Exam 1: E3 - Strategic Management Question Tutorial

'Big data' refers to datasets whose size is outside the ability of typical database software tools to capture, store, manage and analyze. Which of the following statements is NOT a valid statement with regard to 'big data'?

DDD is a business which sells entertainment products and now wants to move to a position where it uses e-business as a fundamental part of its business strategy. Which of the following benefits would result from DDD's use of e-business? (Choose all that apply.)

As a CIMA qualified management accountant working within a manufacturing company, you are subject to both CIMA's Code of Ethics and your company's Code of Business Conduct. Which TWO of the following statements are TRUE? (Choose two.)

M is a car manufacturer in Country C. Every day, at 09.00, members of M's staff practice meditation and Tai Chi for 30 minutes, before their normal workday commences. M's staff are paid during this time and M considers the practice to be a benefit both to staff and the company. Staff operate with high levels of efficiency and absenteeism levels are low. The auditors of M have recommended that M stop these sessions, stating that they consider them to be a waste of time and a drain on resources. Which of the following aspects of M's culture would the auditors recommendation impact on?

LLL is an international oil and gas exploration company. It is considering investing S300 million in developing new oil fields in Country D. For this it will need to obtain a license from the government of Country D. These new oil fields will bring much wealth to Country D because a large proportion of the revenue from the production of oil will be paid to the government as part of the licensing agreement. However, oil production in Country D will have some undesirable social effects, such as the threat of pollution, congestion to the roads and pressure on local amenities such as housing, electricity and clean water. Which of the following approaches to stakeholder management should LLL NOT undertake in order to enter Country D?

BCA is a long established international airline. Which of the following represent Threats to BCA's business? (Choose all that apply.)

M has been appointed as an external change agent to lead and implement a large scale re-structuring strategy which is being undertaken by a large bank. M has been appointed due to his extensive experience in a wide range of organizational re-structuring programmes. This re-structuring strategy will involve a large number of redundancies and the implementation of a new organization-wide management reporting system. M will need to work with staff from all departments and levels of the organization. The Board of Directors of the bank believes that an external change agent will bring more benefits to the change process than using an internal change agent. Which of the following are the most likely benefits that could be achieved by the bank by appointing an external change agent to lead and implement the re-structuring strategy? (Choose all that apply.)

Which of the following statements is NOT a role for Management Accountants involved in the strategy development process?

BBB is a manufacturer that has been criticized in the financial press because it does not have a policy for sustainability. Which THREE of the following elements would be crucial to BBB successfully embedding sustainability into its activities? (Choose three.)

TUV had an employee turnover rate of 25% among new recruits and was becoming short of skilled workers. The Board of TUV realized there was something dramatically wrong and called in consultants to assess the problem. The consultants recommended transformational change in that TUV should redesign the entire production system, change the placement of all equipment and the flow of work, redefine every job and give all workers new assignments. Which type of change did the consultants recommend for TUV?

A direct external change trigger is:

Which of the following categorizations would be correct, according to McFarlan's Strategic Grid, for a system which is critical to sustaining existing business but its future strategic importance is considered to be low?

ZYX is a global hotel chain, employing over 10,000 staff worldwide. ZYX operates a Code of Conduct for all of its staff, which states "Our staff are the most important assets of our business operations. We expect the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct from all staff, who must display the principles of trust, respect, equality, integrity and fairness at all times." Which THREE of the following actions could ZYX take to positively influence its staff to work to the ethical and professional principles in its Code of Conduct? (Choose three.)

ABC is an independent training provider in Country F. It provides training in business related subjects to a wide range of corporate customers. All of its tutors must possess a nationally accredited training qualification before being allowed to teach and all of its courses follow nationally accredited programmes which are externally monitored. This is considered to be a critical aspect of its business reputation. ABC has one major competitor, XYZ, within Country F. XYZ offers similar courses to ABC but its tutors do not have to have an accredited training qualification and its courses do not follow the national accredited programmes. The style and content of courses varies significantly between XYZ's centers. There are a number of universities which offer nationally accredited courses within Country F. ABC does not consider these as competitors because typically they attract students wishing to undertake degree courses. The average university pass rate for nationally accredited programmes is currently higher than ABC's. Which of the following types of benchmarking would be most useful for ABC?

Ansoff has provided a product/market growth matrix which denotes possible strategic directions that an organization can follow. Which of the following statements correctly describe the strategic options generated by the matrix? (Choose all that apply.)

HH is an outdoor theatre which is based in the capital city of country N. Tickets for shows can be booked at the ticket office or online. HH has identified the following critical success factors (CSFs): An excellent, online ticket booking system Customer satisfaction Which of the following would be suitable key performance indicators (KPIs) for HH? (Choose all that apply.)

QWE is a private company belonging to a famous former sports professional. It operates gyms and fitness clubs across its home country. Each gym or fitness club is treated as a profit center and the manager of each center is paid bonuses based on its financial performance. QWE introduced multidimensional performance measures into its management control systems 3 years ago. These measure competitiveness, financial performance, capacity utilization, innovation and the flexibility of its centers to cope with changing demands. The managers of QWE's centers have been leaving at a very high rate over the last 2 years. They have claimed that the measures are too open to interpretation and when they think they are improving their center's performance they are told they are doing the wrong things. They also complain that the managers in the centers near big cities find it much easier to reach their targets than the managers of other centers. According to Fitzgerald and Moon's Building Block model, where does the problem lie?

Which of the following would be likely to encourage an organization to use Scenario Planning? (Choose all that apply.)

GV is a manufacturer and retailer of high quality suede gloves. GV makes all of its sales in country F, and is extremely profitable. After many successful years trading, GV has accumulated significant cash reserves and would like to grow the business organically. After some investigation work, GV has discovered an opportunity to sell leather shoes in country P. Which of the following strategic directions is GV taking if it pursues this opportunity, according to Ansoff's product / market matrix?

HHH is a manufacturer which has a bonus scheme for its production workers related to the speed of output. HHH's products are very specialized and are made in a dangerous production environment. HHH's production workers usually work alone but sometimes, if there are problems in the production environment (for example, machinery breakdowns), they have to work in teams. When the production workers are working in teams they do not receive any bonus. HHH's senior management is proposing to amend the current bonus scheme to encourage increased productivity. Under the current bonus scheme, production workers receive extra pay when they achieve 45% of their individual target: The target level is low because of the dangerous production environment and the need to occasionally work in teams. Under the proposed bonus scheme, production workers will not receive any extra pay until they have achieved 90% of their individual target. Workers who achieve 90% or above of their individual target will be paid a 30% higher bonus. Which THREE of the following problems is HHH most likely to encounter with the introduction of the proposed bonus scheme? (Choose three.)