Deck 11: Strategic Leadership

Question 1

Effective strategic leaders focus on financial performance and are not concerned with other measures of organizational success.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A mission statement may contain a statement of vision.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The traditional view of the leader as an authoritarian figure making all important decisions is still appropriate for strategy.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The leader as teacher role focuses on the leader as an authoritarian expert whose job is to teach people the 'correct' view of reality.

Question 5

Broad environmental forces influence strategic direction.

Question 6

Good communication skills are not essential for strategic leaders as they can rely on others to implement organizational strategies.

Question 7

A hard working,analytical individual who requires large amounts of concrete and precise data and a predictable environment in order to make a decision is probably poorly suited to being a strategic leader.

Question 8

Guiding an organization through the combination of dynamic challenges from the general environment,aggressive competitors,demanding customers,and other stakeholders is a process that is scientific and requires very little,if any,"art."

Question 9

A core responsibility of strategic leadership is establishing a culture that matches one's personal leadership style,as Steve Jobs has done at Apple.

Question 10

The traditional view of leaders in organizations is that they set direction,make the important decisions,and rally the followers.

Question 11

Board members can play important strategic roles in organizations such as providing advice to managers with regard to strategies and strategic direction.

Question 12

The leadership traits associated with the notion of a learning organization: designer,teacher and steward,have no role within strategy.

Question 13

"Caretaker" boards participate actively in organizational decisions.

Question 14

Organizational vision and mission statements require deep,critical,and reflective thinking to form them.

Question 15

The senior management of a firm depends on managers at lower levels who are close to "the action" for the information necessary to exercise effective,company-wide leadership.

Question 16

The role of the leader as 'designer' is not an appropriate leadership role in strategy.

Question 17

The leader as steward role requires no significant rethinking of the traditional leadership role.

Question 18

Organizational mission statements typically do not include statements about profitability and earning above-average returns.

Question 19

Firms that don't have a written mission statement may still have a strategic direction.

Question 20

A firm's mission tends to be enduring while its vision can change in light of changing environmental conditions.

Question 21

The view of top management concerning what an organization can become is the organization's:

A) Business definition
B) Mission
C) Vision
D) Ethical dilemma

Question 22

A business definition should contain answers to all of the following questions except:

A) When should customer needs be satisfied?
B) What is being satisfied?
C) How are customer needs satisfied?
D) Who is being satisfied?

Question 23

A firm's mission:

A) Is a statement of a firm's business in which it intends to compete and the customers it intends to serve
B) Is an internally-focused affirmation of the organization's financial, social, and ethical goals
C) Is mainly intended to emotionally inspire employees and other stakeholders
D) Is developed by a firm before the firm develops its vision

Question 24

A mission statement often contains:

A) An organization's vision
B) An organization's strengths and weaknesses
C) An organization's functional-level strategies
D) An organization's top management team membership

Question 25

Judgment is the capacity for making a successful decision when:

A) There are multiple decision criteria
B) No obviously correct model or rule is available
C) Cognitive biases create barriers to rationality
D) There are contradictions between the firm's vision and its implemented strategy

Question 26

A heterogeneous top management team:

A) Is ineffective in most competitive settings
B) Can be prone to "group think"
C) Makes implementing a strategy easier
D) Is made up of managers with a wide variety of backgrounds, education, and experience.

Question 27

The development of a firm's mission typically involves which of the following?

A) Only the CEO
B) Only top managers
C) The CEO and top managers
D) None of the above

Question 28

Which group of stakeholders plays an important role in governing the behaviour of top managers?

A) Managers
B) Employees
C) Board of directors
D) Unions

Question 29

The primary responsibilities of CEOs include all of the following except:

A) They make all the low-level operating decisions
B) They design the organization's purpose, vision, and core values
C) They oversee the creation of policies, strategies, and structure
D) They serve as stewards for their organizations

Question 30

The goal of the organization's ____ is to capture the hearts and minds of employees,challenge them,and evoke their emotions and dreams.

A) Vision
B) Mission
C) Culture
D) Strategy

Question 31

In the context of strategic management,a leader is someone who by influencing others has an ability to take the organization forward to a common purpose.

Question 32

The traditional view of leaders in organizations is that they:

A) Are dictators to be followed without question
B) Set direction, make the important decisions, and rally the followers
C) Rise to the top of an organization just like cream on milk
D) Are ineffective

Question 33

The proper matching of what a firm can do with what it might do allows the firm to:

A) Balance the internal characteristics of the firm with the characteristics of the external environment
B) Overcome the rigidity and inertia resulting from a history of success
C) Develop its vision, pursue its mission, and select and implement its strategies
D) Develop core competencies based on human knowledge

Question 34

Which of the following is the best example of an agency problem?

