Which of the following is not one of the five questions that comprise the task of evaluating a company's competitive strength and cost structure?
A. What are the company's most profitable geographic market segments?
B. How well is the company's strategy w
A. What are the company's most profitable geographic market segments?
Which of the following is not a component of evaluating a company's competitive strength and cost structure?
A. evaluating how well the strategy is working
B. scanning the environment to determine a company's best and most profitable customers
C. assessin
B. scanning the environment to determine a company's best and most profitable customers
One important indicator of how well a company's present strategy is working is whether
A. it has more core competencies than close rivals.
B. its strategy is built around at least two of the industry's key success factors.
C. the company is achieving gain
C. the company is achieving gains in financial strength.
Which one of the following is not a reliable measure of how well a company's current strategy is working?
A. trends in the company's sales and earnings growth
B. the company's development of human capital, organizational capital, and information capital
C
B. the company's development of human capital, organizational capital, and information capital
A resource-based strategy
A. is often based on cross-department combinations of intellectual capital and expertise.
B. uses a company's valuable and rare resources and competitive capabilities to deliver value to customers that rivals have difficulty matc
B. uses a company's valuable and rare resources and competitive capabilities to deliver value to customers that rivals have difficulty matching.
A resource-based strategy
A. focuses on exploiting a company's best-executed operating strategy.
B. is based upon efficient performance of the company's primary value chain activities.
C. concentrates on minimizing the costs associated with the design of
D. attempts to exploit resources in a manner that offers value to customers in ways rivals are unable to match.
A company's resources are competitive assets that are owned or controlled by the company and include
A. financial resources such as a company's credit rating and borrowing capacity.
B. tangible resources such as plants, distribution centers, and manufactu
E. All of these choices are correct.
A capability of the firm is not considered to be
A. the capacity of a firm to competently perform some internal activity.
B. referred to as a competence.
C. developed and enabled through the deployment of a company's resources or some combination of its r
E. related to the level of resources available.
The common types of valuable resources and competitive capabilities that management should consider when crafting a strategy include
A. a skill, specialized expertise, or competitively important capability.
B. valuable physical and intangible assets.
C. v
E. All of these choices are correct.
The competitive power of a company resource depends on
A. whether it helps differentiate a company's product offering from the product offerings of rival firms.
B. whether the resource is really competitively valuable, if it is rare and something competit
B. whether the resource is really competitively valuable, if it is rare and something competitors lack, how hard it is to copy or imitate, and how easily it can be trumped by the substitute resource strengths and competitive capabilities of rivals.
The competitive power of a company resource or competitive capability hinges on
A. how hard it is for competitors to copy or imitate.
B. whether it is rare and, therefore, something rivals lack.
C. whether it is really competitively valuable.
D. how easil
E. All of these choices are correct.
For a particular company resource to have meaningful competitive power and perhaps qualify as a basis for competitive advantage, it should
A. be competitively important, hard for competitors to copy or imitate, rare and something rivals lack, and not be e
A. be competitively important, hard for competitors to copy or imitate, rare and something rivals lack, and not be easily trumped by the substitute resources/capabilities of rivals.
A company that lacks a stand-alone resource that is competitively powerful may attempt to develop a competitive advantage through
A. improved employee training programs, new marketing promotions, or technological enhancements to production processes.
B. t
D. bundled resources that enable superior performance of cross-functional capabilities that can be leveraged to support its business model and strategy.
A company that is at a disadvantage in the marketplace because it lacks competitively valuable resources possessed by rivals
A. should consider divesting assets and making future investments in promising new industries.
B. may be able to develop substitut
B. may be able to develop substitute resources that accomplish the same objective as the competitively valuable resource possessed by rivals.
To sustain the competitive power of resources and capabilities, they must be
A. continually strengthened and nurtured.
B. broadened and deepened to cover emerging market opportunities.
C. refreshed, modified, or sometimes phased out and replaced in respon
E. All of these are correct, except answer choice "difficult to imitate.
When a company is good at performing a particular internal activity, it is said to have a
A. competitive advantage over rivals.
B. competitive capability.
C. distinctive competence.
D. resource-based strategy.
E. competence.
E. competence.
The difference between a resource and a capability is that
A. a resource refers to a company's best-executed functional strategy, and a capability refers to a company's best-executed business strategy.
