Question 1

A company's internal strengths should always serve as the basis of strategy because:

Accepted Answer

A)  placing heavy reliance on the company's best competitive assets is the soundest route to attracting customers and competing successfully against rivals. 
B)  they represent what the company considers relevant despite the prevailing opportunities. 
C)  they can overpower the impact of important external threats. 
D)  they form the foundation of the firm's position in the marketplace. 
E)  All of these. 
A)  placing heavy reliance on the company's best competitive assets is the soundest route to attracting customers and competing successfully against rivals. 
B)  they represent what the company considers relevant despite the prevailing opportunities. 
C)  they can overpower the impact of important external threats. 
D)  they form the foundation of the firm's position in the marketplace. 
E)  All of these.

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT a good option for trying to remedy high internal costs vis-à-vis rivals' firms?

Accepted Answer

A)  Finding ways to detour around activities or items where costs are high 
B)  Redesigning the product or some of its components to permit more economical manufacture or assembly 
C)  Implementing aggressive strategic resource mapping to permit across-the-board cost reduction 
D)  Outsourcing high-cost activities to vendors or contractors who can perform them more economically 
E)  Relocating high-cost activities (like manufacturing)to geographic areas (like China or Latin America or Eastern Europe)where they can be performed more cheaply 
A)  Finding ways to detour around activities or items where costs are high 
B)  Redesigning the product or some of its components to permit more economical manufacture or assembly 
C)  Implementing aggressive strategic resource mapping to permit across-the-board cost reduction 
D)  Outsourcing high-cost activities to vendors or contractors who can perform them more economically 
E)  Relocating high-cost activities (like manufacturing)to geographic areas (like China or Latin America or Eastern Europe)where they can be performed more cheaply

Question 3

Explain the difference between a company activity,capability,competence,a core competence,and a distinctive competence.

Accepted Answer

Company Activity: This refers to the spe

Question 4

The competitive power of a company's core competence or distinctive competence depends on:

Accepted Answer

A)  whether it helps differentiate a company's product offering from the product offerings of rival firms. 
B)  how hard it is to copy and how easily it can be trumped by substitute resource strengths and competitive capabilities of rivals. 
C)  whether customers are aware of the competence and view the competence positively enough to boost the company's brand-name reputation. 
D)  whether the competence is one of the industry's key success factors. 
E)  whether the competence is technology-based or based on superior marketing know-how. 
A)  whether it helps differentiate a company's product offering from the product offerings of rival firms. 
B)  how hard it is to copy and how easily it can be trumped by substitute resource strengths and competitive capabilities of rivals. 
C)  whether customers are aware of the competence and view the competence positively enough to boost the company's brand-name reputation. 
D)  whether the competence is one of the industry's key success factors. 
E)  whether the competence is technology-based or based on superior marketing know-how.

Question 5

Obtaining cost information is a primary difficulty associated with benchmarking.The following are typical sources for collecting information,except:

Accepted Answer

A)  from published reports,industry research firms,and trade groups. 
B)  from talking to knowledgeable industry leaders. 
C)  from field trips to the facilities of competitors or non-competing firms. 
D)  from independent firms and consulting firms to gather best practices and comparative cost data without identifying competing firms. 
E)  All of these. 
A)  from published reports,industry research firms,and trade groups. 
B)  from talking to knowledgeable industry leaders. 
C)  from field trips to the facilities of competitors or non-competing firms. 
D)  from independent firms and consulting firms to gather best practices and comparative cost data without identifying competing firms. 
E)  All of these.

Question 6

For a company to have competitively potent resources and capabilities,they must:

Accepted Answer

A)  be in sync with changes in the company's own strategy. 
B)  be in sync with its efforts to achieve a resource-based competitive advantage. 
C)  fully support company efforts to attract customers. 
D)  combat competitors' newly launched offensives to win bigger sales and market shares. 
E)  All of these. 
A)  be in sync with changes in the company's own strategy. 
B)  be in sync with its efforts to achieve a resource-based competitive advantage. 
C)  fully support company efforts to attract customers. 
D)  combat competitors' newly launched offensives to win bigger sales and market shares. 
E)  All of these.

