Deck 9: Designing Strategies

Question 1

Which of the following is the optimal position for any organization to be in?

A)Dog
B)Cash Cow
C)Question Mark
D)Star

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What strategy level determines how a business will compete in a particular industry or market?

A)organizational
B)technical
C)divisional
D)functional

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A company with a high market share but low market growth is categorized as a:

A)Dog
B)Cash Cow
C)Question Mark
D)Star

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Who is the Harvard professor who developed the five forces model?

A)Frederick Taylor
B)Lisa Andrews
C)Michael Porter
D)Robert Kaplan

Question 5

What is the strategy level that addresses the question "What business are we in?"

A)organizational
B)technical
C)divisional
D)functional

Question 6

Companies in this category are uncertain of their future, but have the potential to make money.

A)Dog
B)Cash Cow
C)Question Mark
D)Star

Question 7

Merging properties would require twice the amount of supplies, but could potentially lower costs due to:

A)Unequal access to distribution channels
B)Demand-side benefits of scale
C)Capital requirements
D)Supply-side economies of scale

Question 8

A company that gains competitive advantage by being the first to offer a new product or service or to use a new cost-saving technology is considered a:

A)defender
B)first-mover
C)prospector
D)reactor

Question 9

When an organization purchases another organization or business in order to grow, it is known as a(n):

A)first mover
B)defender
C)acquisition
D)merger

Question 10

When an organization focuses on processes, products, and services that will last over the long term, it is known as the company's:

A)cost leadership strategy
B)stability strategy
C)competitive advantage
D)differentiation strategy

Question 11

It is the responsibility of managers to ________ strategies that will defend the company against the threat of competitors.

A)create
B)present
C)implement
D)All of the above

Question 12

The highway department scheduling roadwork in front of your business in the spring is a(n):

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

Question 13

Which of the following is a question that would be used to determine a company's opportunities?

A)What could we improve on?
B)Are there new companies moving into the market?
C)What about us is unique?
D)Do we have a renovation scheduled?

Question 14

Stability and cost leadership strategies are consistent with which type of company?

A)defender
B)first-mover
C)prospector
D)reactor

Question 15

A(n) _________ strategy determines how employees will implement and achieve a tactical plan.

A)organizational
B)technical
C)divisional
D)functional

Question 16

What kind of plans are produced from the organizational strategy level?

A)business
B)operational
C)action
D)tactical

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT one of the three levels of strategy?

A)organizational
B)technical
C)divisional
D)functional

Question 18

Apple has a competitive advantage over its competitors when its customers have an iPod, iPhone, and a Mac computer because of which barrier to entry?

A)Customer switching costs
B)Capital requirements
C)Unequal access to distribution channels
D)Restrictive Government Policy

Question 19

This framework is used to categorize a company in the industry in which it competes:

A)Growth Strategy
B)Five Forces Model
C)BCG Matrix
D)Tactical Planning

Question 20

A company that follows no consistent strategy, but instead changes depending on the environment, is a(n):

A)analyzer
B)first-mover
C)prospector
D)reactor

Question 21

Setting targets, establishing milestones, and allocating resources are a part of which process of managing strategy?

A)Translating the vision
B)Communicating and Linking
C)Feedback and Learning
D)Business planning

Question 22

A defender is a company whose strategies seek to maintain existing products and services while pursuing limited innovation.

Question 23

A diversification strategy is when an organization seeks competitive advantage by providing goods or services that are significantly different from the competition.

Question 24

Designing and defining strategies is a continuous process that helps organizations determine what they do.

Question 25

A plan of action for achieving goals is known as a(n) __________.

Question 26

Core capabilities are the assets, people, and processes of an organization.

Question 27

Every industry, big or small, is subject to government policies.

Question 28

Operational plans are formed at the organizational strategy level.

Question 29

Google purchasing YouTube is an example of a(n) ____________.

Question 30

The balanced scorecard provides managers with a visual tool to translate vision into strategy.

Question 31

The four processes of managing strategy are customer, financial, internal business process, and learning & growth.

Question 32

Opportunities and threats are internal aspects of a company.

Question 33

Retrenchment and re-growth are used in the renewal strategy.

Question 34

The Growth and Underinvestment systems archetype holds that companies that experience rapid growth within a small time period have a tendency to come to a rapid halt, without any clear explanation.

Question 35

Decisions regarding goals, strategies, resource allocation, and actions required are called strategic plans.

Question 36

All business strategies seek to gain competitive advantage.

Question 37

Access to the latest technology, an excellent rapport with the bank, and having the potential to expand are all incumbent advantages independent of size.

