Deck 5: Strategic Management in the Multinational Company: Content and Formulation

Question 1

A low cost strategy leads to higher profits by

A)Charging a higher price than competitors.
B)Offering the customer products with more features.
C)The cost savings that firms achieve.
D)Adding unique features to products.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Defensive strategies include

A)Direct attacks, end-run offensive, and acquisitions.
B)The generic strategies.
C)Counter-parries.
D)None of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is a primary generic strategy?

A)Cross country subsidizing
B)Low Cost
C)Competitive pricing
D)Critical success factors

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In related diversification

A)Companies acquire businesses in any country.
B)Companies acquire businesses in any industry.
C)Companies acquire businesses that are similar in some way to their core business.
D)None of the above

Question 5

Differentiation leads to higher profits by

A)Charging a higher price than competitors.
B)Offering the customer better value.
C)Offering a product with more features and quality.
D)All of the above

Question 6

Support activities include

A)Research and development.
B)Service repair.
C)Output logistics.
D)None of the above

Question 7

Sales and dealing with distribution channels refer to _________ activities in the value chain.

A)Upstream
B)Support
C)Secondary
D)Downstream

Question 8

Business level strategies

A)Include only the generic strategies.
B)Pertain to the operation of multiple businesses.
C)Are concerned with how single business companies choose strategies.
D)Are concerned with how companies choose their mixtures of different businesses.

Question 9

Strategies used to attempt to reduce the risk of being attacked are

A)Defensive competitive strategies.
B)Offensive competitive strategies.
C)Generic strategies.
D)None of the above

Question 10

The value chain

A)Represents a generic strategy.
B)Represents all the activities that a firm uses to market and deliver its products.
C)Represents all the activities that a firm uses to design, produce, market, deliver, and support its products.
D)None of the above

Question 11

Capabilities that lead to competitive advantage must be

A)Valuable, rare, and easy to copy.
B)Fairly substitutable.
C)Valuable, rare, and hard to copy.
D)None of the above

Question 12

Competitive strategies

A)Are examples of basic generic strategies.
B)Are moves multinationals and other companies use to defeat competitors.
C)Can be low cost or differentiation.
D)All of the above

Question 13

__________ strategies achieve higher profits by charging higher prices.

A)Low cost
B)Differentiation
C)Competitive advantage
D)Generic

Question 14

This is considered to be a popular and controversial way to address internal cost inefficiencies.

A)Insourcing
B)Outsourcing
C)Related diversification
D)Unrelated diversification

Question 15

Acquisition of mixtures of businesses in any industry is

A)Low cost strategy.
B)Unrelated diversification.
C)Related diversification.
D)A business level strategy.

Question 16

Generic strategies

A)Occur when a company can outmatch its rivals in attracting and maintaining its customers.
B)Represent basic ways that domestic and multinational companies keep and achieve competitive advantage.
C)Are all based on finding ways to provide superior value to the customer.
D)None of the above

Question 17

Upstream activities in the value chain are concerned,in part,with

A)The primary activities.
B)The support activities.
C)Input logistics.
D)After market service.

Question 18

Corporate level strategies

A)Are similar to the generic strategies.
B)Pertain to the operation of corporate divisions.
C)Are concerned with how single business companies choose strategies.
D)Are concerned with how companies choose their mixtures of different businesses.

Question 19

Offensive strategies

A)Are examples of basic generic strategies.
B)Are direct targeting/attacking of rivals.
C)Are attempts to reduce the risk of being attacked.
D)Are used to convince other firms to seek other targets.

Question 20

Counter-parry

A)Is an example of an offensive strategy.
B)Is an example of a generic strategy.
C)Is fending off a competitor's attack in one country by attacking the competitor in another country.
D)None of the above

Question 21

Favorable conditions in a firm's external environment are known as

A)Strengths.
B)Capabilities.
C)Opportunities.
D)Distinctive competencies.

Question 22

In the BCG Matrix,cash cows are

A)Businesses in a slow-growth industry where the company has a strong market share position.
B)Businesses in a fast growing industry where the company has a strong market share position.
C)Businesses in a slow-growth industry where the company has a weak market share position.
D)Businesses in a fast growing industry where the company has a weak market share position.

Question 23

Weaknesses are

A)Lack of distinctive capabilities, resource, and skills that leads to competitive disadvantage compared to competitors.
B)Unfavorable conditions in a firm's environment.
C)Relevant to both the internal and external environment of companies.
D)All of the above

Question 24

A strength is

A)A favorable condition in a company's environment.
B)Distinctive capability, resource, skill, or other advantage that a company has vis-à-vis its competitors.
C)Represented by changes in the economic conditions in an industry.
D)None of the above

Question 25

A company that has a limited product range,and sells to certain buyers in some geographical areas is said to have which of the following?