Question 7

The primary lesson stemming from a SWOT analysis is that a company's strategy should:

Accepted Answer

A)  leverage resource strengths,capitalize on market opportunities,overcome important weaknesses,and defend against external threats. 
B)  be aimed at opportunities that offer the best potential for improved profitability. 
C)  seek aggressively to defend against those threats to the company's immediate profitability. 
D)  be designed to place heavy demands on areas where the company has proven competencies to meet the threats head-on. 
E)  concentrate on making the SWOT's four lists relevant for strategic discussion and planning. 
A)  leverage resource strengths,capitalize on market opportunities,overcome important weaknesses,and defend against external threats. 
B)  be aimed at opportunities that offer the best potential for improved profitability. 
C)  seek aggressively to defend against those threats to the company's immediate profitability. 
D)  be designed to place heavy demands on areas where the company has proven competencies to meet the threats head-on. 
E)  concentrate on making the SWOT's four lists relevant for strategic discussion and planning.

Question 8

Which one of the following is inaccurate as concerns a distinctive competence?

Accepted Answer

A)  A distinctive competence is a competitively important activity that a company performs better than its rivals. 
B)  A distinctive competence is typically less restrictive for rivals to copy than a core competence. 
C)  A distinctive competence can be a basis for sustainable competitive advantage. 
D)  A distinctive competence qualifies as a superior internal strength. 
E)  A distinctive competence enables delivering stand-out value to customers (in the form of lower prices,better product performance,or superior service). 
A)  A distinctive competence is a competitively important activity that a company performs better than its rivals. 
B)  A distinctive competence is typically less restrictive for rivals to copy than a core competence. 
C)  A distinctive competence can be a basis for sustainable competitive advantage. 
D)  A distinctive competence qualifies as a superior internal strength. 
E)  A distinctive competence enables delivering stand-out value to customers (in the form of lower prices,better product performance,or superior service).

Question 9

Which of the following is not an analytical tool for revealing a company's competitiveness and for helping to match the strategy to the company's own particular circumstances?

Accepted Answer

A)  Resource and capability analysis 
B)  SWOT analysis 
C)  Value chain analysis 
D)  Bench-pressing analysis 
E)  Competitive strength analysis 
A)  Resource and capability analysis 
B)  SWOT analysis 
C)  Value chain analysis 
D)  Bench-pressing analysis 
E)  Competitive strength analysis

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT one of the six questions that comprise the task of evaluating a company's resources and competitive position?

Accepted Answer

A)  What are the company's most profitable geographic market segments? 
B)  How well is the company's present strategy working? 
C)  Are the company's cost structure and customer value proposition competitive? 
D)  Is the company competitively stronger or weaker than key rivals? 
E)  What strategic issues and problems merit front-burner managerial attention? 
A)  What are the company's most profitable geographic market segments? 
B)  How well is the company's present strategy working? 
C)  Are the company's cost structure and customer value proposition competitive? 
D)  Is the company competitively stronger or weaker than key rivals? 
E)  What strategic issues and problems merit front-burner managerial attention?

Question 11

Which of the following most accurately reflect a company's resource strengths?

Accepted Answer

A)  Its human,physical and/or organization assets;its skills and competitive capabilities;and its achievements or attributes that enhance the company's ability to compete effectively 
B)  The sizes of its unit sales,revenues,and market share vis-à-vis those of key rivals 
C)  The sizes of its profit margins and return on investment vis-à-vis those of key rivals 
D)  Whether it has more primary activities in its value chain than close rivals and a better overall value chain than these rivals 
E)  Whether it has more core competencies than close rivals 
A)  Its human,physical and/or organization assets;its skills and competitive capabilities;and its achievements or attributes that enhance the company's ability to compete effectively 
B)  The sizes of its unit sales,revenues,and market share vis-à-vis those of key rivals 
C)  The sizes of its profit margins and return on investment vis-à-vis those of key rivals 
D)  Whether it has more primary activities in its value chain than close rivals and a better overall value chain than these rivals 
E)  Whether it has more core competencies than close rivals

Question 12

What are the four tests that should be used to measure the competitive power of a company's resource strengths?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What are the four tests that should...

Question 13

Why do a company's core competencies matter in crafting strategy?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why do a company's core competencies matter...

Question 14

What is benchmarking and why is it a strategically important analytical tool?

