Deck 9: International Competitive Strategy

Question 1

Michael Porter (1980) suggests that the threat of competition can come from any one of five different areas. These include:

A) disposable products, new entrants and the rivalry of competitors.
B) new entrants, existing competitors and information technology.
C) substitute products, new entrants and the rivalry of competitors.
D) new entrants, substitute products and information technology.
E) none of the above.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

An organisation is based in a country where the incoming government has embarked on economic reforms based on deregulating the market. According to Porter's five forces model, which of the forces will be most significantly affected?

A) threat of new entrants and threat of substitutes
B) threat of new entrants, new substitutes, increased rivalry and increased bargaining power of buyers
C) threat of new entrants, new substitutes, increased rivalry, increased bargaining power of buyers and bargaining power of suppliers
D) threat of new entrants
E) threat of new entrants, new substitutes and increased rivalry

Answer 2

B

Question 3

As a part of national competitive advantage, clusters can be considered as geographic concentrations of interconnected:

A) companies and institutions in a particular country.
B) consumers in a particular city.
C) companies and institutions in a particular nation.
D) companies and institutions in a particular field.
E) none of the above.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Within the value chain analysis, the work done by the firm's manufacturing arm would be regarded as being a ________ activity.

A) secondary
B) competitive
C) augmented
D) primary
E) none of the above

Question 5

Michael Porter (1980) suggested three basic competitive strategies that firms can pursue. These are overall:

A) price leadership, product differentiation and market focus.
B) product leadership, product standardisation and market focus.
C) comparative advantage, product specialisation and market focus.
D) price leadership, product standardisation and market focus.
E) cost leadership, product differentiation and market focus.

Question 6

Michael Porter (1990) suggests that the determinants of national competitive advantage for an industry can include:

A) related supporting industries.
B) firm strategy and structure.
C) factor conditions.
D) demand conditions.
E) all of the above.

Question 7

The basic competitive strategy of market focus involves a firm targeting:

A) the global market with a single mix.
B) only a few segments in the overseas market.
C) the entire overseas market with one product.
D) the entire overseas market with many products.
E) none of the above.

Question 8

Competitive advantage is the advantage gained over competitors by offering:

A) wider distribution.
B) greater perceived value.
C) superior products.
D) online advertising and communication.
E) all of the above.

Question 9

Using Porter's five forces model of industry competition, the threat of a supplier to an established producer is likely to be increased when:

A) supply items are a major portion of the product cost.
B) switching costs are high.
C) there is a high number of qualified suppliers.
D) all of the above.
E) options A and B only.

Question 10

At its narrowest level, a company can define its competitors as:

A) all those companies that offer the same level of service.
B) those companies that offer a similar product to the same customer at a similar price.
C) all those producers making the same product or class of product.
D) all those companies competing for the same consumer dollar.
E) none of the above.

Question 11

Kim and Mauborgne suggest six principles in two groups that can be used to create a blue ocean strategy. Which of the following is within the group suggested for execution principles?

A) overcoming major hurdles within the organisation
B) reaching beyond current demand
C) building a program for execution into the chosen strategy
D) options A and C only
E) options A and B only

Question 12

Governments can significantly influence national competitive advantage through the creation and implementation of particular policies. Examples of such policies include:

A) education and training.
B) industry-specific regulation.
C) industry investment and assistance.
D) all of the above.
E) options A and C only.

Question 13

The double diamond approach is used to:

A) overcome the shortcoming of national competitive advantage models that do not consider related economies.
B) analyse the attractiveness of export markets.
C) determine the likely success of international marketing strategies within geographic clusters.
D) overcome the shortcoming of national competitive advantage models that do not include foreign activities.
E) none of the above.

Question 14

'Mirroring capability' is where:

A) companies focus on linear relationships within the value chain.
B) businesses coordinate, measure and control business processes.
C) companies use the flow of information in their virtual value chain to create new customer relationships.
D) the notion that the next person in the value chain is also your customer is emphasised.
E) physical steps in the value chain are substituted with virtual ones to create a parallel value chain.

Question 15

Companies that see threats as only emanating from producers or suppliers of the same service or product could be said to be suffering from competitor:

A) ignorance.
B) bias.
C) myopia.
D) currency.
E) substitution.

Question 16

National competitive advantage can contribute to the competitive advantage of an individual firm in an overseas market. One of the four determinants of national competitive advantage is demand conditions, which relates to the:

A) level of demand for the product in the overseas market.
B) availability of internationally competitive suppliers in the foreign market.
C) level of demand for the product in the domestic market.
D) home country's position in the factors of production.
E) availability of infrastructure and skilled labour in the home country.

Question 17

Clusters are critical to international competitive advantage because they result in:

A) constant comparisons with competitors, suppliers and peers.
B) access to specialised information.
C) better access to suppliers.
D) lower transaction costs.
E) all of the above.

Question 18

Leading companies operating internationally tend to:

A) focus on excelling in all three value disciplines.
B) spread their competencies equally across value disciplines.
C) excel in two value disciplines and meet industry standards on the other one.
D) excel in one value discipline and meet industry standards on the other two.
E) vary their strategy and focus on value disciplines depending on local competition.

Question 19

If a company moves towards a linear focus for its value chain, concentrating on what is next in line, there is a possibility that:

A) relationships with current customers will be neglected.
B) current performance will not improve.
C) current customers will be disadvantaged.
D) the current chain will not be improved.
E) all of the above.

Question 20

Downstream activities create competitive advantages that tend to be country specific because they are usually related to:

A) offshoring.
B) reputation.
C) outsourcing.
D) organisation.
E) logistics.

