Deck 2: Leading Strategically Through Effective Vision and Mission

Question 1

The entrepreneurial role focuses on both voluntary and proactive initiatives.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The role of liaison represents a vertical relationship.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

According to the text, Collins' research suggests that above-average companies are typically headed up by arrogant leaders.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Leaders' information roles include those of monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson.

Question 5

An individual with a high tolerance of ambiguity would be extremely uncomfortable in a situation with little information and a great deal of uncertainty.

Question 6

According to level 2 in the Level 5 Hierarchy, senior managers need to show the ability to manage other people.

Question 7

Background differences typically refer to such factors as gender, nationality, network ties, and religion.

Question 8

The Level 5 Hierarchy is a model of leadership skills calling for a wide range of abilities.

Question 9

Both senior executives' judgment and behavior influence the formation and implementation of strategy.

Question 10

Level 5 leaders tend to be arrogant and egotistical.

Question 11

As part of their interpersonal role, top executives perform various ceremonial tasks, such as breaking ground at new facilities and hosting retirement dinners.

Question 12

Within an organization, the disseminator and spokesperson can be the same person.

Question 13

Research suggests that the best way to understand the effectiveness of CEOs is by examining their actions.

Question 14

According to the trait leadership theory, effective leaders may be classified according to personality differences.

Question 15

As negotiator, the CEO designs the firm's strategy and supervises its implementation.

Question 16

The person who assumes the role of strategic leadership reports directly to the CEO.

Question 17

The terms leadership and strategic leadership may be used interchangeably.

Question 18

As liaisons, top executives maintain relationships with external stakeholders by serving on boards of directors and participating in civic organizations.

Question 19

An individual must be the CEO of a company to carry out bold strategy moves.

Question 20

Charisma and emotional intelligence are required to be a leader within an organization.

Question 21

The strategic leader emphasizes the efficient execution of a given plan.

Question 22

A hallmark of a great leader is knowing when and how to follow the lead of others.

Question 23

Homogeneous groups tend to make better decisions because all group members have similar backgrounds and see things in similar ways.

Question 24

An executive team can accommodate diverse input while acting as an integrated unit.

Question 25

Firms seek competitive advantage through the quality of their human capital.

Question 26

A superordinate goal is an overarching reference point for a host of hierarchical subgoals.

Question 27

The terms vision and mission may be used interchangeably.

Question 28

Vision and mission statements are statements of organizational identity and purpose that can guide executives in making corporate decisions.

Question 29

The ambiguity of vision statements enables organizations the flexibility to change strategy or implementation tactics when it looks as if business as usual isn't going to realize the expressed vision.

Question 30

To be effective, visions and missions must be put in action in terms of specific goals and objectives for directing strategic actions.

Question 31

Improperly executed succession planning can undermine investor confidence and depress company stock prices.

Question 32

Mission statements generally express long-term action horizons and are ambiguous and ambitious by design.

Question 33

Succession planning is the process of managing a well-planned and well-executed transition from one CEO to the next.

Question 34

An effective executive team relies partly on the division of labor.

Question 35

Vision and mission statements inform managers and employees of the firm's direction.

Question 36

The mission statement is the declaration of what a firm is and its fundamental values and purposes.

Question 37

At many companies, managers track strategic progress with a tool called a balanced scorecard.

Question 38

Social capital is the money invested in business-related social functions.

Question 39

Clearly articulated vision and mission statements may be used as substitutes for strategy.

Question 40

Vision is a simple statement or understanding of what the firm will be in the future.

Question 41

Strategic coherence is the symmetrical coalignment of the five elements of the firm's strategy, the congruence of functional-area policies with these elements, and the overarching fit of various businesses under the corporate umbrella.

Question 42

The top-management team is an important stakeholder group because of their ultimate role in strategy implementation.

Question 43

Organizational performance is positively correlated with the integration of internal stakeholders.

Question 44

Because they are general and ambiguous, mission and vision statements serve little strategic purpose.

