Strategic Management Ch. 1-3
Which one of the following statements is an example of how to improve perceptual acuity?
A CEO meets with direct competitors to analyze current industry trends. The CEOs share their conclusions with their respective companies.
Which of the following websites is not an example of one used routinely for corporate competitive intelligence gathering?
Duolingo
The culture of a firm also may be a resource that provides competitive advantage. Which of these companies might be a good example of this intangible resource?
Why must successful managers recognize opportunities and threats in their company external environment?
If they miscalculate the market, opportunities will be lost
Peter Senge, of MIT, recognized three types of leaders. __________ are individuals that, although having little positional power and formal authority, generate their power through the conviction and clarity of their ideas.
Internal networkers
Which of the following examples demonstrate how successful organizations manage their primary activites?
JIT inventory systems are vital to Toyota committing to fulfill new car orders within five days
Referring to the textbooks Exhibit 2.7 The World Automobile Industry; Strategic Groups, which strategic group consists of firms high in product pricing/quality and average in their product-line breadth
Mercades, BMW, and Audi
Which of the following is not an example of a financial strategic objective?
Reduce volatile air emissions by 15% by 2015 from 2010 base year, indexed to net sales (3M)
Referring to the textbook Exhibit 2.7 The World Automobile Industry: Strategic Groups, which strategic group is the largest in terms of breadth of product line?
Toyota, Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Honda, Nissan
Effective vision statements include
a brief statement of the company's direction
According to Henry Mintzberg, the final realized strategy of a firm is
a combination of deliberate and emergent strategies
Perceptual acuity requires all the following except
a refusal to consult with others
Vision statements are used to create a better understanding of the overall purpose and direction of the organization. Vision statements
are massively inspiring
The four key attributes of strategic management include the idea that strategy must
be directed toward overall organizational goals and objectives
Human resource management consists of activities involved in the recruiting, hiring, training, development, and compensation of all types of personnel. It supports
both individual primary and support activities and the entire value chain
SWOT analysis is a framework for analyzing the internal and external environment of a company. It consists of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. According to a SWOT analysis, which of the following is not an aspect that the strategy of the firm must follow?
build on its weaknesses
According to Michael Porter in his book, Competitive Advantage, a key concept used in analyzing the competitive position of a firm is creating value for
buyers that exceeds the costs of production (margin)
How do infomediaries and consumer information websites increase the intensity of competitive rivalry?
by consolidating the marketing message that consumers use to make a purchase decision
Nintendo built a security chip into its game console hardware and then licensed the right to develop games to outside firms. These firms paid a royalty to Nintendo for each copy of the game sold. This is an example of Nintendo using ________ products.
complement
Community stakeholders are concerned primarily with
corporate citizenship behavior.
Executive leaders champion and guide ideas by
creating a learning infrastructure
Regarding the value-chain concept, the most important interrelationship is between the organization and its
customers
In choosing to focus on stakeholders, which of the following will not lead to success for a manager
customers only
The aging of the population, changes in ethnic composition, and effects of the millennial generation are ____________ changes
demographic
Effectiveness is often defined as
doing the right thing
For a resource to provide a firm with the potential for a sustainable competitive advantage, it must have four attributes. Which of the following is not one of these attributes?
easy for competitors to substitue
Strategic management involves the recognition of trade-offs between effectiveness and
efficiency
The four key attributes of strategic management include all of the following except
emphasis on the attainment of short-term objectives
Netflix inculcates a strategic management perspective by
emphasizing transparency
In contrast to the vision of an organization, its mission should
encompass both the purpose of the company as well as the basis of competition
In using crowdsourcing as a means to integrate the customer into the value chain, there are some perils to consider. Which of the following is not related to crowdsourcing perils?
eroding a low-cost competitve advantage of the firm
The balanced scorecard enables managers to consider their business from all the following perspectives except
ethical perspective
Management innovations such as total quality, benchmarking, and business process reengineering cannot lead to sustainable competitive advantage because
every company is trying to implement them
Firms must be aware of goals other than short-term profit maximization. One area of concern should be social responsibility which is
expectation that business will strive to improve the overall welfare of society
Fortune Brands states they will "cut corporate overhead costs by $30 million a year." This is an example of a
financial stategic objective
According to the text, the triple bottom line approach to corporate accounting includes which three components?
financial, environmental, and social
An automobile manufacturer acquires a rental car company. This is an example of
forward integration
Traditional financial models are built around relatively easy-to-measure, monetized results; whereas, the benefits of sustainability projects involves
fuzzy intangibles
Corporate retreats do not
guarantee positive consumer response to new products.
