Exam 5: Business-Level Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantages

The text discusses three approaches to combining overall cost leadership and differentiation competitive advantages. Which of the following is not one of these three approaches?

As markets mature the magnitude of differentiation and cost leadership advantages among competitors decrease.

Primary value chain activities that involve the effective layout of receiving dock operations (inbound logistics) and support value chain activities that include expertise in process engineering (technology development) characterize which generic strategy?

Dell lost its competitive advantage starting in 2007 because it

Cheesecake Factory differentiates itself along several different dimensions at once by offering high-quality food, the widest and deepest menu in its class of restaurants, and premium locations.

During the growth stage of the market life cycle, customers are very likely to establish brand loyalty.

The experience curve is a way of looking at price benefits that come from studying sales figures.

Firms that compete on overall cost leadership are vulnerable if there is an increase in the cost of the inputs on which the advantage is based.

During the decline stage of the product life cycle, a harvesting strategy means that a firm keeps a product going without significantly reducing marketing support, technological development, or other investments, while hoping that competitors will exit the market.

A firm can achieve differentiation through all of the following means except

Mature firms tend to have assets that continue to produce significant returns.

The growth stage of the industry life cycle is characterized by

Rivals would find it difficult to challenge Atlas Door in the short run because of

A risk for a firm that tries to attain both cost and differentiation advantages is that it can be stuck in the middle. An example of this is supermarkets because their _____ structure is _____ than discount retailers and customers do not value their products and services as being high-end such as those offered by Whole Foods.

The size of pricing and differentiation advantages between competitors decreases in which stage of the market life cycle?

When company performance severely erodes, no strategies exist that can help to reverse its situation and enhance its competitive position.

Outside the flight experience itself, airlines are generating revenue by charging fees for credit cards, frequent-flyer programs, and access to airport lounges. This serves to

Which of the following is not a potential pitfall of a focus strategy?

The combination strategy of low-cost and differentiation provides lower prices and no differentiated attributes for customers.

A firm striving for cost leadership will typically spend relatively more on product-related research and development than on process-related research and development.