Deck 4: The Competitive Environment

Question 1

Which adaptation model of business strategy is characterized by ignoring the environment?

A) Defender
B) Prospector
C) Analyzer
D) Differentiation
E) Reactor

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Which of the following was NOT identified as an organizational component affecting the formulation and implementation of human resource strategy?

A) Organizational development
B) Organization culture
C) The labor force
D) Organization design
E) Unionization

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following organizational designs is MOST likely to have few managerial levels?

A) Horizontal
B) H-form
C) M-form
D) Conglomerate
E) Divisional

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Yum Brands began with three businesses: Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Since its founding, the company has acquired other fast-food firms, including Long John Silver's and A&W. Which type of organization design would be most appropriate for Yum's strategy?

A) A functional design
B) A unitary design
C) A multidivisional design
D) A holding company
E) A horizontal corporation design

Question 5

The principles and beliefs that shape what employees think about a company is called

A) unionization.
B) planning.
C) organizational culture.
D) focus grouping.
E) empowerment.

Question 6

An organization made up of various businesses similar in the products or services they provide is pursuing which type of strategy?

A) Growth
B) Related diversification
C) Differentiation
D) Stability
E) Prospector

Question 7

Which adaptation model of business strategy is best used when the situation is highly stable with low uncertainty?

A) Defender
B) Prospector
C) Analyzer
D) Differentiation
E) Cost leadership

Question 8

Andy is a member of high-level group within a large hospitality organization that develops and coordinates corporate strategy. Andy is likely part of a(n)

A) focus group.
B) quality circle.
C) top management team.
D) operations party.
E) maintenance team.

Question 9

The set of factors that prompt people to perform work at high levels is called

A) motivation.
B) stress.
C) interpersonal conflict.
D) negative attitudes.
E) executive succession.

Question 10

What is a psychological contract?

A) The extent to which people perceive they are being treated equitably by their organization
B) The set of expectations held by an individual as to what he or she will contribute to the organization and what the organization will provide in return
C) The set of psychological attributes or traits that distinguish one individual from another
D) The attitudes an individual holds toward the employing organization
E) A contract for psychological counseling provided by the organization

Question 11

An individual's reactions to environmental factors that present excessive demands is called

A) motivation.
B) stress.
C) interpersonal conflict.
D) negative attitudes.
E) executive succession.

Question 12

Companies can establish a competitive advantage by

A) hiring good employees and effectively managing human resources.
B) always implementing a hierarchical management scheme.
C) adopting a universalistic financial strategy.
D) ignoring the external competitive environment.
E) none of these.

Question 13

When organizations are downsizing the number of employees in the hierarchy, this usually involves a ____ strategy.

A) growth
B) retrenchment
C) stability
D) business
E) diversification

Question 14

Rolex, a maker of expensive, high-quality watches that convey status and luxury, follows a differentiation strategy. Therefore, an important goal of its human resource strategy will likely be to

A) focus employee training on cost reduction efforts.
B) hire workers who are flexible and can perform a variety of tasks.
C) keep the size of the workforce small to increase efficiency.
D) retrench using layoffs and terminations.
E) provide minimal compensation and benefits.

Question 15

A new, medium-size hotel chain groups its personnel into different departments on the basis of individual expertise, which is called the ____ design.

A) functional
B) U-form
C) H-form
D) divisional
E) both functional and U-form

Question 16

The process of handling union issues and challenges is called

A) labor relations.
B) downsizing.
C) outsourcing.
D) rightsizing.
E) outlook planning.

Question 17

____ strategy involves the actions taken by firms to better operate in a relevant industry or market.

A) Adaptation
B) Business
C) Functional
D) Competitive
E) Corporate

Question 18

The Home Depot is following an overall strategy of growth. It's the fastest-growing retailer in history, opening a new store every 43 hours. Which of the following actions is Home Depot NOT likely to use as it implements its strategy?

A) The Home Depot will hire many employees in the near future.
B) The Home Depot will increase its recruiting efforts.
C) The Home Depot will offer early retirement to workers.
D) The Home Depot will try to ensure that its current workers stay with the firm.
E) The Home Depot will offer extensive training to its staff.

