Capabilities refer to a company's
A.tangible resources.
B.intangible resources.
C.skills as coordinating its resources and putting them to productive use.
D.strategy as expressed in the firm's business model.
E. policies.
Skills as coordinating its resources and putting them to productive use
Which of the following is not true regarding a company's distinctive competencies?
A.They represent the unique strengths of the company.
B.They refer to company strengths that competitors cannot easily match or imitate.
C.They form the bedrock of a compan
They are shared by many firms in an industry
Resources
A.are the tangible assets available to a company.
B can be intangible or tangible
C. are harder for a company to copy than capabilities are.
D. are the products of a company's control systems
E. refer to an organization's skills.
can be tangible or inteangible
Competitive Advantage is based on
A. distinctive competencies.
B.economic forces external to a company.
C.lack of government regulations controlling a firm's ability to make rapid adjustments in response to its changing environment.
D. all of these choice
Distinctive Competencies
Competitive advantage typically leads to
A.an effective business model.
B.average profitability within an industry.
C.superior profitability.
D.making procedures routine.
E.flexibility in manufacturing
Superior Profitability
Factors that help a company to build and sustain competitive advantage include which of the following?
A. Superior efficiency
B. product quality
C. Innovation
D. Customer Responsiveness
E. All of these choices
All of these choices
The intellectual property of an organization is a(n)
A.tangible resource.
B.tangible competence.
C.tangible capability.
D.intangible capability.
E. intangible resource.
intangible resource
Capabilities are defined as a company's
A.physical plant and equipment.
B.skills at coordinating resources and putting them to
productive use.
C.reputation.
D.technological know-how.
E. resources.
Skills at coordinating resources and putting them to productive use
Donna can make a chair for about $100, she charges customers $150 to buy the chair, and customers perceive that the chair is worth $225. In this case, the consumer surplus is
A. $50
B. $100
C. $225
D. $75
E. $150
75
Donna can make a chair for about $100, she charges customers $150 to buy the chair, and customers perceive that the chair is worth $225. Donna's profit margin is
A. $50
B. $100
C. $225
D. $75
E. $150
$50
Which primary activity in the value chain is concerned with the design of products and production processes?
A.Research and development
B.Marketing and sales
C.Materials management
D.Production
E.Company infrastructure
Research and Development
Using the value chain model, which of the following primary activities is performed first, as inputs are transformed into outputs?
A.Research and development
B.Marketing and sales
C.Human Resources
D.Production
E.After-sales service and support
Research and Development
Using the value chain model, which of the following primary activities is performed last, as inputs are transformed into outputs?
A.Research and development
B.Marketing and sales
C.Human Resources
D.Production
E.After-sales service and support
After Sales Service and Support
Ford Motors developed the Explorer sports utility vehicle, the number 1 selling sports utility vehicle in the United States, based on an extensive study of customer preferences. Which value chain activity of Ford conducted those studies?
A.Research and de
Marketing and Sales
Mike works as a corporate trainer, teaching new employees how to perform manufacturing tasks. Mike works in which value chain activity?
A.Research and development
B.Marketing and sales
C.Human Resources
D.Production
E.Company Infrastructure
Human Resources
A company's competitive advantage will not endure for long when that competitive advantage can be
A. quickly or easily duplicated by other companies.
B.protected by patents.
C.protected by significant barriers to imitation.
D. shared with other companies
Quickly or easily duplicated by other companies
Cost accountants are responsible for gathering and monitoring data used for controlling the organization's costs. Cost accountants work in which value chain activity?
A.Research and development
B.Marketing and sales
C.Human Resources
D.Production
E.Compan
Company Infrastructure
Which of the follow support activities in the value chain refers to the companywide context within which all the other value creation activities take place?
A.Research and development B.Marketing and sales
C.Human Resources
D.Production
E.Company Infrastr
Company Infrastructure
Strong leadership from top management is
A.a support activity.
B.needed to attain economies of scale.
C.needed to build brand loyalty.
D.part of the human resources value chain activity.
E. a primary activity in the value chain.
A Support Activity
Research and development activities are concerned with
A.product design.
B.production processes.
C.service activities as well as manufacturing activities.
D.intangible as well as physical products.
E.all of these choices.
All of these choices
At the most basic level, a business is simply a device for
A.transforming inputs into outputs.
B.transporting products from one location to another.
C.converting outputs into inputs.
D.transferring title to goods from one party to another.
E.conserving ou
Transforming inputs into outputs
The four basic building blocks of competitive advantage are
A.low cost, quality, efficiency, and customer responsiveness. B.differentiation, quality, innovation, and customer responsiveness.
C.quality, efficiency, differentiation, and customer responsiven
Quality
Customer Responsiveness
Innovation
Efficiency
Efficiency is
A.defined as the time it takes to produce a product.
B. defined as the cost of inputs required to produce a given output.
C.pursued only by cost leaders.
D. lower when the output is high-quality.
E. measured by looking at a product's price.
defined as the cost of inputs required to produce a given output
When a firm produces products that customers perceive as having higher utility than those of its rivals, this firm's source of competitive advantage is
A. design.
B. low innovation.
C.superior quality.
D.efficiency.
E.customer responsiveness.
Customer Responsiveness
One of the most widely used measures of financial performance is
A.return on invested capital.
B.net profit margin.
C.share value.
D.net sales.
E.productivity.