A)Broad competitive scope
B)Narrow competitive scope
C)Lack of competition
D)None of the above

Question 26

Which of the following forces is NOT one of the forces considered in Porter's five forces analysis?

A)Degree of competition among existing competitors
B)Degree of governmental regulation in the industry
C)Threat of new entrants in the industry
D)Bargaining power of buyers in the industry

Question 27

Market size,ease of entry and exit,and economies of scale are all examples of

A)Defensive strategies.
B)Key success factors.
C)Dominant economic characteristics.
D)Differentiation.

Question 28

In the BCG Matrix,Defend and Harvest are the most popular strategies for

A)Stars.
B)Dogs.
C)Cash cows.
D)Problem children.

Question 29

BMW and Mercedes view their Japanese rivals moves into the upscale car market as a/an

A)Strength.
B)Weakness.
C)Opportunity.
D)Threat.

Question 30

Which of the following more likely represents a threat to a multinational company like Toyota?

A)Higher prices charged by Toyota's competitors.
B)Lower interest rates around the world that makes cars more affordable.
C)Toyota's bad image among teenagers.
D)Kia and Hyundai's entry in markets traditionally dominated by Toyota.

Question 31

The degree to which competitors are confronted with alternatives for their products is referred to as which force in Porter's five forces?

A)Threat of new entrants
B)Bargaining power of buyers
C)Degree of competition
D)None of the above

Question 32

Porter's five forces help a multinational manager understand

A)The key success factors in an industry.
B)How to assess the attractiveness of the industries a company is involved in.
C)How to assess its unrelated diversification efforts.
D)The trends in its industry.

Question 33

Matrix analyses

A)Help assess business portfolios.
B)Divide businesses into successes and failures.
C)Are less complicated for the multinational company.
D)All of the above

Question 34

The GE Portfolio matrix

A)Is the same as the Boston Consulting Group matrix.
B)Contains four cells based on industry and business strength.
C)Can be used to assess business level strategies.
D)Contains nine cells based on industry strength and business competitive position.

Question 35

Key success factors are

A)Examples of defensive strategies.
B)Important characteristics of a company or its product that lead to success in an industry.
C)Similar to generic strategies.
D)The economic characteristics of countries that lead to success.

Question 36

The national context affects strategy through which of the following processes?

A)Encourage or discourage certain forms of businesses and strategies in each country
B)Factor conditions play a role in shaping each country's unique resource base
C)Determine which resources are used, how they are used and which are developed
D)All of the above

Question 37

The acronym SWOT stands for

A)Strategies with organizational timelines.
B)Selection, withdrawal, opportunities, and timeliness.
C)Strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats.
D)Strategies, winning, organizations, and tender offers.

Question 38

Competitive advantage

A)Represent the basic ways that companies can provide superior value to customers.
B)Is one of the basic strategies.
C)Occurs when a company can outmatch its rivals in attracting and maintaining its customers.
D)Is best achieved using a low cost strategy.

Question 39

Capabilities

A)Are the inputs into a company's production or service processes.
B)Are early activities in the value chain such as R&D and dealing with suppliers.
C)Are similar to distinctive competencies.
D)Represent the ability of companies to assemble and coordinate their resources in ways that lead to lower costs of differentiated outputs.

Question 40

In the BCG matrix,the appropriate strategy for dogs should be

A)Invest and Expand.
B)Defend and Harvest.
C)Divest.
D)None of the above

Question 41

Discuss some of the major issues a multinational manager needs to take into consideration when conducting an industry analysis.

Question 42

What is the value chain? How can an understanding of the value chain help a company be more successful in its generic strategy?

Question 43

Discuss each of Porter's five forces model.What information can a multinational obtain from Porter's five forces industry analysis?

Question 44

Regarding low cost and differentiation strategies,when is each strategy appropriate?

Question 45

What is related diversification? When would you expect related diversification to be more profitable than unrelated diversification?

Question 46

Compare and contrast defensive and offensive strategies.Discuss when a multinational can use offensive strategies in one country and defensive strategies in another.

Question 47

What are key success factors? Discuss some KSFs that are most likely to vary by national context.

Question 48

What is sustainable competitive advantage? What are some essential characteristics of company capabilities that can lead to sustainable competitive advantage?

Question 49

Describe the low cost strategy as compared to the differentiation strategy.

Question 50

Describe the SWOT analysis.Why is a SWOT analysis more complex for a multinational than for a domestic company?