Question 1

The Achilles heel (or biggest disadvantage/pitfall)of relying heavily on alliances and cooperative strategies is:

Accepted Answer

When outsourcing is conducted via alliances, there is no less risk of becoming dependent on other companies for essential expertise and capabilities-indeed, this may be the Achilles' heel of such alliances.

Question 2

An alliance becomes "strategic" as opposed to just a convenient business arrangement when it serves all of the following strategic purposes EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

An alliance becomes "strategic," as opposed to just a convenient business arrangement, when it serves any of the following purposes: it facilitates achievement of an important business objective (like lowering costs or delivering more value to customers in the form of better quality, added features, and greater durability); it helps build, strengthen, or sustain a core competence or competitive advantage; it helps remedy an important resource deficiency or competitive weakness; it helps defend against a competitive threat, or mitigates a significant risk to a company's business; it increases bargaining power over suppliers or buyers; it helps open up important new market opportunities; and, it speeds the development of new technologies and/or product innovations.

Question 3

Companies racing against rivals for global market leadership need strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships with companies in foreign countries to:

Accepted Answer

Strategic partnerships or cooperative arrangements: facilitate achievement of an important business objective (like lowering costs or delivering more value to customers in the form of better quality, added features, and greater durability); help build, strengthen, or sustain a core competence or competitive advantage; help remedy an important resource deficiency or competitive weakness; help defend against a competitive threat, or mitigate a significant risk to a company's business; increase bargaining power over suppliers or buyers; help open up important new market opportunities; and, speed the development of new technologies and/or product innovations.

Question 4

Experience indicates that strategic alliances:

Accepted Answer

Unless there is respect among all the parties for cultural differences, including those stemming from different local cultures and local business practices, productive working relationships are unlikely to emerge.

Question 5

A company that has greater success in managing its strategic alliance can credit all of the following,EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

Companies that have greater success in managing their strategic alliances and partnerships often credit the following factors: they create a system for managing their alliance; they build relationships with their partners and establish trust; they protect themselves from the threat of opportunism by setting up safeguards; they make commitments to their partners and see that their partners do the same; they make learning a routine part of the management process.

Question 6

Entering into strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships can be competitively valuable because:

Accepted Answer

Companies are employing strategic alliances and partnerships to extend their scope of operations via international expansion. It lowers investment costs and risks in comparison to going it alone. Strategic cooperation is a much-favored approach in industries where new technological developments are occurring at a furious pace along many different paths and where advances in one technology spill over to affect others (often blurring industry boundaries).

Question 7

What is a blue-ocean strategy and what is its appeal?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is a blue-ocean strategy and what...

Question 8

A company racing to seize opportunities on the frontiers of advancing technology often utilizes strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships to:

Accepted Answer

Whenever industries are experiencing high-velocity technological advances in many areas simultaneously, firms find it virtually essential to have cooperative relationships with other enterprises to stay on the leading edge of technology, even in their own area of specialization. In industries like these, alliances are all about fast cycles of learning, gaining quick access to the latest round of technological know-how, and developing dynamic capabilities. In bringing together firms with different skills and knowledge bases, alliances open up learning opportunities that help partner firms better leverage their own resources and capabilities.

Question 9

Identify and briefly discuss two "best targets" for offensive attacks by companies.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Identify and briefly discuss two "best targets"...

Question 10

The formation of a new corporation,jointly owned by two or more companies agreeing to share in the revenues,expenses,and control,is known as:

Accepted Answer

A joint venture entails forming a new corporate entity that is jointly owned by two or more companies that agree to share in the revenues, expenses, and control of the newly formed entity.

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT a strategically beneficial reason why a company may enter into strategic partnerships or cooperative arrangements with key suppliers,distributors,or makers of complementary products?

Accepted Answer

Strategic partnerships or cooperative arrangements: facilitate achievement of an important business objective (like lowering costs or delivering more value to customers in the form of better quality, added features, and greater durability); help build, strengthen, or sustain a core competence or competitive advantage; help remedy an important resource deficiency or competitive weakness; help defend against a competitive threat, or mitigate a significant risk to a company's business; increase bargaining power over suppliers or buyers; help open up important new market opportunities; and, speed the development of new technologies and/or product innovations.

Question 12

Capturing the benefits of strategic alliances is not easy,but success generally is a function of all of the following factors,EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

The merits of strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships are: Picking a good partner; being sensitive to cultural differences; recognizing that the alliance must benefit both sides; ensuring that both parties live up to their commitments; structuring the decision-making process so that actions can be taken swiftly when needed; managing the learning process and then adjusting the alliance agreement over time to fit new circumstances.

Question 13

The principal advantages of strategic alliances over vertical integration or horizontal mergers/acquisitions are:

Accepted Answer

The principal advantages of strategic alliances over vertical integration or horizontal mergers and acquisitions are threefold: they lower investment costs and risks for each partner by facilitating resource pooling and risk sharing; they are more flexible organizational forms and allow for a more adaptive response to changing conditions; and they are more rapidly deployed.

Question 14

The best strategic alliances:

Accepted Answer

The best alliances are highly selective, focusing on particular value chain activities and on obtaining a specific competitive benefit. They enable a firm to build on its strengths and to learn.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a typical reason that many outsourcing alliances prove unstable or break apart?

Accepted Answer

When outsourcing is conducted via alliances, there is no less risk of becoming dependent on other companies for essential expertise and capabilities-indeed, this may be the Achilles' heel of such alliances. Moreover, there are additional pitfalls to collaborative arrangements. The greatest danger is that a partner will gain access to a company's proprietary knowledge base, technologies, or trade secrets, enabling the partner to match the company's core strengths and costing the company its hard-won competitive advantage.

Question 16

Strategic offensives should,as a general rule,be grounded in a company's strategic assets and employ a company's strengths to attack rivals.Define and discuss the term strategic assets and its significance in gaining a competitive advantage.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Strategic offensives should,as a general rule,be grounded...

Question 17

There are a number of offensive strategy options for improving market positions using cost-based and blue-ocean type strategies.Define the terms and suggest ways in which the strategies could be operationalized.

Accepted Answer

The answer of There are a number of offensive strategy...

Question 18

A company that fails to manage its strategic alliance probably has:

Accepted Answer