Deck 1: Strategy: Theory Practice an Introduction

Question 1

Strategy is all about:

A) foresight and a holistic view of the firm
B) the short-term objectives of the firm and ways of meeting them
C) defining marketing goals and targets
D) enhancing sales performance

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What makes strategizing necessary?

A) rapid changes in the business landscape
B) more sophisticated organizational structures
C) pressure to innovate
D) all of these

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following was a strategist?

A) Machiavelli
B) Sun-Tzu
C) Herodotus
D) all of these

Answer 3

D

Question 4

How do modern conceptions of strategy relate to classical conceptions?

A) they are the same
B) there is no relation
C) as legitimations for current views
D) none of these

Question 5

Machiavelli's contribution to strategy suggests that:

A) remaining powerful is the highest priority
B) listening to your employees' needs is of utmost importance
C) delegation of authority enhances team performance
D) none of these

Question 6

Based on Clausewitz's arguments, we can infer that:

A) Strategy is based on a pre-determined wisdom and rational thinking.
B) Strategy unfolds sequentially yet rationally.
C) Strategy has a non-rationalistic element in it, induced by passions and feelings.
D) Both strategy is based on a pre-determined wisdom and rational thinking and strategy unfolds sequentially yet rationally.

Question 7

The establishment of modern-day strategy as a discipline can be traced back to:

A) the 1960-70s, drawn from economics
B) the industrial revolution in north-west England
C) the 1980s, with the advent of large US multinational corporations
D) the 1930s, drawn from social psychology

Question 8

Modern conceptions of strategy as planning played a major role in:

A) the First World War
B) the Peloponnesian Wars
C) the Second World War
D) the Vietnam War

Question 9

Which of the following was a crucible of early strategy thinking?

A) Marks & Spencer's
B) Zara
C) West Point
D) Ancient Greece

Question 10

In Cummings and Daellenbach's study, reviewing papers in Long Range Planning, what are the recurring themes that constitute the baseline of strategy research in the last 40 years?

A) corporate
B) technology
C) mergers and acquisitions
D) all of these

Question 11

According to Cummings and Daellenbach's study, reviewing papers in Long Range Planning what is NOT part of the emerging trends in the future of strategy?

A) Strategists are becoming more politically astute.
B) Strategists are becoming more sensitive to environmental conservation issues.
C) Strategists are becoming more aesthetically aware.
D) Case studies will flourish, as opposed to prescriptions.

Question 12

Chandler is famous for:

A) seeing strategy as leading to structure
B) seeing structure as leading to strategy
C) seeing strategy and structure as co-evolving
D) none of these

Question 13

Which of the following does NOT feature in Igor Ansoff's levels of action towards planning?

A) operational
B) inter-organizational
C) administrative
D) strategic

Question 14

A main feature of Ansoff's logic is that strategy is the exclusive territory of:

A) marketing managers
B) top management
C) sales managers
D) the founder of the company

Question 15

A definition of the firm following Edith Penrose focuses on the role of:

A) technology
B) capital
C) resources
D) network

Question 16

Sustained competitive advantage depends on firms developing unique combinations of ______, providing competencies that allow for flexible development in an uncertain and changing environment.

A) resources
B) capital
C) technologies
D) people

Question 17

Which of the following themes in strategy has/have been influenced by Penrose?

A) dynamic capabilities
B) resource-based view
C) knowledge-based perspectives on strategy
D) all of these

Question 18

According to Michael Porter, firm profitability is dependent on ______.

A) industry structure
B) people
C) the initial capital employed
D) the economy

Question 19

With which of the following would you associate these words: 'the environment determines success, not the resources controlled'?

A) Penrose
B) Machiavelli
C) Pericles
D) Porter

Question 20

A behavioural perspective on strategy argues that ______ influence the unfolding of strategy.

A) cognitive processes of bounded rationality
B) rapid changes and external phenomena
C) both cognitive processes of bounded rationality and rapid changes and external phenomena
D) none of these

Question 21

Who developed Transaction Cost Economics?

A) Michael Porter
B) Edith Penrose
C) Karl Marx
D) Oliver Williamson

Question 22

Porter is best known for work on which of the following?

A) the organization man
B) strategy as practice
C) competitive advantage
D) all of these

Question 23

What is a principle of revolutionary strategy, according to Hamel?

A) Strategic planning may be planning but it is not strategic.
B) Revolutionaries exist in every company.
C) none of these
D) Both strategic planning may be planning but it is not strategic and revolutionaries exist in every company.

Question 24

In Furrer, Thomas and Goussevskaia's research, the most frequent keyword associated with strategy was:

A) process
B) dynamics
C) performance
D) environment

Question 25

In the aforementioned study, which topic/concept was found to have an increased frequency of occurrence in the years 2001-05?

A) marketing research and metrics
B) operational efficiency
C) IT
D) innovation

Question 26

The first strategy as practice theory was written by ______.

A) Porter
B) Knights and Morgan
C) Marx & Engels
D) Machiavelli

Question 27

Marks & Spencer is a ______.

A) successful model for fashion retailing
B) model example of organization learning
C) firm challenged by newer models such as Zara
D) firm with a weak leadership team

Question 28

Zara owes its strategic success to ______.

A) advertising
B) a fast-fashion business model
C) its monorail
D) its long-standing traditions

Question 29

A ______ problem is a problem that is hard to define, has many inter-related causes and no criteria for evaluating solutions.

A) complex
B) historical
C) sensemaking
D) wicked

Question 30

According to ______, resources that are not easily copied by competitors are the real source of innovation and value for a firm.

A) Porter
B) Penrose
C) Chandler
D) Ansoff

Question 31

What constitutes a key concept in the industry analysis viewpoint promoted by Porter?

A) money
B) network
C) market power
D) corporate culture

Question 32

______ focuses on the processes and practices constituting the everyday activities of organizational life and relating to strategic outcomes.

A) Resource-based view
B) Strategy as practice
C) Industry analysis
D) Stakeholder theory

Question 33

A ______ is a set of normalized assumptions about how the world works and how to generate knowledge that frames thinking within a community.

A) theoretical tool
B) concept
C) phenomenon
D) paradigm

Question 34

Which of the following has played the major role in shaping contemporary views of strategy?

A) economics
B) philosophy
C) sociology
D) psychology

Question 35

What is the Red Queen effect?

A) bureaucracy
B) fracking
C) when competitors constantly evolve together to reach what is only ever a provisional and uneasy balance of top management
D) socialist women in charge

Question 36

Strategic ______ are the opposite of norms of predictability and routine.

A) cases
B) surprises
C) evolutions
D) capabilities