A) A CEO makes a decision that maximizes his or her own self interest at the expense of shareholders
B) The CEO of one organization sits on the board of directors of another organization
C) Both shareholders and managers express an interest in maximizing organizational profits
D) A CEO decides to take a pay cut because the corporation is struggling

Question 35

Strategic leaders do not need to concern themselves with teambuilding as that is an operational function.

Question 36

Within all our organizations there will be people at every level with leadership qualities and abilities.

Question 37

Leadership style need to remain constant throughout the strategy process

Question 38

Throughout its many forms,strategic leadership needs to promote organization-wide synergy and harmony.

Question 39

The critical executive skill of the current business age is the ability to:

A) Manage technological innovation
B) Coordinate tangible and intangible resources
C) Initiate change and overcome inertia
D) Manage human intellect

Question 40

The final responsibility for forming the organization's mission lies with the:

A) CEO
B) Top-management team
C) Employees
D) Organization's stakeholders

Question 41

One characteristic of backroom leaders is that they:

A) Are not interested in daily interactions with colleagues
B) Are stereotypically "strong" leaders
C) Lead quietly from behind rather than loudly from the front
D) Lead through focusing on objectives

Question 42

Transactional leadership is centred on:

A) Creativity and innovation amongst senior managers
B) Financial interactions
C) Integrating self-interest with the larger vision of the organization
D) Mission and explicit management systems that clarify expectations and agreements

Question 43

What are three critical roles of a leader associated with the notion of a learning organization?

Question 44

Studies have shown consistently that senior-level executives ________ about both strategic goals and the means to accomplish them.

A) Tend to exhibit close agreement
B) Care more than lower-level employees
C) Exhibit significant differences of opinion
D) Are less likely than the board to talk

Question 45

Who are the firm's strategic leaders and how do strategic leaders predict the profit outcomes of different strategic decisions?

Question 46

Identify some of the leadership failure issues commonly identified when organizations fail.

Question 47

What are the four areas of a business definition? Why is it important to periodically review a firm's business definition?

Question 48

One of the core responsibilities of strategic leadership is to engage in rational decision making. This means that:

A) Decisions should be made in a cost-efficient manner
B) Decisions are to result in outcomes that are perceived as fair
C) Effective strategy should result from deep, revealing analysis
D) Intuition and personal experience have no place in the decision-making process

Question 49

Ineffective leaders:

A) Surround him/herself with loyal supports, rather than those that may challenge or disagree with him/her
B) Lose touch with the views of customers
C) Spend too much time on external activities
D) All the above

Question 50

What are a firm's vision and mission and what is the value to the firm of having a specified vision and mission?

Question 51

What factors do visionary leadership generally demonstrate?

Question 52

Identify some of the core responsibilities of strategic leadership.

Question 53

Strategic leadership is,at its core,about guiding the total business forward in a manner that has the potential to be extraordinary. At the heart of this effort is:

A) Establishing a vision, a mission and goals
B) Identifying organizational stakeholders
C) Being able to interpret financial information
D) Creating an exact definition of what it means to be "extraordinary."

Question 54

Difficulties regarding succession for those organizations that have been formed and run by visionary leaders have been identified,what are they?

Question 55

Succession problems are most likely occur following what type of leadership?

A) Visionary leaders
B) Transactional leaders
C) Transformational leaders
D) Backroom leaders

Question 56

The most pressing issue that develops as an organization grows is one of ________ and ________ .

A) Specialization in job design; the centralization of decision-making
B) Communication; the avoidance of litigation
C) Cooperation; transfer pricing among divisions
D) Coordination; consistency of effort toward a common purpose

Question 57

Transformational leadership aims to:

A) Get things done through edict
B) Associate individual self-interest with the larger vision of the organization
C) Focus efforts on mission and explicit management systems
D) Integrate leadership throughout the organization

Question 58

What type of leadership is often associated with entrepreneurial organizations?

A) Transformational leadership
B) Visionary leadership
C) Reactive leadership
D) Strong leadership

Question 59

What are the four primary leadership responsibilities of the CEO?

Question 60

Identify some of the typical strategic leadership misjudgements Charan and Colvin (1999)highlight.

Question 61

Describe an effective process for developing a vision.

Question 62

What are some techniques that you might use to communicate a vision or mission throughout an organization?