Deck 2: Strategy Process and the Management of Technology and Innovation

Question 1

Strategy can be defined as:

A) Process whereby new and improved products, processes, materials, and services are developed and transferred to a new plant or market where they are appropriate
B) The critical tools, methods, and systems employed in the creation of goods or in providing services
C) A coordinated set of actions that fulfill the firm's objectives, purposes, and goals
D) The systematic gathering of information that leads to the generation of feasible alternatives for the firm
E) An industrial integration view of the firm based on industrial organization economics

Answer 1

A coordinated set of actions that fulfill the firm's objectives, purposes, and goals

Question 2

Linux is an example of continuous technology because:

A) the changes in the program are dramatic
B) the changes in the logic of the system happen over a relatively short period of time
C) the changes are implemented by a large number of individuals from all over the world
D) the technology changes are so disruptive that change happens continuously
E) it is not an example of continuous technology

Answer 2

the changes in the logic of the system happen over a relatively short period of time

Question 3

What was the common mistake of Polaroid, Swiss Watch, and the United States steel industry?

A) Giving technology away to competitors
B) Failing to improve their technology
C) Loss of government backing
D) Intervention of the WTO
E) Failing to form international alliances

Answer 3

Failing to improve their technology

Question 4

The domains that firms need to ensure are consistent with their strategy include all of the following except:

A) Structure
B) Employee hiring and relations
C) Decision making
D) Incentives
E) Industry structure

Question 5

The impact of a strategy comes from the firm setting a clear direction and taking actions that are consistent with that strategy. The common areas that the firm needs to focus on include:

A) Incentives
B) Structure and decision making
C) Communication and employee relations
D) Culture
E) All of these choices

Question 6

Capabilities are:

A) Skills the firm develops
B) The strategic direction the firm will seek to pursue
C) The building blocks for the value chain analysis
D) The building blocks of the five forces analysis
E) Central to the analysis of complementors

Question 7

Capabilities are typically classified as either ____ or ____.

A) technical - implementation
B) market - formulation
C) implementation - critical
D) technical -market
E) implementation- formulation

Question 8

Technology's impact on the competitive environment is disruptive if:

A) The change and impact is dramatic in society from the technology
B) There is a constant flow of small changes in the technology
C) The technology has not substantively been present before
D) The technology places existing industries out of business
E) There is no impact from the technology

Question 9

Each of the following are stages in the technology life cycle according to the S-curve except:

A) embryonic
B) growth
C) maturity
D) aging
E) death

Question 10

When a firm uses technology in a(n) ____ manner it employs a technology in a manner not being used by competitors.

A) Reactive
B) Preemptive
C) Offensive
D) Protective
E) Defensive

Question 11

Firms that use technology in a similar manner as other firms in its industry are using it in a(n) ____ manner.

A) Offensive
B) Defensive
C) Substitute
D) Competitive
E) Innovative

Question 12

Sotheby's used technology in a(n) ____ manner by signing an agreement with EBay to gain a competitive advantage over Christie's.

A) Offensive
B) Aggressive
C) Defensive
D) Reactionary
E) Competitive

Question 13

The strategic process DOES NOT include which of the following steps:

A) Evaluation/Control
B) Planning
C) Implementation
D) Approval
E) These are all steps in the strategic process

Question 14

____ is the gathering of information that leads to the generation of feasible alternatives for the firm.

A) Planning
B) Implementation
C) Evaluation
D) Control
E) Analysis

Question 15

The ____ should identify in relatively few words what is unique about the firm and the scope of activities it wants to pursue.

A) Goal statement
B) Mission
C) Prospectus
D) Strategic plan
E) Industrial analysis

Question 16

Which of the following is not one of the levels of strategy?

A) Corporate
B) Functional
C) Industrial
D) Business
E) All of these choices are levels of strategy

Question 17

Corporate strategy establishes:

A) How domains such as marketing will operate to achieve strategic goals
B) How individual businesses will operate
C) What industries and businesses the firm will compete
D) How individuals will progress through the corporation
E) The defensive use of technology in the firm

Question 18

Business level strategy establishes:

A) How domains such as marketing will operate to achieve strategic goals
B) How individual businesses will operate
C) What industries and businesses the firm will compete
D) How individuals will progress through the corporation
E) The defensive use of technology in the firm

Question 19

Who are the firms or individuals that provide input into the ultimate output of the industry?

A) Distributors
B) Suppliers
C) Retailers
D) Corporate Headquarters
E) Buyers

Question 20

Which is not one of the five forces in Michael Porter's analysis?