Question 38

In order to design a successful strategy, managers must understand the full nature of the competitive forces that are present, and take an individualistic view of their company's structure.

Question 39

Opening retail stores in shopping malls to sell your company's products is an example of:

A)Forward integration
B)Vertical integration
C)Horizontal integration
D)Backward integration

Question 40

When companies produce and distribute their own supplies it is known as:

A)Forward integration
B)Vertical integration
C)Horizontal integration
D)Diagonal integration

Question 41

As a result of focus, cost leadership, and differentiation strategies, companies will often seek to produce and distribute their supplies, called ___________ integration.

Question 42

A company has said to suffer from _________________ when they continue to use competitive practices that have previously been successful.

Question 43

Matching

-Growth Strategy

A)increasing revenue, profits, markets share, or territories
B)addresses declining performance through retrenchment and regrowth
C)adds new kinds of goods, services or business units
D)provides goods/services that are significantly different from the competition
E)focus is on processes, products, and services that will sustain it over the long term
F)concentrates on a specific target market and may use cost leadership and/or differentiation strategies
G)reduces production costs and therefore consumer price

Question 44

The five forces that shape industry competition are ________________, ______________________, __________________, new entrants, and rivalry among existing competitors.

Question 45

The three levels of strategy are __________, ____________, and __________.

Question 46

Companies use __________ analysis to categorize themselves in the BCG Matrix.

Question 47

Articulating the organization's shared vision is the _____________ process for managing strategy.

Question 48

Matching

-Focus Strategy

A)increasing revenue, profits, markets share, or territories
B)addresses declining performance through retrenchment and regrowth
C)adds new kinds of goods, services or business units
D)provides goods/services that are significantly different from the competition
E)focus is on processes, products, and services that will sustain it over the long term
F)concentrates on a specific target market and may use cost leadership and/or differentiation strategies
G)reduces production costs and therefore consumer price

Question 49

Matching

-Renewal Strategy

A)increasing revenue, profits, markets share, or territories
B)addresses declining performance through retrenchment and regrowth
C)adds new kinds of goods, services or business units
D)provides goods/services that are significantly different from the competition
E)focus is on processes, products, and services that will sustain it over the long term
F)concentrates on a specific target market and may use cost leadership and/or differentiation strategies
G)reduces production costs and therefore consumer price

Question 50

Matching

-Stability Strategy

A)increasing revenue, profits, markets share, or territories
B)addresses declining performance through retrenchment and regrowth
C)adds new kinds of goods, services or business units
D)provides goods/services that are significantly different from the competition
E)focus is on processes, products, and services that will sustain it over the long term
F)concentrates on a specific target market and may use cost leadership and/or differentiation strategies
G)reduces production costs and therefore consumer price

Question 51

Matching

-Diversification Strategy

A)increasing revenue, profits, markets share, or territories
B)addresses declining performance through retrenchment and regrowth
C)adds new kinds of goods, services or business units
D)provides goods/services that are significantly different from the competition
E)focus is on processes, products, and services that will sustain it over the long term
F)concentrates on a specific target market and may use cost leadership and/or differentiation strategies
G)reduces production costs and therefore consumer price

Question 52

Discuss the BCG Matrix including a description of each of its four quadrants.

Question 53

Matching

-Cost Leadership Strategy

A)increasing revenue, profits, markets share, or territories
B)addresses declining performance through retrenchment and regrowth
C)adds new kinds of goods, services or business units
D)provides goods/services that are significantly different from the competition
E)focus is on processes, products, and services that will sustain it over the long term
F)concentrates on a specific target market and may use cost leadership and/or differentiation strategies
G)reduces production costs and therefore consumer price

Question 54

Matching

-Differentiation Strategy

A)increasing revenue, profits, markets share, or territories
B)addresses declining performance through retrenchment and regrowth
C)adds new kinds of goods, services or business units
D)provides goods/services that are significantly different from the competition
E)focus is on processes, products, and services that will sustain it over the long term
F)concentrates on a specific target market and may use cost leadership and/or differentiation strategies
G)reduces production costs and therefore consumer price

Question 55

____________ is when a company reduces expenses to create financial stability.

Question 56

Being a __________ is the least effective of all the strategies.

Question 57

List and explain the three levels of strategy.

Question 58

Compare and contrast the cost-leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies.

Question 59

When an organization takes on distribution and selling of its products, it is referred to as __________ integration.

Question 60

A ___________________ is the process of assessing and monitoring the competition in order to design more effective strategies.