Question 45

Stakeholder analysis allows managers to gain a better understanding of the groups and individuals who have a vested interest in the firm's strategy and some influence on the firm's performance.

Question 46

Different stakeholders place similar emphasis on organizational outcomes because of similar priorities.

Question 47

Stakeholders are individuals or groups who have an interest in an organization's ability to deliver intended results and maintain the viability of its products and services.

Question 48

Goals and objectives are statements of organizational identity and purpose that can guide executives in making corporate decisions.

Question 49

Strategic coherence is best demonstrated by firms that move in and out of new businesses.

Question 50

Product-market stakeholders include parties with whom the firm shares the industry, including suppliers and customers.

Question 51

Goals are a broad indication of organizational intentions.

Question 52

An effective strategic purpose must be tied to a coherent set of activities, goals, and objectives anchored in measurable strategic outcomes.

Question 53

A balanced scorecard is a system for translating vision and strategy into tangible performance measurements.

Question 54

Organizational stakeholders include shareholders, banks, and other financial intermediaries.

Question 55

Objectives are specific measurable steps for reaching goals.

Question 56

Typically, stakeholder evaluation of both quantitative and qualitative performance outcomes determines whether strategic leadership is effective.

Question 57

A firm's decision to grow rapidly through acquisitions is consistent with a corporate strategy aimed at differentiating its product line.

Question 58

Employees, customers, governments, and even competitors may be considered stakeholders.

Question 59

Strategic purpose is defined as a simplified model of the organization and its future, including anticipated changes in environment.

Question 60

Coherence is an alignment of the strategy with the industry environment and the vision of how the firm will be positioned in that environment in the future.

Question 61

As social stakeholders, governments have an economic interest in firms doing well.

Question 62

The authority structure of modern organizations inhibits lower-level employees from disclosing questionable management practices.

Question 63

Sometimes the parties that exercise significant power over firm decisions don't register as having a significant stake in the firm.

Question 64

According to the text, executives tend to be reactive and defensive in their decisions when their firms don't have which of the following?

A) leadership training
B) skilled personnel
C) positive net worth
D) clear strategies

Question 65

People tend to give themselves less credit than they deserve and give others more credit than they deserve.

Question 66

Stakeholder analysis is an important input into both strategy formulation and implementation.

Question 67

People with ethnocentrism believe that their ethnic group is superior to all others.

Question 68

All of the following are examples of a leader's interpersonal roles except ________.

A) liaison
B) monitor
C) leader
D) figurehead

Question 69

Ethnocentrism is the conviction that one's own national, group, or cultural characteristics are "normal" and ordinary.

Question 70

Executive activities can be divided into three basic areas that include interpersonal, informational, and ________.

A) managerial
B) supervisory
C) decisional
D) relational

Question 71

Good corporate governance can reduce the risk of unethical and illegal activities.

Question 72

All of the following are examples of a leader's informational roles except ________.

A) monitor
B) spokesperson
C) entrepreneur
D) disseminator

Question 73

According to the text, leadership can best be defined as which of the following?

A) the task of ensuring that all people hired within an organization are qualified
B) the task of exerting influence on other people's pursuit of goals in an organizational context
C) the task of reporting company progress in the business world to the media
D) the task of finding new locations, designing new facilities, and hiring contractors

Question 74

When managers rationally evaluate the probability of risks, they tend to underestimate their ability to control these risks.

Question 75

Ignoring individual qualities puts executives at risk of making unethical, unfair, and sometimes illegal decisions.

Question 76

Research suggests that stock-option pay induces executives to make decisions aimed at enhancing the firm's long-term performance.

Question 77

The term stereotyping means relying on a conventional conception of another group based on some common characteristic.

Question 78

Escalation of commitment is a person's belief that he or she is in greater control of a situation than rational analysis would support.

Question 79

Stereotyping means ascribing limiting characteristics to an entire set of people.

Question 80

Business leaders tend to ignore collective future outcomes by focusing on today's problems.