Question 21

The elements of the value chain related to offshoring/outsourcing are confined to manufacturing and the supply of raw materials.

Question 22

Companies cannot successfully pursue more than one value discipline at the same time.

Question 23

The first step in assessing the competitor's strengths and weaknesses can be achieved through gathering data on competitors' goals, strategies and performance.

Question 24

Perceived national challenges, along with a cluster of domestic rivals, will stimulate factor creation in Porter's model.

Question 25

A disruptive competitor is one which reacts quickly and strongly to a firm's marketing strategies.

Question 26

The location of upstream activities should usually be located in the country where the buyer is located.

Question 27

Which one of the following statements is true?

A) The more that one firm's strategy resembles the strategy of another firm, the more the two firms compete.
B) For two firms to compete, they must develop identical strategies.
C) The more that one firm's strategy resembles another firm's strategy, the less the two firms compete.
D) The less that one firm's strategy resembles the strategy of another firm, the more the two firms compete.
E) None of these statements is true.

Question 28

Better access to employees and suppliers together with lower transaction costs can be provided through the use of clusters.

Question 29

When competitors are defined from a market point of view, they are defined in terms of the:

A) location of markets.
B) market segment they are appealing to.
C) customer need they are meeting.
D) industry cluster.
E) none of the above.

Question 30

Under Porter's three competitive strategies of cost leadership, differentiation and focus, it is not possible for a firm to have a combination of high differentiation strategy and focus strategy at the same time.

Question 31

According to Hamilton and Webster (2008) there are a number of factors that affect the strength of the relationship of the firm with its customers. Which of the following is NOT one of these factors?

A) the ability of a customer to integrate horizontally
B) the number and size of firms
C) the ability of a customer to integrate vertically
D) degree of customer dependence on the product
E) the extent of product differentiation

Question 32

A blue ocean strategy refers to one which focuses on creating and capturing new market opportunities.

Question 33

Factor conditions and firm strategy, structure and rivalry are both components of the generalised double diamond.

Question 34

'Competitor myopia' can cause a firm to miss the fact that a latent competitor may be more dangerous than any of its current competitors.

Question 35

Estimating the reaction of competitors to changes within a market requires a firm to accurately answer which one of the following questions?

A) Why do our competitors exist?
B) What will our competitors do?
C) What can our competitors do?
D) Who are our competitors?
E) None of the above.

Question 36

Competition between firms is greater if they both have the same or similar strategies.

Question 37

A competitive new entrant into a market would prefer the entrance cost to be high to dissuade other competitors from also entering the market.

Question 38

In Porter's model, the term 'customer' refers only to final consumers and not other businesses.

Question 39

Value innovation involves creating significant leaps in value for both the company and customers.

Question 40

Porter suggests that the four determinants of national competitive advantage are; factor conditions, supply conditions, supporting industries and firm infrastructure.

Question 41

Where a country has high attractiveness and the competitive strengths of the firm are high, a firm should look to license its product.

Question 42

Where the nature of the product is such that technical specifications are critical, a firm tends to take a standardised approach.

Question 43

Discuss the trade-offs between standardisation and adaptation.

Question 44

List the four main determinants of Porter's competitive advantage of nations and describe each.

Question 45

What are some major advantages and disadvantages of niching in international marketing?

Question 46

The distinguishing feature of a dominant firm is that it holds a significantly higher market share than its other competitors in the market.

Question 47

What is the purpose of value chain analysis? List its components.

Question 48

Explain the STP approach and list its six steps.

Question 49

An analysis of industry structure indicates that there are five forces at work that create rivalry among competitors. List and describe those forces.

Question 50

When segmenting international markets, there are three segmentation scenarios that include international segments, regional segments or unique segments.

Question 51

Factors that encourage adaptation include:

A) variations in ability to afford the item offered.
B) the influence of government.
C) lack of adequate support systems.
D) the physical environment.
E) all of the above.

Question 52

Keegan and Green (2013) identify three positioning strategies in terms of culture, which include:

A) internationalism, glocalisation and localisation.
B) global consumer culture, foreign consumer culture and local consumer culture.
C) differentiation theme, uniform theme and global theme.
D) home country culture, host country culture and global culture.
E) uniform theme, universal theme and local theme.

Question 53

An advantage of a firm choosing to standardise its international marketing approach is:

A) it can meet the needs of customers more precisely.
B) there is an ability to portray a consistent image and build global brands.
C) it can enjoy unique appeal.
D) it can achieve greater success in combating customer resistance.
E) options B and C only.

Question 54

Discuss the importance of market leadership and the methods that can be used to achieve this in an international market.

Question 55

According to Fisher et al. (2006), there are four basic components of an effective international marketing strategy, which are:

A) product differentiation, cost focus, scope of operations and customer focus.
B) market segmentation, distinctive competence, scope of operations and synergy.
C) target marketing, product differentiation, positioning and market segmentation.
D) distinctive competence, scope of operations, resource deployment and synergy.
E) distinctive competence, competitor knowledge, synergy and resource deployment.

Question 56

Define competitive advantage and explain how it relates to competing internationally.

Question 57

Where a dominant firm wishes to hold its position in the market it should:

A) manage the market.
B) reinforce market perceptions.
C) be bold in everything it does.
D) all of the above.
E) options A and B only.

Question 58

Discuss some criticisms/shortcomings of Porter's approach to the competitive advantage of nations model.

Question 59

In order to defend itself against attacks from challenger firms, a follower firm must:

A) keep its manufacturing costs low and its product and services quality high.
B) closely watch its weaker flanks.
C) attack other firms its own size or smaller local firms.
D) be bold in everything it does.
E) undertake a strategic withdrawal.