Strategic Management Mid-Term Study Guide
What is the range for a firm's total weighted score in a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM)
1 to 4
Individual age 65 and older in the United States as a percentage of the population will rise to ______ percent by 2030
19
The average total weighted score in the IFE Matrix is
2.5
The World Economic Outlook report predicts a global growth rate of around ______ percent
3.6
Which ratio would be considered an activity ratio?
Average collection period
What is NOT one of Michael Porter's five competitive forces?
Bargaining power of unions
________ are the individuals most strongly identified with an idea or product and whose futures are linked to its success
Champions
A ________ statement specifies a firm's commitment to integrity, fairness, discipline, equal employment opportunity, teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, and/or other such exemplary attributes
Core values
_________ is the unique way an organization does business
Culture
A mission statement should motivate stakeholders to action, as well be _______, orientated, informative, inspiring, and enduring
Customer
What is the first step in the comprehensive strategic-management model
Developing vision and mission statements
Which component of a mission statement addresses the firm's major competitive advantage?
Distinctive competence
Which of the following states has zero state income tax?
Flordia
During what stage of strategic management is a firm's specific internal strengths and weaknesses determined?
Formulation
In which phase of strategic management are long-term objectives especially important?
Formulation
The fact that Apple has no manufacturing facilities of its own
Has enabled it to remain financially lean
Although a firm positioned in Quadrant ________ of the Grand Strategy Matrix is in a growing industry, it is unable to compete effectively and needs to determine why the firm's current approach is ineffective and how to best change to improve competitiveness
II
In which phase of strategic management are annual objectives especially important?
Implementation
Which statement best describes intuition?
It should be coupled with analysis in decision making
The recommended length of an effective mission statement is ________ words
Less than 100
What are enduring statements of purpose that distinguish one business from other similar firms?
Mission statements
Organizations using strategic management are generally _____ than those that do not
More profitable
Which of the following is the process of influencing people to accomplish specific objectives?
Motivating
How many cells are in a SWOT Matrix
Nine
Which of these is NOT a SPACE Matrix quadrant
Offensive
Terms such as objectives, mission, strengths, and weaknesses were first formulated to address problems
On the battlefield
The ideal length of a vision statement is
One sentence
Which of the following is NOT an external force that must be examined in formulating strategies?
Organizational
Which function of management includes areas such as job design, job specifications, job analysis, and unity of command
Organizing
An _____with expertise in developing vision and mission statements and with unbiased views, can at times manage the process more effectively than an internal group or committee of managers
Outside facilitator
Which component of a mission statement address the basic beliefs, values, aspirations, and ethical priorities of the firm?
Philosophy
Which of the following does the text call an up-front investment in success
Planning
When an industry relies heavily on government contracts, which forecasts can be the most important part of an external audit
Political
Which strategy-formulation technique reveals the relative attractiveness of alternative strategies and thus provides an objective basis for selecting specific strategies
Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM)
Who should perform an internal audit
Representative managers and employees from throughout the firm
_________ forces are shaping the way people live, work, produce, and consumer
SCDE
What are the two external dimensions of the SPACE Matrix?
Stability position and industry position
In the BCG Matrix, when a division of an organization has a high relative market share and is in fast-growing industry, it is called a
Star
According to Webster's New World Dictionary, _____ is "the science of planning and directing large-scale military operations, of maneuvering forces into the most advantageous position prior to actual engagement with the enemy"
Strategy
An important activity in _______ is taking corrective action
Strategy evaluaation
Strategy analysis and choice largely involves making ________ decisions based on _________ information
Subjective; objective
When using External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix, what is done after multiplying each factor's weight by its rating to determine a weighted score?
Summing the weighted scores for each variable to determine the total weighted score for the organization
Business or military success is
The product of both attention to changing external and internal conditions and the insightful adaptations to those conditions
Which statement is TRUE
The vision statement should be established before the mission statement
What is the highest number of strategies that can be examined at one time with the QSPM?
There is no limit
In general, what happens to American goods in overseas markets when there is a strong dollar?
They are more expensive
Which of the following is NOT a reason given for poor or no strategic planning in an organization?
Trust of management make it unnecessary
A strong dollar enables _______ firms to purchase raw materials more cheaply from other countries
United States
Which type of statement should be created first and foremost?
Vision
What question is asked in conjunction with the philosophy component of a mission statement?
