Deck 12: Strategic Control

Question 1

Product obsolescence is an example of an organizational crisis.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Balanced scorecard measures should be tailored to the specific characteristics of a firm.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Strategic control consists of determining the extent to which the organization's strategies are consistent with those of the firm's closest competitors.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Which of the following is not a reason why strategic control is necessary?

A)The need to know how well the firm is doing
B)The need to account for last-minute changes in the firm's environment
C)The need to formulate strategies for newly acquired business units
D)All of the above are reasons.

Question 5

Strategic control may be exerted by

A)the board of directors
B)the customers
C)the top management team
D)A & C only.

Question 6

Strategic control may be exerted by all of the following except

A)the firm's vice presidents.
B)top managers of close competitors.
C)individuals outside of the top management team.
D)the CEO.

Question 7

Strategic control may be exerted by

A)the CEO.
B)the customers
C)governmental agencies.
D)All of the above.

Question 8

The balanced scorecard usually emphasizes traditional performance measures such as return on assets and sales growth.

Question 9

Top management uses strategic control to maintain proper alignment between the external and internal environments.

Question 10

After a crisis occurs,organizations should develop standard operating procedures to address the crisis event.

Question 11

Profitability is the most commonly utilized performance measure.

Question 12

A boycott is an example of an organizational crisis.

Question 13

For successful smaller businesses,market share may serve as a strategic control barometer,as some businesses may strategically plan to maintain a low market share.

Question 14

Without strategic control,there are no clear benchmarks and ultimately no reliable measurements of how the company is doing.

Question 15

Competitive benchmarking is the process of measuring a firm's performance against that of the industry average.

Question 16

Organizations should develop standard operating procedures to address a crisis event before it occurs.

Question 17

Corrective action should always be taken when actual performance is significantly less than the standard.

Question 18

Research and development expenses can serve as a surrogate measure of firm innovation.

Question 19

Control through competitive benchmarking occurs by comparing the company's profitability or market share growth to firms in unrelated industries.

Question 20

The first step in the strategic control process is

A)establishing standards.
B)measuring performance.
C)taking corrective action.
D)None of the above.

Question 21

Detailed communication with the public should begin

A)before the crisis.
B)during the crisis.
C)after the crisis.
D)None of the above.

Question 22

Increases in market share often enhance all of the following except

A)control over the external environment.
B)economies of scale.
C)the quality of competitive analysis.
D)All of the above are usually enhanced.

Question 23

Crisis management plans should be developed

A)before the crisis.
B)during the crisis.
C)after the crisis.
D)None of the above.

Question 24

A possible surrogate measure of firm innovation is

A)ROA or ROE.
B)R&D expenditures.
C)Advertising as a percentage of sales.
D)None of the above

Question 25

Which of the following is not a valid means of evaluating firm performance?

A)Compare current results with those in preceding quarters.
B)Make a qualitative judgment about changes in service quality.
C)Utilize return on assets (ROA).
D)All of the above are valid means.

Question 26

Which of the following is not true about market share?

A)Some firms seek a high market share.
B)Some firms seek a low market share.
C)Increases in market share can enhance firm profitability.
D)Increases in market share limit the expansion of scale economies.

Question 27

Identify three major crises that could affect your college or university and develop a brief plan to prepare for each.

Question 28

What is a balanced scorecard? Why is it important?

Question 29

The most commonly utilized performance measure is

A)sales growth.
B)market share.
C)customer service.
D)None of the above.

Question 30

Identify the three stages in the crisis management process and discuss the major events that occur in each step.

Question 31

Which of the following is a source of competitive benchmarking?

A)Performance estimates from top management.
B)Product/service quality
C)Data from the firm's best quarters in the previous several years.
D)None of the above.

Question 32

The process of planning for and implementing the response to a wide range of negative events that could severely affect an organization is known as

A)strategic planning.
B)crisis management.
C)organizational control.
D)strategic control.

Question 33

Worst-case scenarios should be developed

A)before the crisis.
B)during the crisis.
C)after the crisis.
D)None of the above.

Question 34

A crisis management team should be developed

A)before the crisis.
B)during the crisis.
C)after the crisis.
D)None of the above.

Question 35

What is the difference between the formal organization and the informal organization? Why are both important in strategic control?

Question 36

Which of the following is not an example of a crisis event?

A)fire of natural cause
B)fire of suspicious cause
C)fire of unknown cause
D)All of the above are crisis events.

Question 37

The informal organization

A)is static.
B)is flexible.
C)requires a mandate from top management in order to change.
D)All of the above.

Question 38

The final step in the strategic control process is

A)implementing the strategy.
B)measuring performance.
C)taking corrective action.
D)None of the above.

Question 39

The process of measuring a firm's performance against that of the top performers (usually in the same industry)is known as

A)strategic control.
B)competitive benchmarking.
C)"best practices."
D)None of the above.

Question 40

What are the five steps in the strategic control process? Should these steps always be performed sequentially? Explain.