Question 1

What are some ways in which a firm's general administration can help create (or enhance)competitive advantages?

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Question 2

What are the four perspectives that the "balanced scorecard" enables managers to evaluate their business?

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Question 3

Explain how causal ambiguity can provide a sustainable competitive advantage.Illustrate your comments with an example from a real business.

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Question 4

Explain the four attributes that a resource must have to provide a firm with a sustainable competitive advantage.

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Question 5

What are the benefits and limitations of making historical comparisons in analyzing a firm's performance?

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Question 6

What are some of the key strengths and limitations of SWOT analysis?

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Question 7

The balanced scorecard,developed by Kaplan and Norton,helps to integrate ______.
A) financial analysis and the reputation of a firm
B) intangible resources and operational measures
C) financial analysis and stakeholder perspectives
D) short-term perspectives and strategic positioning

Accepted Answer

The balanced scorecard enables managers to consider their business from four key perspectives: customer, internal, innovation and learning, and financial.

Question 8

An important implication of the balanced scorecard approach is that _______________.
A) managers need to recognize that satisfaction of stockholder demands is their primary job
B) the key emphasis on customer satisfaction and financial goals are only a means to that end
C) managers should not look at their job as primarily balancing stakeholder demands
D) gains in financial performance and customer satisfaction must come at a cost of employee satisfaction

Accepted Answer

A key implication is that managers do not need to look at their job as balancing stakeholder demands. The balanced scorecard provides a win-win approach, increasing satisfaction among a wide variety of organizational stakeholders, including employees (at all levels), customers, and stockholders.

Question 9

Address some of the limitations and potential downsides of the balanced scorecard.

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Question 10

How can a firm develop (or enhance)its advantages in the marketplace by having strong,positive interrelationships among its value chain activities and those of its suppliers and customers? Provide an example.

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Question 11

What are some of the most important implications of using the "balanced scorecard" approach?

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Question 12

The balanced scorecard provides top managers with a __________ view of the business.
A) detailed and complex
B) simple and routine
C) fast but comprehensive
D) long-term financial

Accepted Answer

A balanced scorecard provides top managers with a fast but comprehensive view of the business. In a nutshell, it includes financial measures that reflect the results of actions already taken, but it complements these indicators with measures of customer satisfaction, internal processes, and the innovation and improvement activities of the organization.

Question 13

Discuss the competitive advantage of a resource that is difficult to imitate,using an example from a real business that supports your argument.

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Question 14

Ratios that reflect whether or not a firm is efficiently using its resources are known as
A) leverage ratios
B) turnover ratios
C) liquidity ratios
D) profitability ratios

Accepted Answer

Asset utilization (or turnover) ratios are one measure of whether a firm is efficiently using its resources.

Question 15

The resource-based view (RBV)combines both the internal analysis of the firm and the external analysis of the environment.Discuss and provide examples.

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Question 16

What are the key advantages of value-chain analysis over SWOT analysis?

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Question 17

The balanced scorecard enables managers to consider their business from all of the following perspectives EXCEPT:
A) customer perspective
B) internal perspective
C) innovation and learning perspective
D) ethical perspective

Accepted Answer

The balanced scorecard enables managers to consider their business from four key perspectives: customer, internal, innovation and learning, and financial.

Quiz 3: Assessing the Internal Environmentof the Firm