Accepted Answer

Benchmarking is a systematic process of

Question 15

Resource and capability analysis is achieved by:

Accepted Answer

A)  probing the caliber of a firm's competitive assets relative to those of rival firms. 
B)  achieving price stability. 
C)  analyzing only internal strengths and weaknesses through a matrix comparison model. 
D)  cost-benefit analysis of the company's core product sales. 
E)  performing resource-specific activities within the organization to allocate available capital. 
A)  probing the caliber of a firm's competitive assets relative to those of rival firms. 
B)  achieving price stability. 
C)  analyzing only internal strengths and weaknesses through a matrix comparison model. 
D)  cost-benefit analysis of the company's core product sales. 
E)  performing resource-specific activities within the organization to allocate available capital.

Question 16

The business strategy is made up of key "functional" strategies except:

Accepted Answer

A)  R&D,technology,and product design strategies. 
B)  Production and information technology and supply chain management strategies. 
C)  Human resource and finance strategies. 
D)  Sales,marketing,and distribution strategies. 
E)  Alliance and partnerships as well as merger and acquisition growth strategies. 
A)  R&D,technology,and product design strategies. 
B)  Production and information technology and supply chain management strategies. 
C)  Human resource and finance strategies. 
D)  Sales,marketing,and distribution strategies. 
E)  Alliance and partnerships as well as merger and acquisition growth strategies.

Question 17

Activity-based costing:

Accepted Answer

A)  is an accounting system that assigns a company's expenses to whichever activity in a company's value chain is responsible for creating the cost. 
B)  involves using benchmarking techniques to develop cost estimates for the value chain activities of each major rival. 
C)  is a powerful tool for identifying the different pieces of a company's value chain and classifying them as primary activities and support activities. 
D)  involves determining which value chain activities represent variable costs and which represent fixed costs. 
E)  is a tool for identifying the activities that cause a company's product to be strongly differentiated from the products of rivals. 
A)  is an accounting system that assigns a company's expenses to whichever activity in a company's value chain is responsible for creating the cost. 
B)  involves using benchmarking techniques to develop cost estimates for the value chain activities of each major rival. 
C)  is a powerful tool for identifying the different pieces of a company's value chain and classifying them as primary activities and support activities. 
D)  involves determining which value chain activities represent variable costs and which represent fixed costs. 
E)  is a tool for identifying the activities that cause a company's product to be strongly differentiated from the products of rivals.

Question 18

Which one of the following is NOT something that can be learned from doing a competitive strength assessment?

Accepted Answer

A)  The factors on which a company is competitively strongest and weakest vis-à-vis key rivals 
B)  Whether a company should correct its weaknesses by adopting best practices and revamping the makeup of its value chain 
C)  Which of the rated companies is competitively strongest and what size competitive advantage it enjoys 
D)  Whether a company has a net competitive advantage or a net competitive disadvantage relative to key rivals (with the size of the advantage/disadvantage being indicated by the differences among the companies' competitive strength scores) 
E)  Which rival company is competitively weakest and the areas where it is most vulnerable to competitive attack 
A)  The factors on which a company is competitively strongest and weakest vis-à-vis key rivals 
B)  Whether a company should correct its weaknesses by adopting best practices and revamping the makeup of its value chain 
C)  Which of the rated companies is competitively strongest and what size competitive advantage it enjoys 
D)  Whether a company has a net competitive advantage or a net competitive disadvantage relative to key rivals (with the size of the advantage/disadvantage being indicated by the differences among the companies' competitive strength scores) 
E)  Which rival company is competitively weakest and the areas where it is most vulnerable to competitive attack

Question 19

A distinctive competence represents a basis for competitive advantage.True or false? Explain your answer.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 20

Quantitative measures of a company's competitive strength:

Accepted Answer

A)  signal which competitor has the most distinctive competencies and which competitor has the fewest. 
B)  provide useful indicators of how a company compares against key rivals,factor by factor and capability by capability-thus indicating whether the company has a net overall competitive advantage or disadvantage against each rival. 
C)  reveal which competitors are in the best and worst strategic groups. 
D)  show which industry rival has the best overall market opportunities and which competitor has the poorest market opportunities. 
E)  pinpoint which industry rival is subject to the least amount of competitive pressures from the five competitive forces. 
A)  signal which competitor has the most distinctive competencies and which competitor has the fewest. 
B)  provide useful indicators of how a company compares against key rivals,factor by factor and capability by capability-thus indicating whether the company has a net overall competitive advantage or disadvantage against each rival. 
C)  reveal which competitors are in the best and worst strategic groups. 
D)  show which industry rival has the best overall market opportunities and which competitor has the poorest market opportunities. 
E)  pinpoint which industry rival is subject to the least amount of competitive pressures from the five competitive forces.