What are the basic beliefs, values, aspirations, and ethical priorities of the firm?
Which question is NOT addressed in an effective mission statement?
What are the updated balances of leading accounts on the firm's balance sheet?
Which of these basic questions should a vision statement answer?
What do we want to become?
According to Drucker, which question is synonymous with asking "What is our mission?"
What is our business?
To gain ______ firms need to provide unique products and services
a sustainable competitive advantage
The purpose of a mission statement is to declare all of these EXCEPT
an annual financial plan
A _______ integration strategy is used by firms to gain control or ownership of suppliers
backward
The critical success factors in a Competitive Profile Matrix and EFE Matrix include
both internal and external issues
A(n) _______ ideally supports the collective commitment of an organization's people to a common purpose
culture
The mission statement should reflect the anticipation of
customers
A firm's strengths that cannot be easily matched or imitated by competitors are called
distinctive competencies
According to Drucker, a business' mission is the foundation for all of the following EXCEPT
employee wage rates
For companies located in Quadrant III of the Grand Strategy Matrix, the first strategy recommended is
extensive cost and asset reduction
_____________ exemplifies the complexity of relationships among the functional areas of business
financial ratio analysis
To perform an external audit, a company first must
gather competitive intelligence and information about external trends
What category of ratios measures how effectively a firm can maintain its economic position in the growth of the economy and industry
growth
Successful strategists minimize their own political exposure on issues that are _________ and in circumstances where opposition from major power centers is likely
highly controversial
Without assumptions, planning would be
impossible
External audit is sometimes called
industry analysis
________ ties all business functions together and provides the basis for all managerial decisions
information
Competition in virtually all industries is
intense
The _______ decision is the allocation and reallocation of capital and resources to projects, products, assets, and divisions of an organization
investment
The times-interest-earned ratio would be classified as a
leverage ration
Which of the following is NOT one of the steps involved in constructing a SWOT Matrix?
list the firm's external weaknesses
The question, "geographically, where does the firm compete?" is part of the _________ component of the mission statement
markets
A pattern of behavior developed by an organization as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, and that has worked well enough to be considered valid and to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel is called
organizational culture
The management function that is most important for strategy implementation is
organizing
In determining the ___________, marketers often make decisions related to areas such as warehousing, distribution channels, and retail site locations
place
All of the following are political, governmental, and legal variables that can represent key opportunities or threats to organizations EXCEPT
population changes by race, age, sex, and level of affluence
After a draft mission statement has been developed, it is important to
request modifications, additions, and deletions
Often, an effective way to gain commitment and achieve desired results is to shift from ______ to _______ issues and concerns
short-term; long term
Forward integration would be an appropriate strategy for which of the following types of divisions in the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix
star
Sometimes _______ is used to refer to strategic formulation, implementation and evaluation, with ______ referring only to strategic formulation
strategic management; strategic planning
Internal politics affect the choice of ______ in all organizations
strategies
Because of the success of the iPad and the iPhone, Apple has tremendous brand recognition. Brand recognition is one of Apple's
strengths
Internal _________ are controllable activities in an organization that are performed especially well
strengths
Which section of the SWOT Matrix involves matching internal strengths with external opportunities
the SO cell
All of the following are limitations of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix EXCEPT
the matrix requires at least three years worth of data
Which ratio is calculated by dividing profits before interest and taxes by total interest charges?
times-interest earned ration
What term is defined as the product of multiplying the weights by the Attractiveness Scores in each row of the QSPM?
total attractiveness scores
Distribution includes
warehousing
What marketing function includes test marketing?
Product and service planning
Which of the following is similar to the actuarial methods used by insurance companies to rate customers by the chance of positive or negative outcomes
Business analytics
What can be defined as the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives?
Strategic Management
What are the means by which long-term objectives will be achieved?
Strategies
Which of the following is NOT one of the nine recommended components of a mission statement?
Strategies
Whenever new firms can easily enter a particular industry, the intensity of competitiveness among firms tend to
Increase
Which of the following is NOT a pitfall an organization should avoid in strategic planning?
Involving all managers rather than delegating planning to a "planner"
The strategic-management process
Is a continuous process
The investor relations pages of a company website ____ information about a firm
Is a good place to start to find
Which of these is a limitation of QSPM
It requires intuitive informed judgements