Question 19

An organization's mission

A) specifies how it will achieve its purpose.
B) affects its human resource practices.
C) is its basic reason for existence.
D) describes its unique characteristics and strengths.
E) all of these.

Question 20

When a company decides to own and operate several separate companies, which strategy is being employed?

A) Diversification
B) Stability
C) Retrenchment
D) Multifaceted
E) Branching

Question 21

The functional strategies help determine what businesses the firm will operate.

Question 22

Companies that view their human resource function as a strategic asset should NOT evaluate HR effectiveness by investigating

A) costs and benefits.
B) organizational outcomes such as productivity.
C) profitability.
D) costs as the only factor.
E) utility analysis.

Question 23

When Hershey family interests considered selling their Hershey Foods stock in 2001, employees were outraged. They felt betrayed and were angry and pessimistic. Which individual or interpersonal process was interfering with implementation of Hershey's strategy?

A) Worker personalities
B) Worker attitudes
C) Motivation
D) Team processes
E) Communication

Question 24

Scenario 4.1
LMNO Corporation is a U.S.-based company with four distinct businesses, including a national music and video store chain, a rap music production company, a talent agency that represents several famous rap stars, and a digital video disc (DVD) production facility that makes and records music videos on DVDs. LMNO is in the process of acquiring another company, its major music store rival BeBop Records. Because its rap stars are so famous, LMNO charges crazed fans a higher price for its music compact discs and DVD videos. The fans don't mind, as they often have the opportunity to meet the rap stars in person at various LMNO music stores throughout the year. LMNO has a policy of promotion from within as well as a no-layoff policy, and all managers are required to rotate through each business before they can be promoted.
Refer to Scenario 4.1. Which competitive strategy does LMNO's music and video store chain appear to have adopted?

A) Focus
B) Growth
C) Stability
D) Cost leadership
E) Differentiation

Question 25

Pierre would like to increase the effectiveness of human resources at his firm. What advice would you give him?

A) Don't have formal performance appraisals because workers are upset by criticism.
B) Carefully control the behavior of teams and don't let them make their own decisions.
C) Don't pay everyone the same. Pay high-performing workers more in order to increase motivation.
D) Don't annoy workers by constantly requiring them to go through a lot of training.
E) Assume that quiet workers are happy; there's no reason to bother them with attitude surveys.

Question 26

In the past, evaluations of the effectiveness of the human resource function concentrated mainly on

A) worker satisfaction.
B) turnover.
C) person-job fit.
D) psychological contracts.
E) cost.

Question 27

The stability strategy essentially maintains the status quo.

Question 28

The top management team in a company usually includes all the shareholders.

Question 29

Scenario 4.1
LMNO Corporation is a U.S.-based company with four distinct businesses, including a national music and video store chain, a rap music production company, a talent agency that represents several famous rap stars, and a digital video disc (DVD) production facility that makes and records music videos on DVDs. LMNO is in the process of acquiring another company, its major music store rival BeBop Records. Because its rap stars are so famous, LMNO charges crazed fans a higher price for its music compact discs and DVD videos. The fans don't mind, as they often have the opportunity to meet the rap stars in person at various LMNO music stores throughout the year. LMNO has a policy of promotion from within as well as a no-layoff policy, and all managers are required to rotate through each business before they can be promoted.
Refer to Scenario 4.1. Which organizational form or design is LMNO likely to have adopted?

A) Functional, or U-form
B) Conglomerate, or H-form
C) Divisional, or M-form
D) Horizontal
E) Vertical

Question 30

An agency problem occurs when there is a conflict between the interests of managers and the interests of shareholders.

Question 31

Scenario 4.1
LMNO Corporation is a U.S.-based company with four distinct businesses, including a national music and video store chain, a rap music production company, a talent agency that represents several famous rap stars, and a digital video disc (DVD) production facility that makes and records music videos on DVDs. LMNO is in the process of acquiring another company, its major music store rival BeBop Records. Because its rap stars are so famous, LMNO charges crazed fans a higher price for its music compact discs and DVD videos. The fans don't mind, as they often have the opportunity to meet the rap stars in person at various LMNO music stores throughout the year. LMNO has a policy of promotion from within as well as a no-layoff policy, and all managers are required to rotate through each business before they can be promoted.
Refer to Scenario 4.1. Which corporate-level strategy does LMNO appear to follow?