A) Buyers
B) Innovators
C) Rivalry
D) Suppliers
E) Substitutes

Question 21

Buyers are strong if all of the following are present except:

A) Buyers buy a large percentage of the industry's output
B) Low switching cost
C) Large number of sellers in the industry
D) The industry is selling a commodity product to the buyers
E) There are high capital requirements

Question 22

Suppliers are powerful if:

A) There are low switching costs
B) Customers can only vertically integrate forwards
C) The product supplied is unique
D) There is low demand for the product
E) There are high capital costs

Question 23

The threat of new entrants is high when all of the following are present except:

A) There is strong brand loyalty in the industry
B) There are large economies of scale
C) Distribution channels are hard to access
D) Incumbent firms are not aggressive in their response
E) Capital requirements are high

Question 24

Substitutes form:

A) Price floor
B) Price ceiling
C) Industry competitors
D) A group of products that do exactly the same function
E) Troubling issues for most industries

Question 25

Rivalry increases when:

A) The number of competitors increases
B) Demand for product is slowing
C) Switching costs are high
D) Exit barriers are high
E) Strategic payoff is high

Question 26

The higher the ____ the more likely firms are to cut prices and in turn their profits.

A) New entrants
B) Substitutes
C) Rivalry
D) Suppliers
E) Buyers

Question 27

Organized labor would be considered in Porter's five forces model as a:

A) Supplier
B) Substitute
C) Potentially lowering rivalry
D) Reducing profitability
E) Buyer

Question 28

What is a substitute product?

A) A product that is exactly the same as another
B) A product that performs a similar function but is not exactly the same as another
C) A completely different product
D) A product that goes well with another product
E) Another product which customers like

Question 29

Strategic groups are:

A) Firms from substitute industries
B) Firms from the same industry and compete in similar manners
C) Firms from the same industry and compete in different manners
D) Firms in the same industry that have the same size
E) Firms from different industries that are in the same region

Question 30

In a value chain, the primary activities that take place include all except:

A) logistics of inputs
B) shipping of the product
C) human resource management
D) marketing the product
E) service

Question 31

In the value chain the support activities that take place include all of the following except:

A) Service
B) Human resources management
C) Infrastructure
D) Technology development
E) Procurement

Question 32

Evaluation and control is employed to ____:

A) Judge what industries the firm should be in
B) Ensure the firm is reaching the goals and objectives established
C) Evaluate which firms should be in the strategic group
D) Reward the top performers in the firm
E) Determine the CEO's salary for the year

Question 33

The goals and objectives the firm establishes should be:

A) Based on balance sheet and income statement
B) Financially sophisticated so that stock analysis can understand them
C) Developed by the CEO and enforced by the senior management of the firm
D) Both quantitative and qualitative
E) One no longer than one year in advance

Question 34

The four key perspectives of the balanced score card as defined by Kaplan and Norton include all of the following except:

A) financial
B) stakeholder
C) customer
D) internal business process
E) learning

Question 35

Which of the following is the overall set of direction and set of actions that are to be pursued different disciplines within the firm?

A) Business strategy
B) Functional strategy
C) Strategic plan
D) Corporate strategy
E) Defensive strategy

Question 36

Porters Five Forces Analysis is a firm-level analysis model.

Question 37

The action that eventually led to Polaroid's bankruptcy was their major strategic shift into the digital camera market.

Question 38

The Strategy Process entails: Planning, Forming, Controlling.

Question 39

Substitutes form the price floor for a product.

Question 40

Strategy is not a single act that occurs in a firm. Instead it is a coordinated set of actions that fulfill the firm's objectives, purposes, and goals.

Question 41

A firm uses technology in an offensive manner when it employs a technology in a manner the same as competitors in order to gain a competitive advantage.

Question 42

The planning effort by the firm requires that the firm be clear what the firm's external capabilities are.

Question 43

Economies of scale lowers ability to enter and power of new entrants.

Question 44

In implementation process of the strategy, if the right people or supports are not in place at any one place in the flow, the entire process can be stopped.

Question 45

Firms must constantly seek to actively manage and improve their technological potential.

Question 46

Buyers gain power when the costs of switching to competing brands or substitutes are high.

Question 47

Strategic Planning is a single act that occurs over a given time period which lays out the direction of the firm.

Question 48

Managers must be reactive and make technology a part of the overall strategic efforts of the firm if they want to be successful.

Question 49

Increases in demand for a product increases rivalry in an industry.

Question 50

The root of Porter's Five forces is Industrial Organization economics.

Question 51

Discuss the two methods in which technology can be employed.

Question 52

Discuss the characteristics that increase rivalry in an industry.

Question 53

Define strategy and strategic planning and differentiate the two concepts.

Question 54

What is a value chain analysis? Why is it important to MTI?

Question 55

Differentiate the different levels of strategy and their importance to MTI.