servant leaders and followers an increase in power distance between group members and leaders reduced efforts to process information a restricted flow of knowledge

free communication between servant leaders and followers

Based on a belief that time is money

high-speed strategy

emulation of best practices of another company

imitation

Darren cultivates a learning organization by putting in a concerted effort to improve how knowledge is created, delivered, and applied.

knowledge Management

Zoey Inc., a chain of department stores, has decided to increase its employees' efficiency by providing them on-the-job training and conducting workshops. Zoey Inc.'s initiative is an example of the _____ component of knowledge management.

knowledge application

gets workers better at what they do

knowledge application

Camellia Inc., a consumer goods company, has introduced a program that seeks to collect product feedback and suggestions from different stakeholders such as consumers, distributors, retailers, and employees. This is an example of the _____ component of knowledge management.

knowledge creation

solicits ideas, insights, and innovations from many sources, including rank and file workers, customers, and business partners

knowledge creation

Consolidates information in one place so that it is more accessible to potential users

knowledge dissemination

Edmond Corp., a manufacturer of furniture and home accessories, has created a web portal whose objective is to gather all the necessary information relating to workers from different departments such as marketing and sales, human resource, finance and accounting, and research and development. This helps in streamlining the required information to different categories of employees. This is an example of the _____ component of knowledge management.

knowledge dissemination

concentrates on a specific regional market or buyer group

niche

effective in sharing leadership responsibility

servant leadership

Caring for people is an important aspect of servant leadership that facilitates knowledge creation. If people feel that they are being cared for, then ________ . they are more willing to disclose information hierarchical boundaries are emphasized new learning is reduced group members limit the amount of information exchanged

they are more willing to disclose information

associated with exploitative innovation

transactional leadership

encourages workers to pursue exploratory innovation

transformational leadership