A company's internal strengths should always serve as the basis of strategy because:

Which of the following is NOT a good option for trying to remedy high internal costs vis-à-vis rivals' firms?

Explain the difference between a company activity,capability,competence,a core competence,and a distinctive competence.

The competitive power of a company's core competence or distinctive competence depends on:

Obtaining cost information is a primary difficulty associated with benchmarking.The following are typical sources for collecting information,except:

For a company to have competitively potent resources and capabilities,they must:

The primary lesson stemming from a SWOT analysis is that a company's strategy should:

Which one of the following is inaccurate as concerns a distinctive competence?

Which of the following is not an analytical tool for revealing a company's competitiveness and for helping to match the strategy to the company's own particular circumstances?

Which of the following is NOT one of the six questions that comprise the task of evaluating a company's resources and competitive position?

Which of the following most accurately reflect a company's resource strengths?

What are the four tests that should be used to measure the competitive power of a company's resource strengths?

Why do a company's core competencies matter in crafting strategy?

What is benchmarking and why is it a strategically important analytical tool?

Resource and capability analysis is achieved by:

The business strategy is made up of key "functional" strategies except:

Activity-based costing:

Which one of the following is NOT something that can be learned from doing a competitive strength assessment?

A distinctive competence represents a basis for competitive advantage.True or false? Explain your answer.

Quantitative measures of a company's competitive strength:

What Is Strategy and Why Is It Important

Charting a Companys Direction: Its Vision, Mission, Objectives, and Strategy

Evaluating a Companys External Environment

The Five Generic Competitive Strategies: Which One to Employ

Strengthening a Companys Competitive Position: Strategic Moves, Timing, and Scope of Operations

Strategies for Competing in International Markets

Corporate Strategy: Diversification and the Multibusiness Company

Ethics, corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental Sustainability, and Strategy

Building an Organization Capable of Good Strategy Execution: People, Capabilities, and Structure

Managing Internal Operations: Actions That Promote Good Strategy Execution

Corporate Culture and Leadership: Keys to Good Strategy Execution

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Exam 4: Evaluating a Companys Resources, Capabilities, and Competitiveness

A company's internal strengths should always serve as the basis of strategy because:

Which of the following is NOT a good option for trying to remedy high internal costs vis-à-vis rivals' firms?

Explain the difference between a company activity,capability,competence,a core competence,and a distinctive competence.

The competitive power of a company's core competence or distinctive competence depends on:

Obtaining cost information is a primary difficulty associated with benchmarking.The following are typical sources for collecting information,except:

For a company to have competitively potent resources and capabilities,they must:

The primary lesson stemming from a SWOT analysis is that a company's strategy should:

Which one of the following is inaccurate as concerns a distinctive competence?

Which of the following is not an analytical tool for revealing a company's competitiveness and for helping to match the strategy to the company's own particular circumstances?

Which of the following is NOT one of the six questions that comprise the task of evaluating a company's resources and competitive position?

Which of the following most accurately reflect a company's resource strengths?

What are the four tests that should be used to measure the competitive power of a company's resource strengths?

Why do a company's core competencies matter in crafting strategy?

What is benchmarking and why is it a strategically important analytical tool?

Resource and capability analysis is achieved by:

The business strategy is made up of key "functional" strategies except:

Activity-based costing:

Which one of the following is NOT something that can be learned from doing a competitive strength assessment?

A distinctive competence represents a basis for competitive advantage.True or false? Explain your answer.

Quantitative measures of a company's competitive strength:

What Is Strategy and Why Is It Important

Charting a Companys Direction: Its Vision, Mission, Objectives, and Strategy

Evaluating a Companys External Environment

The Five Generic Competitive Strategies: Which One to Employ

Strengthening a Companys Competitive Position: Strategic Moves, Timing, and Scope of Operations

Strategies for Competing in International Markets

Corporate Strategy: Diversification and the Multibusiness Company

Ethics, corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental Sustainability, and Strategy

Building an Organization Capable of Good Strategy Execution: People, Capabilities, and Structure

Managing Internal Operations: Actions That Promote Good Strategy Execution

Corporate Culture and Leadership: Keys to Good Strategy Execution

Filters