B. a resource refers to a company's most strategicall
D. a resource represents a competitive asset that is owned or controlled by the company, whereas a capability is a competently performed internal activity that is developed through the deployment of the company's resources.
Every organization has many resources, capabilities, and routines; however, those few things the company does really well and performs with a very high proficiency are termed
A. core competencies.
B. distinct capabilities.
C. sustainable activities.
D. so
B. distinct capabilities.
Which of the following is not a tangible resource?
A. technological assets
B. physical assets
C. financial assets
D. organizational resources
E. None of these choices are correct.
E. None of these choices are correct.
Imitation by rivals is most challenging when
A. resources are unique.
B. resources must be built over time.
C. capabilities reflect a high level of social complexity and causal ambiguity.
D. resources and capabilities require a high level of capital inves
C. capabilities reflect a high level of social complexity and causal ambiguity.
Which one of the following is not a tangible resource?
A. human assets and intellectual capital
B. brand, image, and reputation
C. relationships
D. company culture
E. All of these choices are correct.
E. All of these choices are correct.
Which one of the following is not an intangible resource?
A. human assets and intellectual capital
B. technological assets
C. brand, image, and reputation
D. relationships
E. company culture
B. technological assets
When a company has become proficient in modifying, upgrading, or deepening the company's resources and capabilities in response to its changing environment and market opportunities, it is called
A. a dynamic capability.
B. a core competence.
C. a distinct
A. a dynamic capability.
Identifying and appraising a company's resource strengths and weaknesses and its external opportunities and threats is called
A. SWOT analysis.
B. competitive asset/liability analysis.
C. competitive positioning analysis.
D. strategic resource assessment.
A. SWOT analysis.
A first-rate SWOT analysis
A. is a way to measure whether a company's value chain is longer or shorter than the chains of key rivals.
B. is a tool for benchmarking whether a firm's strategy is closely matched to industry key success factors.
C. reveals wh
D. provides a good basis for crafting a strategy.
Which one of the following is not part of conducting a SWOT analysis?
A. identifying a company's resource strengths and competitive capabilities
B. benchmarking the company's resource strengths and competitive capabilities against industry key success fac
B. benchmarking the company's resource strengths and competitive capabilities against industry key success factors
Which of the following most accurately reflect a company's resource strengths?
A. its core competencies, competitive capabilities, and valuable intangible assets
B. sizes of its unit sales, revenues, and market share vis-�-vis those of key rivals
C. sizes
A. its core competencies, competitive capabilities, and valuable intangible assets
A company resource weakness or competitive deficiency
A. represents a problem that needs to be turned into a strength because weaknesses prevent a firm from being a winner in the marketplace.
B. causes the company to fall into a lower strategic group than
E. is something a company lacks or does poorly (in comparison to rivals) or a condition that puts it at a disadvantage in the marketplace.
A company's resource weaknesses can relate to
A. inferior or unproven skills, lack of expertise, or intellectual capital shortfalls in competitively important parts of the business.
B. something that it lacks or does poorly (in comparison to rivals).
C. d
E. All of these choices are correct
Sizing up a company's overall resource strengths and weaknesses
A. essentially involves constructing a "strategic balance sheet" on which the company's resource strengths represent competitive assets and its resource weaknesses represent competitive liabi
A. essentially involves constructing a "strategic balance sheet" on which the company's resource strengths represent competitive assets and its resource weaknesses represent competitive liabilities.
The external market opportunities that are most relevant to a company are the ones that
A. increase market share.
B. reinforce its overall business strategy.
C. match up well with the firm's financial resources and competitive capabilities, offer the best
C. match up well with the firm's financial resources and competitive capabilities, offer the best growth and profitability, and present the most potential for competitive advantage.
Which of the following is not a market opportunity most relevant to a particular company?
A. likely entry of potent new competitors
B. acquiring rival firms or companies with technological know-how to enter new lines of business
C. expanding the company's
A. likely entry of potent new competitors
Which of the following best describes the market opportunities that tend to be most relevant to a particular company?
