Exam 2: Evaluating a Firms External Environment

Which of the following statements regarding substitutes is accurate?

BidBuy is the world's leading online auction company. When BidBuy was founded ten years ago it was the first online auction company, and it has been the leader since it was founded. Although there are other firms in the industry, BidBuy controls over 75% of the market in the United States, and three additional firms control another 20% of the U.S. market. One of the aspects of BidBuy that keeps users from changing to other online auction companies is the large user base BidBuy has built and a feedback rating system that allows buyers and sellers to rate their satisfaction with each other following each transaction. This allows users to build a reputation for honesty and trustworthiness. Sellers with a high feedback rating tend to receive more bids on their auctions and a higher price for their goods. To help facilitate payment transfers between buyers and sellers following successful online auctions, companies such as DollarDog have been founded, and these companies have facilitated growth for BidBuy. Having attained a 75% market share in the U.S., BidBuy has begun expanding internationally, opening its own sites in some countries and purchasing incumbents in others. In its international expansion, BidBuy has allowed its individual companies to customize their offerings according to the needs and desires of the countries in which they operate and when these companies are successful, BidBuy works to transfer these successful capabilities throughout the firm. -Factors such as BidBuy's feedback rating system that are valuable to the company's customers but which are not useful on other online auction sites are examples of

Culture is largely the same across the world.

Monopolistically competitive industries consist of only a single firm.

Which type of competition is characterized by a small number of firms, homogeneous products and costly entry and exit?

Which of the following is the best example of forward vertical integration?

All divestments are caused by industry decline.

The threat of buyers is greater if the products or services that are being sold to buyers are standard and not differentiated than if the products sold to buyers are highly differentiated.

When activity in an economy is relatively low for a short period of time, the economy is said to be in a

Diseconomies of scale exist in an industry when a firm's costs fall as a function of that firm's volume of production.

Hickory Divine is one of the leading manufacturers in the hardwood furniture industry. Hickory Divine has many small competitors, none of which controls a significant portion of the industry. Hickory, like most of the furniture manufacturers, sells its products to a broad variety of small furniture stores throughout the country, none of which represents a large percentage of Hickory's sales. When purchasing the products it uses for manufacturing its furniture, Hickory is able to choose from many suppliers since the wood it uses is an undifferentiated commodity, and Hickory is able to easily switch to any supplier that has the best price and delivery times. While growth in the hardwood furniture industry has historically been in the double digits, the industry growth rate has slowed considerably into the single digits, to approximately 5% in recent years; consumers have been purchasing less expensive furniture made of composite wood that is considerably less expensive than hardwood furniture but that looks and functions very similarly once it is painted. -If Hickory Divine were to open its own chain of furniture stores, this would be an example of

The major opportunity facing firms in fragmented industries is

BidBuy is the world's leading online auction company. When BidBuy was founded ten years ago it was the first online auction company, and it has been the leader since it was founded. Although there are other firms in the industry, BidBuy controls over 75% of the market in the United States, and three additional firms control another 20% of the U.S. market. One of the aspects of BidBuy that keeps users from changing to other online auction companies is the large user base BidBuy has built and a feedback rating system that allows buyers and sellers to rate their satisfaction with each other following each transaction. This allows users to build a reputation for honesty and trustworthiness. Sellers with a high feedback rating tend to receive more bids on their auctions and a higher price for their goods. To help facilitate payment transfers between buyers and sellers following successful online auctions, companies such as DollarDog have been founded, and these companies have facilitated growth for BidBuy. Having attained a 75% market share in the U.S., BidBuy has begun expanding internationally, opening its own sites in some countries and purchasing incumbents in others. In its international expansion, BidBuy has allowed its individual companies to customize their offerings according to the needs and desires of the countries in which they operate and when these companies are successful, BidBuy works to transfer these successful capabilities throughout the firm. -BidBuy has a ________ advantage.

The threat of direct competition tends to be high when

Identify the four generic industry structures and the specific strategic opportunities in each of these industries.

________ exist when a firm's costs rise as a function of its volume of production.

BidBuy is the world's leading online auction company. When BidBuy was founded ten years ago it was the first online auction company, and it has been the leader since it was founded. Although there are other firms in the industry, BidBuy controls over 75% of the market in the United States, and three additional firms control another 20% of the U.S. market. One of the aspects of BidBuy that keeps users from changing to other online auction companies is the large user base BidBuy has built and a feedback rating system that allows buyers and sellers to rate their satisfaction with each other following each transaction. This allows users to build a reputation for honesty and trustworthiness. Sellers with a high feedback rating tend to receive more bids on their auctions and a higher price for their goods. To help facilitate payment transfers between buyers and sellers following successful online auctions, companies such as DollarDog have been founded, and these companies have facilitated growth for BidBuy. Having attained a 75% market share in the U.S., BidBuy has begun expanding internationally, opening its own sites in some countries and purchasing incumbents in others. In its international expansion, BidBuy has allowed its individual companies to customize their offerings according to the needs and desires of the countries in which they operate and when these companies are successful, BidBuy works to transfer these successful capabilities throughout the firm. -For BidBuy, services such as those offered by DollarDog that make BidBuy's services more valuable for customers who use the services of both companies are best described as

The S-C-P model assumes that any competitive advantages a firm has in an industry must benefit society.

Proprietary technology often is more important as a barrier to entry than is managerial know-how.

Hickory Divine is one of the leading manufacturers in the hardwood furniture industry. Hickory Divine has many small competitors, none of which controls a significant portion of the industry. Hickory, like most of the furniture manufacturers, sells its products to a broad variety of small furniture stores throughout the country, none of which represents a large percentage of Hickory's sales. When purchasing the products it uses for manufacturing its furniture, Hickory is able to choose from many suppliers since the wood it uses is an undifferentiated commodity, and Hickory is able to easily switch to any supplier that has the best price and delivery times. While growth in the hardwood furniture industry has historically been in the double digits, the industry growth rate has slowed considerably into the single digits, to approximately 5% in recent years; consumers have been purchasing less expensive furniture made of composite wood that is considerably less expensive than hardwood furniture but that looks and functions very similarly once it is painted. -The threat of suppliers in the hardwood furniture can best be described as