Question 1

The fact that the U.S.still uses a system of measurement from the 1820's instead of the metric system and is at a disadvantage in certain cross-border transactions and negotiations demonstrates that:

Accepted Answer

Today, the United States is the only industrial nation in the world not using the metric system as the official method of measurement, putting it at a disadvantage in some cross border transactions and negotiations.

Question 2

___________ refer to a firm's ability to reconfigure resources and create external market changes.

Accepted Answer

When a firm has dynamic capabilities it is able to reconfigure resources in order to respond to environmental changes and is also able to create market changes at times as evidenced by Apple.

Question 3

Strategic activity systems that are socially complex are:

Accepted Answer

Strategic activity systems that are socially complex are difficult to imitate.

Question 4

An upscale jeweler ordered several thousand ounces of gold a few years ago when gold was priced at $650 an ounce.As of 2011 gold was averaging about $1,700 an ounce.This jeweler will be able to protect his competitive advantage,at least temporarily,due to which condition?

Accepted Answer

The jeweler is able to gain a competitive advantage due to better expectations of future resource value.

Question 5

All of the following are true concerning the importance of dynamic capabilities to a firm EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

A firm can create rare resources without having dynamic capabilities.

Question 6

According to Michael Porter,when it comes to a firm's value chain activities and the essence of strategy a firm should ask itself:

Accepted Answer

Michael Porter emphasizes that the essence of strategy is to choose what activities to engage in and, more importantly, what not to do.

Question 7

To sustain competitive advantage,strategic activity systems need to:

Accepted Answer

In order for a firm to sustain competitive advantage, strategic activity systems need to evolve over time.

Question 8

Intangible firm resources such as brand equity and corporate culture can be analyzed by what method?

Accepted Answer

Intangible resources can be productively viewed through the lens of resource stocks and flows.

Question 9

Both Honda and Sony took many decades to build their core competencies and these competencies are based primarily by decisions made in the past.This process is called:

Accepted Answer

Path dependence is a process in which the options that one faces in a current situation are affected by decisions made in the past.

Question 10

Strategy Highlight 4.2 discusses how IBM was able to rebound because CEO Lou Gerstner refocused the company on satisfying market needs through IT services as opposed to mainframe and mini-computers.This strategic highlight shows that IBM's current success is partially based on:

Accepted Answer

IBM's successful turnaround is the result of the dynamic capabilities that its management team built, painstakingly, from its crisis in 1993 onward.

Question 11

When a firm is conceptualized as a network of socially complex,interconnected activities it is referred to as being:

Accepted Answer

A strategic activity system conceives of a firm as network of socially complex, interconnected activities.

Question 12

When evaluating the sustainability of a competitive advantage which of the following is NOT true?

Accepted Answer

No competitive advantage can be sustained indefinitely.

Question 13

Which of the following activities would be considered a primary activity in a firm's value chain?

Accepted Answer

Production of goods and services is a primary activity in a firms value chain.

Question 14

Chapter 4 details actions that Vanguard took after 1997 to add customer segmentation as a new core activity because it was unable to provide quality service to targeted customer segments at the lowest possible cost.By changing its _______________ Vanguard was able to adapt to changing market conditions and sustain its competitive advantage in the investment industry.

Accepted Answer

Vanguard changed its strategic activity system and added a customer-segmentation core activity to its activity portfolio.

Question 15

Using strategic activity systems a competitor can observe 25 activities of Firm A If Firm B decides to imitate Firm A with a 90% accuracy rate, the probability of copying the whole system of 25 activities yields only a 7% accuracy rate.Which framework below is most effective at demonstrating the difficulty of imitating a firm with 25 interconnected activities?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Using strategic activity systems a competitor can...

Question 16

According to Strategy Highlight 4.3,Microsoft's eventual industry dominance is largely credited to:

Accepted Answer

Bill Gates was lucky on more than one occasion but he and Microsoft leveraged that luck into an effective strategy.

Question 17

What pitfall does the use of strategic activity systems highlight when a competitor is considering imitating a rival firm?

Accepted Answer

A competitor can observe several elements of a strategic activity system. What if Firm A has 25 interconnected activities which underpin its competitive advantage? Firm B decides to imitate Firm A with a 90% accuracy rate. The probability of copying the whole system yields only a 7% accuracy rate.

Question 18

Primary activities in the firm level value chain are:

Accepted Answer

Primary activities in the firm level value chain include the physical creation of a product, its distribution, and its service after the sale.

Question 19

Suppose several senior managers recently left Google and went to work at rival Microsoft.What part of the "stocks and flows" of resources does this represent for Microsoft?

Accepted Answer

Resource leakage occurs when key employees leave. This is a type of resource flow.

Question 20

The purpose of a firm's ___________ is to add additional value through primary and support activities that competitors cannot easily replicate.

Accepted Answer

The purpose of a firms value chain is to add incremental value through primary and support activities that are is easy to replicate.

Quiz 4: Internal Analysis: Resources, Capabilities, and Activities