A. those that provide avenues for taking market share away from close rivals and enhance a company's image as a leader in product innovat
D. those that match up well with the firm's financial resources and competitive capabilities, offer the best growth and profitability, and present the most potential for competitive advantage
Which of the following is not an example of an external threat to a company's future profitability?
A. lack of a distinctive competence
B. potential of a hostile takeover
C. adverse changes in foreign exchange rates
D. unfavorable demographic shifts
E. in
A. lack of a distinctive competence
Which of the following is not an example of an external threat to a company's future profitability?
A. likely entry of potent new competitors
B. lack of a well-known brand name with which to attract new customers and help retain existing customers
C. unfa
B. lack of a well-known brand name with which to attract new customers and help retain existing customers
The most important payoff of doing a thorough SWOT analysis is
A. identifying whether the company's value chain is cost effective vis-�-vis the value chains of rivals.
B. helping strategy makers benchmark the company's resource strengths against industry
E. assisting strategy makers in drawing conclusions about the company's overall situation and crafting a strategy that is well-matched to the company's resources and capabilities, its market opportunities, and the external threats to its future well-being
The two most important parts of SWOT analysis are
A. pinpointing the company's competitive assets and pinpointing its competitive liabilities.
B. identifying the company's resource strengths and identifying the company's best market opportunities.
C. iden
D. drawing conclusions from the SWOT listings about the company's overall situation and translating these conclusions into strategic actions to better match the company's strategy to its resource strengths and market opportunities, correct the important w
One of the most telling signs of whether a company's market position is strong or precarious is
A. whether its product is strongly or weakly differentiated from rivals.
B. whether its prices and costs are competitive with those of key rivals.
C. whether i
B. whether its prices and costs are competitive with those of key rivals.
Two analytical tools useful in determining whether a company's prices and costs are competitive are
A. SWOT analysis and key success factor analysis.
B. SWOT analysis and benchmarking.
C. value chain analysis and benchmarking.
D. competitive position asse
C. value chain analysis and benchmarking.
A company's value chain identifies
A. the steps it goes through to convert its net income into value for shareholders.
B. the primary activities that create value for customers and related support activities.
C. the series of steps it takes to get a produ
B. the primary activities that create value for customers and related support activities.
The primary activities included in the value chain include
A. supply chain management, operations, distribution, sales and marketing, and customer service activities.
B. product R&D, technology and systems development.
C. human resource management.
D. gen
A. supply chain management, operations, distribution, sales and marketing, and customer service activities.
A company's value chain
A. consists of the primary activities that it performs in seeking to deliver value to shareholders in the form of higher dividends and a higher stock price.
B. depicts the internally performed activities associated with creating an
C. consists of two broad categories of activities: the primary activities that create customer value and the requisite support activities that facilitate and enhance the performance of the primary activities.
Identifying the primary and secondary activities that comprise a company's value chain
A. indicates whether a company's resource strengths will ultimately translate into greater value for shareholders.
B. reveals whether a company's resource strengths are
C. is the first step in understanding a company's cost structure (since each activity in the value chain gives rise to costs).
Benchmarking involves
A. comparing how different companies perform various value chain activities and then making cross-company comparisons of the costs of these activities.
B. checking whether a company has achieved more of its financial and strategic ob
A. comparing how different companies perform various value chain activities and then making cross-company comparisons of the costs of these activities.
A much-used and potent managerial tool for determining whether a company performs particular functions or activities in a manner that represents "the best practice" when both cost and effectiveness are taken into account is
A. competitive strength analysi
E. benchmarking.
The most difficult part of benchmarking is
A. whether to do it at all.
B. figuring out how to gain access to information regarding rivals' practices and costs.
C. when to initiate the process.
D. what information to utilize in the analysis process.
E. whe
B. figuring out how to gain access to information regarding rivals' practices and costs.
Determining whether a company's prices and costs are competitive
A. requires looking at the costs of a company's internally performed activities and the costs of its suppliers and forward channel allies (distributors/dealers).
B. requires performing prici
A. requires looking at the costs of a company's internally performed activities and the costs of its suppliers and forward channel allies (distributors/dealers).