A) Related diversification
B) Unrelated diversification
C) Retrenchment
D) Differentiation
E) Cost leadership

Question 32

Scenario 4.1
LMNO Corporation is a U.S.-based company with four distinct businesses, including a national music and video store chain, a rap music production company, a talent agency that represents several famous rap stars, and a digital video disc (DVD) production facility that makes and records music videos on DVDs. LMNO is in the process of acquiring another company, its major music store rival BeBop Records. Because its rap stars are so famous, LMNO charges crazed fans a higher price for its music compact discs and DVD videos. The fans don't mind, as they often have the opportunity to meet the rap stars in person at various LMNO music stores throughout the year. LMNO has a policy of promotion from within as well as a no-layoff policy, and all managers are required to rotate through each business before they can be promoted.
Refer to Scenario 4.1. Which grand strategy does LMNO appear to have chosen at this time?

A) Cost leadership
B) Stability
C) Growth
D) Analyzer
E) Prospector

Question 33

Scenario 4.1
LMNO Corporation is a U.S.-based company with four distinct businesses, including a national music and video store chain, a rap music production company, a talent agency that represents several famous rap stars, and a digital video disc (DVD) production facility that makes and records music videos on DVDs. LMNO is in the process of acquiring another company, its major music store rival BeBop Records. Because its rap stars are so famous, LMNO charges crazed fans a higher price for its music compact discs and DVD videos. The fans don't mind, as they often have the opportunity to meet the rap stars in person at various LMNO music stores throughout the year. LMNO has a policy of promotion from within as well as a no-layoff policy, and all managers are required to rotate through each business before they can be promoted.
Refer to Scenario 4.1. LMNO's policies of no layoffs and promotion from within are likely to have the MOST positive effect on

A) production efficiency.
B) leadership within the company.
C) excessive absenteeism, due to the threat of being fired.
D) employees' psychological contracts with the company.
E) employee attrition.

Question 34

A ____ strategy occurs when a company targets a particular facet of the market.

A) diversification
B) focus
C) cost leadership
D) retrenchment
E) differentiation

Question 35

The organization's ____ is the basic reason for existence.

A) contract
B) inducement
C) personality
D) purpose
E) mission

Question 36

____ strategies deal with how the firm manages each of its major functions such as marketing or human resources.

A) Corporate
B) Business
C) Functional
D) Growth
E) Differentiation

Question 37

The top management team includes the:

A) CEO
B) COO
C) chairperson of the board of directors
D) president
E) all of these

Question 38

General Electric owns and operates are number of different businesses, which is primarily an example of a ____ strategy.

A) diversification
B) business
C) functional
D) cost leadership
E) differentiation

Question 39

Unrelated diversity occurs when an organization expand into products that are similar to its current ones.

Question 40

Adrienne believes that it is fine to spend one or more hours each workday talking on the phone with personal friends. Adrienne's employer disagrees. This disagreement involves which part of the psychological contract?

A) The attitude
B) The organizational inducements
C) The personality
D) The individual contributions
E) The motivation

Question 41

Describe the relationship among an organization's purpose, mission, and top management team and how this relationship affects its human resource practices.

Question 42

Why is an organization's culture an important link to its human resource management?

Question 43

How would an organization conduct an evaluation of its human resource function?

Question 44

The three components of human resource strategy formulation are staffing, development, and compensation strategies.

Question 45

The U-form, M-form, and H-form are known to be different organizational designs.

Question 46

Compare and contrast related and unrelated diversification.

Question 47

Describe the factors that affect human resource strategy formulation.

Question 48

A cost leadership strategy is one that focuses on increasing costs and charging high prestige prices.

Question 49

A defender strategy works well in an environment where there is little change or uncertainty.

Question 50

The adaptation model assumes that the firm should change its strategies to meet environmental characteristics.