In crafting a company's strategy,
A) management's biggest challenge is how closely to mimic the strategies of successful companies in the industry.
B) managers have comparatively little freedom in choosing the "hows" of strategy.
C) managers are wise not to decide on concrete courses of action in order to preserve maximum strategic flexibility.
D) managers need to come up with some distinctive "aha" element to the strategy that draws in customers and produces a competitive edge over rivals.
E) managers are well-advised to be risk-averse and develop a "conservative" strategy-"dare-to-be-different" strategies rarely are successful.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The correct answer is D because the statement suggests that managers need to come up with a distinctive "aha" element to the strategy that draws in customers and produces a competitive edge over rivals, which aligns with the concept of creating a unique value proposition to differentiate a company from competitors. Option A is incorrect because copying successful strategies without considering the company's unique situation may not lead to success. Option B is incorrect because managers have a high degree of freedom in choosing the "hows" of strategy. Option C is incorrect because deciding on concrete courses of action is necessary to create a focused strategy. Option E is incorrect because being too risk-averse may lead to a conservative strategy that does not create a competitive advantage.

In Crafting a Company's Strategy