Which of the following would be considered part of the general environment of a firm?
higher unemployment rates
Corporate level strategy focuses on what businesses to compete in and
how business can be managed to achieve synergy
Because the Internet lowers barriers to entry in most industries, it
increases the threat of new entrants
When investors examine the performance of beauty products like Olay moisturizers and Covergirl cosmetics, they are looking for
indicators of emerging trends
Stakeholders are
individuals, groups, and organizations who have a stake in the success of the organization.
Financial ration analysis measures the performance of the firm based on all but which of the following?
industry comparision
To be considered strategic resources that contribute competitive advantage, they must have several characteristics. Which of the following is not one of them?
inexpensive to imitate
Two types of strategic control that firms must exercise for good strategy implementation are
informational and behavioral
Strategies should be formulated that enhance foremost the ________ capacity of a firm.
innovation
An organization is responsible to many different entities. In order to meet the demands of these groups, organizations must participate in stakeholder management. Stakeholder management means that
interests of the stockholders and not the only interests that matter
Sustainability programs often find their success beyond company boundaries, thus ___________ systems and _______ metrics cannot capture all the revelant numbers
internal; process
Environmental forecasting does not involve plausible projections about the _____________ of environmental change
lack of intensity
The strategic groups concept is valuable for identifying groups with ______ competitive positions
marginal
Strategy analysis is the starting point of the strategic management process and consists of the
matching the vision, mission, and objectives with the relevant internal and external environmental factors
In 2014, Audi introduced the Q3 SUV at a base price of only $32,500. And BMW, with its 1-series, is another well-known example. Such cars, priced in the low $30,000's, compete more directly with products from broad-line manufacturers like Ford, General Motors, and Toyota. This suggests that members of a strategic group can overcome __________ barriers and migrate to other groups that they find attractive if they are willing to commit time and resources.
mobility
Interest rate increases have a ______ impact on the residential home construction industry and a __________ effect on industries that produce consumer necessities such as prescription drugs or basic grocery items
negative; negligible
Our goal is to help save 100,000 more lives each year. (Varian Medical Systems) This is an example of a
nonfinancial strategic objective
In large organizations, the potential exists for different parts of an organization to pursue its own goals rather than the overall company goals. Proper _________ can help resolve conflicts when they arise.
objectives
There are several perspectives of competition. One perspective is zero-sum thinking. Zero-sum thinking means that
one can only gain at the expense of someone else.
The vision and mission statements of a company set the overall direction of the organization. Strategic objectives serve what role?
operationalize the mission statement
For a firm like Nordstrom that has no manufacutring operations, value is added by developing expertise in the procurement of finished goods and by displaying them in its stores in a way that enhances sales. In the value chain, procurement activities become the primary activity. This begins with ______ and ends with ____________
partnering with vendors; marketing and selling
In 1977, Kennenth H. Olsen, then president of Digital Equipment Corp., announced that there was no reason for individuals to have a computer in their home. Long since disproven, this is an example of
poor forecasting of future consumer demand
Corporate-level strategy looks at how to manage the ____ of its businesses to create synergies
portfolio
To inculcate a strategic management perspective, managers must create management_ ________ to foster change
processes
in contrast to____________ interactions, which allow the firm to gain insights on the needs of a particular customer, ________ offers the opportunity to leverage the wisdom of the larger crowd.
prosumer;crowdsourcing
If managers do not recognize from the beginning that the balanced scorecard is not a ________ and fail to commit to it long term, the organization will be disappointed.