Accurately assessing the competitiveness of a company's cost structure and value proposition requires
A. that managers understand an industry's entire value chain system.
B. that managers understand the detail of their own company's value chain.
C. that m
A. that managers understand an industry's entire value chain system.
When looking at the entire industry, the main areas in a company's overall value chain where important differences between firm's cost and value do not occur are in
A. a company's own internal activities.
B. the suppliers industry value chain.
C. the forw
D. a company's own internal activities, the suppliers industry value chain, and the forward channel portion of the industry chain.
Managers can pursue any of several strategic approaches to reduce the costs of internally performed value chain activities and improve a company's cost competitiveness by
A. investing in productivity-enhancing, cost-saving technological improvements.
B. o
E. All of these choices are correct
Which of the following is not a good option for trying to remedy high internal costs vis-�-vis rival firms?
A. investing in productivity-enhancing, cost-saving technological improvements
B. redesigning the product or some of its components to permit more
C. implementing aggressive strategic resource mapping to permit across-the-board cost reduction
A company's strategic options for internally performed value chain activities do not include
A. revamping its value chain to eliminate or bypass some cost-producing activities (particularly low value-added activities).
B. implementing the use of best prac
D. switching to activity-based costing.
The options for remedying a supplier-related cost disadvantage include
A. trying to negotiate more favorable prices with suppliers and switching to lower priced substitute inputs.
B. forward vertical integration.
C. shifting into the production of substit
A. trying to negotiate more favorable prices with suppliers and switching to lower priced substitute inputs.
Which of the following is not an option for improving supplier-related value chain activities?
A. Integrate backward into the business of high-cost suppliers in an effort to reduce the costs of the items being purchased.
B. Negotiate more favorable prices
E. Persuade forward channel allies to implement best practices.
The options for remedying a cost disadvantage associated with activities performed by forward channel allies include
A. switching to lower-priced substitutes.
B. pressuring forward channel allies to reduce their costs and markups.
C. shifting into the pro
B. pressuring forward channel allies to reduce their costs and markups.
Which of the following is not an option for remedying a forward channel-related cost disadvantage?
A. Negotiate more favorable prices with suppliers.
B. Integrate forward into company-owned retail outlets.
C. Collaborate closely with forward channel allie
A. Negotiate more favorable prices with suppliers.
The value of doing competitive strength assessment is to
A. determine how competitively powerful the company's core competencies are.
B. learn if the company's market opportunities are better than those of its rivals.
C. learn whether a company has a dist
D. learn how the company ranks relative to rivals on each of the important factors that determine market success and ascertain whether the company has a net competitive advantage or disadvantage vis-�-vis key rivals.
Doing a competitive strength assessment entails
A. determining whether a company has a cost-effective value chain.
B. ranking the company against major rivals on each of the important factors that determine market success and ascertaining whether the comp
B. ranking the company against major rivals on each of the important factors that determine market success and ascertaining whether the company has a net competitive advantage or disadvantage versus major rivals.
A company's competitive strength scores
A. pinpoint its strengths and weaknesses against rivals and point to offensive and defensive strategies capable of producing first-rate results.
B. determine whether a company has a cost-effective value chain.
C. le
B. determine whether a company has a cost-effective value chain.
Which one of the following is not something that can be learned from doing a competitive strength assessment?
A. factors on which a company is competitively strongest and weakest vis-�-vis key rivals
B. whether a company should correct its weaknesses by a
B. whether a company should correct its weaknesses by adopting best practices and/or revamping the makeup of its value chain
Identifying the strategic issues a company faces and compiling a "worry list" of problems and roadblocks is an important component of company situation analysis because
A. without a precise fix on what problems/issues a company confronts, managers cannot
B. the "worry list" sets the management agenda for taking actions to improve the company's performance and business outlook.
Which of the following is not accurate as concerns the task of identifying the strategic issues and problems that merit front-burner managerial attention?
A. Drawing upon the results and conclusions from analyzing the company's external environment.
B. Dr
D. Identifying the strategic issues and problems that the company faces is the first thing that company managers need to do before starting to analyze the company's internal and external environment.