Exam 1: Cost Management and Strategy

A practical example of when the theory of constraints would not be an appropriate management technique to use would be:

Non-financial measures of operations include all the following except:

Which of the following aspects of a company would not be considered a critical success factor, for a company that competes on differentiation?

The following problems have occurred at your company: management seems to be making decisions based on guesses and intuition, there's a lack of clarity concerning direction and goals, and profitable opportunities are being missed. What is your company suffering from?

The competitive strategy in which the firm succeeds by producing at the lowest cost in the industry is termed:

The competitive strategy of cost leadership allows a firm to outperform competitors by producing products or services:

Which of the following professional certificates is considered to be the most relevant for dealing with cost management issues?

Apex Corporation manufactures a complete line of high quality bits for electric drills. Apex has a good record for product innovation and effective marketing and distribution. An increase in domestic and international competition during the past two years has limited the firm's sales growth to 3 percent per year, down from the previous five-year average annual growth of 5 percent. In addition, market share declined by 0.5 percent this past year. Apex is experiencing profit reductions caused by price competition and manufacturing cost increases. Required: Choose one of the 13 contemporary management techniques introduced in Chapter 1: Explain why the technique you selected is appropriate in helping Apex develop a plan for reversing the decline in sales growth and controlling the growth in costs.

Which of the following is not a major change in the business environment that has affected the way many companies think about conducting business?

Management accounting information plays a critical role in all but which of the following management functions?

In the current business environment, companies cannot survive without a long-term strategy. What exactly should an effective strategy include?

The five steps of strategic decision making include all of the following except:

In a local factory, employees are rewarded for finding new and better ways of changing the way they work. This company is motivating its employees to use what management technique?

The competitive strategy of differentiation requires that a product or service must be:

Which of the following is not among the management accounting profession's response to changes in the contemporary business environment?

Many companies in the consumer products and electronics industries such as Walmart and Texas Instruments compete using a strategy of:

Important changes in the contemporary business environments include all of the following except:

A large company has recently been experiencing larger than normal inventory levels. Management would like to implement a theory of constraints system to help control the company's inventories. Which of the following is not a benefit associated with the theory of constraints?

In six months you are scheduled to graduate with a degree in business. You have a major in accounting and minors in finance and management information systems. In the first few chapters of your cost management text, there are repeated references to the following two terms: strategic management and the strategic emphasis to cost management. Required: Explain these ideas, using as a framework your need to develop a plan for interviewing successfully for a challenging professional opportunity within the next six months.