quick fix
In the five-forces model, conditions under which a supplier group can be powerful include all of the following except
readily available substitute products
Some benefits of sustainability projects include
reducing risks
Campbell Soup uses electronic networks to improve the efficiency of outbound logistics. These networks also helped Campbell Soup manage the ordering of raw materials more efficiently, improve its production scheduling, and help its customers better manage their inbound logistics operations. This is an example of
relationships among activites outside of the firm
While working to prioritize and fulfill their responsibilities, members of an organization's board of directors should
represent the interests of the shareholders
The tenure of Ms. Marchionni as CEO of Lands' End was largely a result of her efforts to re-invent the apparel brand,
resulting in conflicts with the customer base and corporate culture
Strategy formulation and implementation is a challenging ongoing process. To be effective, it should not involve
rivals
The text addresses two perspectives of leadership as well as their implications. These two perspectives are
romantic and external control
When Nordstrom, the Seattle-based department store chain, aids customers with after-sales support, it exemplifies which primary value-chain activity?
service
A wide variety of firm resources that are costly to imitate due to the social engineering that is required being beyond the capability of competitors include interpersonal relations among managers in the firm, its culture, and its reputation with its suppliers and customers. Such competitive advantages are based upon
social complexity
Research published in Personnel Psychology shows that older workers are slightly more willing to implement organizational changes than younger workers. This is an example of which segment of the general environment?
sociocultural
Procter & Gamble has perfected a technique for compact cleaning powder into a liquid concentration. Consumers, retailers, shipping, and wholesalers, and environmentalists all have benefited from the resulting change in consumer shopping habits and the revolution in industry supply-chain economics. According to the text, this is an example of
stakeholder symbiosis
Managers should do more than focus on short-term financial performance. One concept that helps managers do this is stakeholder symbiosis. This means that
stakeholders are dependent on each other for their success
Wall Street executives have received excessive bonus pay in the past. This concerns which of the following stakeholder groups most directly?
stockholders
__________ may be considered the advance work that must be done in order to effectively formulate and implement strategies
strategy analysis
According to a CEO survey by Accenture, ________ are not mutually exclusive corporate goals.
sustainability and profitabilty
Which of the following is not a tangible resource
technical and scientific skills
When the management frame of reference gets out of touch with the realities of the actual business situation, what can happen to the firm?
the company business strategy no longer works
Employees will be able to obtain a proportionately high level of profits they generate (relative to the firm) if
the cost to the firm of replacing them is high
In strategic management, both the short-term and long-term perspectives need to be considered because
the creative tension between the two forces managers to develop more successful strategy.
End users are not
the first customers in a distribution channel
All of the following are important elements of the political and legal segment of the general environment except
the increased use of Internet technology
Which of the following would be most difficult to assess
the legitimacy and reputation of a firm
The ROI on sustainability efforts can be difficult to quantify because
the payback period is on a different time frame
Airbnb, a room-sharing site, offers more rooms than Marriott. Goldman Sachs suggests that the supply of new rooms over the next two years will outpace the previous five even though the growth of American occupancy rates has begun to slow. Which competitive force is involved in this situation?
the threat of new entrants
Successful organizations are effective in motivating people. Employees work best when
they are striving toward specific goals
The bargaining power of suppliers increases as
threat of forward integration by suppliers increases.
The text argues that a strategic perspective in an organization should be emphasized
throughout the organization
Strategy formulation at the business level addresses best how to compete in a given business
to attain competitive advantage
Executives must be careful to avoid spending so much time and effort tracking the actions of __________ that they ignore ___________
traditional competitors; new competitors
Accounting is a sort of transformation process that converts daily records of individual transactions into monthly financial reports. The ___________ are the inputs, accounting is the operation that adds value, and ___________ are the outputs.
transaction records; financial statements
The strategic groups concept is valuable for assessing the implications of industry _________ for the strategic group as a whole.
trends
__________ ratios reflect whether a firm is efficiently using its resources.
turnover
Scenario planning is a useful technique for firms competing in industries characterized by __________ and ___________
unpredictability; change
Although such visions cannot be accurately measured by a specific indicator of how well they are being achieved, they do provide a fundamental statement of the ________ of an organization.
values, aspirations, and goals
The hierarchy of organizational goals is in the following order (least to most specific)
vision statements, mission statements, and strategic objectives