Return on Invested Capital
How profitable a company is ultimately depends on
A.management's evaluation of the utility of a product.
B.product utility created through advertising.
C.the value of the patents the company holds.
D. the image of the company's products in the marketplace
The value customers place on the company's products.
The term value chain refers to the idea that a company is
A.one of a series of companies that comprise an industry segment.
B.the producer of a series of products that are linked together.
C.a chain of activities for transforming inputs into outputs that
a chain of activities for transforming inputs into outputs that customers value.
A product can be thought of as
A.package of possibilities.
B.configuration of parts.
C. one-time purchase.
D. package of attributes.
E.series of alternatives.
Package of Attributes
Which of the following factors does not determine the durability of a company's competitive advantage?
A.Barriers to imitation
B.A company's prior strategic commitments
C.Capability of competitors
D.General level of dynamism in the industry
E.The rate of
a company's prior strategic commitments
Which of the following distinctive competencies typically has the lowest barrier to imitation?
A.Efficient scale manufacturing facilities
B.Technological know-how
C.Marketing know-how
D.Organizational capabilities
E.Brand name
Efficient Scale Manufacturing facilities
A company's competitive advantage is more durable when
A.barriers to imitation are low and there are few capable competitors.
B.barriers to imitation are high and there are many capable competitors.
C.barriers to imitation are high.
D.the industry is stab
Barriers to imitation are high
The concept of quality applies to
A.all products.
B.the products consumers believe to be high-quality products.
C.products with a high per-unit cost. D.custom-made products only.
E. only those products that have been redesigned.
All products
Innovation refers to the act of
A.seeking patent protection for new products.
B.creating new products and processes.
C.repackaging current products to make them more appealing to consumers.
D.all of the above.
E.none of the above.
Creating new products and processes
Customer responsiveness includes which of the following?
A.Identifying and satisfying customer needs
B.Improving the quality of a company's products
C.The willingness to customize products for customers
D.Superior product design
E.All of these choices
All of these choices
Companies in the same industry may have
A.different competitive competencies.
B.similar distinctive competencies.
C.easily imitated distinctive competencies.
D.hard-to-imitate distinctive competencies.
E.all of these choices
All of these
Industry dynamism refers to
A.he gradual erosion of a company's customer base over time.
B.shifts in product profitability.
C.a rapidly changing industry environment.
D.increasing per-unit costs.
E.none of these choices.
Rapidly changing industry environment
A company may find it difficult to change capabilities because of
A.embedded power and influence.
B. turf battles.
C.power struggles and political resistance.
D. A and B.
E.all of these choices
All of these choices
A company's strategic commitments
A.allow it to imitate a competitor's advantage rapidly.
B.are a way to avoid failure.
C.occur when an organization is profitable.
D.reduce inertia.
E.allow it to develop a particular set of resources and capabilities.
allow it to develop a particular set of resources and capabilities
When companies find it hard to change their strategies and structures to adapt to changing competitive conditions, they suffer from
A.inertia.
B.prior strategic commitments.
C.barriers to mobility.
D.lack of resources.
E.lack of capabilities.
inertia
Kim's T-shirt factory was expert at providing unique, high-quality, but costly to make shirts. Even though the designs were very nice and the amount of detail increased over time, the high price meant that few customers bought shirts from her and her fact
The Icarus Paradox
Dale's horseshoeing methods save time and money for his employer, but when Dale suggests that everyone use his method, his boss says, "No. That's not the way we've always done it around here." Dale's employer is suffering from
A.organizational inertia.
B.
Organizational inertia
Cost of goods sold is determined by examining which of the following?
A.The balance sheet
B.Sources and uses of the financial statement
C.The cash budget
D.The income statement
E.The overhead and administrative expense statement
The income statement
____ can help an organization overcome inertia.
A.Power struggles
B.Capabilities
C.Prior strategic commitments
D. A crisis
E.The Icarus paradox
A crisis
The Icarus paradox can be overcome if a company
A.achieves superior innovation.
B.balances its pursuit of distinctive competencies.
C.develops its marketing expertise.
D.pursues a growth strategy.
E.achieves superior quality at a low cost.
Balances it pursuit of distinctive competencies.
___is away to avoid time.
A.Benchmarking
B.Gaining access to resources
C.Ignoring prior strategic commitments
D.Avoiding organizational commitments
E.The Icarus paradox
Benchmarking
Which of the following is not a way that companies can avoid failure?
A.Benchmarking
B.Continuous learning
C.Developing distinctive competencies
D.Exploiting luck
E. Investing in specialized assets
investing in specialized assets
When Rollie's car wash began to lose business to rivals, Rollie read publications for car wash owners to learn the best practices in the industry. Then she implemented the best practices. Rollie is using ____ to improve her car wash.
A.specialized assets
Benchmarking
According to a number of scholars, what role does luck play in determining competitive success and failure?
A.No role at all
B.A very small role
C. It produces sustained excellence.
D. A critical role
E. None of these choices
A critical role
A company may fail for which of the following reasons?
A.The company loses its competitive advantage.
B.The company's profitability declines. C.The company neglects to change strategies and structures.
D. All of these choices
E. None of these choices
All of these choices
The Icarus paradox suggests that
A.companies should stick to a narrowly defined line of products.
B.better-than-average profitability is an elusive goal.
C.companies may become so dazzled by their early success that they believe more of the same kind of e
Company's may become so dazzled by their early success that they believe more of the same kind of effort will assure future success.