Exam 2: The External and Internal Environments

Paul Oglesby, North American division manager for Rembrandt Products, was in crisis. His entire marketing and sales staff had resigned yesterday to start up a new firm. Next year's business plan for his division was due in 10 days, and Paul did not have a sense of his clients' needs nor his competitors' strategies. Thus, he did not know how to prepare his business plan. By not having the information necessary to decide how best to manage in his competitive environment, Paul was lacking

An outcome of environmental scanning is ________, which is the information necessary to decide how best to manage in a given competitive environment.

Charlotte owns and operates a convenience store in a large city. Competitors are many, and competition is fierce. Due to her small business's size, she cannot realistically influence her business environment. However, Charlotte can and does take steps to adapt to the environment, including

Methods for adapting the technical core to changes in the environment are known as

Diversified Industries decides to use the expertise it has from its canned-pet-food division and its health-food division to enter the fast-growing market for fresh, natural pet foods. This is an example of

A firm's current competition, suppliers, customers, and the threat of new entrants or of substitutes are all elements in the

To improve customer service in its overseas call center, Bell Software decided to investigate the call center practices of competing companies. The team discovered that a smaller company, Bumblebee Software Inc., seemed to have outstanding customer service. The team then determined differences between the organizations and developed a plan to incorporate the best elements of Bumblebee into Bell. This illustrates

Enrico has used environmental scanning to gather information that will help him make his company more competitive. This is an example of cognitive intelligence.

Explain the different characteristics of strong corporate cultures and weak corporate cultures.

Maria's mentor has taught her that managing culture within Frederick Construction, Inc., requires time and effort, but that the best managers understand its importance. A very important part of Frederick Construction's culture is emphasis on employee safety. Determine which action below would not be among the ways that Maria reinforces a desired safety culture.

Although a top executive team may have unique ________ strengths and ideas about its goals, it must consider ________ factors before taking action.

Domain selection, diversification, mergers/acquisitions, and divestiture are all examples of

Wellspring Health and United Coverage are two health insurance companies that have joined forces with one another to lobby against a new regulation that will affect their ability to deny claims. This action is referred to as

When two or more companies work together to manage their external environment, they are using

Sylvia owns a civil engineering consulting firm. Over the past several years, the bulk of her business has derived from a long term contract with the federal government. She learned today that her firm will not be awarded an extension of the contract, and thus her firm's work for the government client will come to an end within 30 days. The very negative impact of this decision on Sylvia's firm is a reminder that

Identify the different types of competitors that organizations must consider when analyzing their competitive environment.

The immediate environment surrounding a firm is known as its

A customer who purchases raw materials or wholesale products before selling them to other parties is known as a(n)

Emerson Smith, sales director for a beverage wholesaler, analyzed whether his company should attempt to become beverage supplier next year for TopChoice, a national fast food chain. Emerson learned that Deluxe Beverages, Inc., currently has a supply contract with TopChoice that has three more years in its term; TopChoice would have to pay Deluxe Beverages $3 million to terminate the supply contract early. Also, Deluxe Beverages has installed automated beverage ordering software in TopChoice's home office; TopChoice would have to spend $1 million to replace the software and retrain its staff. Emerson concluded that TopChoice's ________ costs would be too high to seriously consider a change in supplier during the multi-year term of the supply contract, so he decided not to attempt to become TopChoice's beverage supplier next year.

Explain two general types of proactive responses that managers and organizations can take to change the environment.