Exam 3: Assessing the Internal Environment of the Firm

Regarding the value-chain concept, the most important interrelationship is between the organization and its

Technology development is a much broader concept than research and development.

XYZ Corp. is focusing on the objective of low-cost, high quality, on-time production by minimizing idle productive facilities and workers. The XYZ Corp. is taking advantage of a __________ system.

Focusing too narrowly on current customers, technologies and competitors can lead a company to overlook periphery industry boundaries and a new set of competitive relationships.

In terms of value chain analysis, a telephone operating company would find that negotiating and maintaining ongoing relations with regulatory bodies are important activities for achieving

Top managers have learned not to rely on SWOT to stimulate self-reflection and group discussions about how to improve their firm and position for success.

Focusing too narrowly on current customers, technologies, and competitors can lead to a failure to notice important changes on the periphery of their environment that may trigger the need to redefine industry boundaries and identify a whole new set of competitive relationships. This is a result of relying

Financial resources such as cash and cash equivalents are intangible resources.

When using industry norms as a standard of comparison, managers must be sure that the firms used in the comparisons are representative of all sizes and strategies within the industry.

Which of these categories of financial ratios is used to measure the ability of a firm to meet its short-term financial obligations?

The value-chain concept assumes that both primary and support activities are capable of producing value for customers.

Apple combines and packages proven technology in new and innovative ways. This is an example of its use of

The balanced scorecard enables managers to evaluate their business from only two perspectives: customer and financial.

Establishing a customer service hotline to handle customer complaints would be considered a primary activity in value-chain analysis.

_____________ are typically embedded in unique routines and practices that have evolved and accumulated over time such as effective work teams.

The SWOT framework is not sufficient as the primary basis for evaluating the internal strengths and weaknesses of a company.

Some firms find great value by not incorporating their customers into the value creation process.

Strategists who rely on traditional definitions of their industry and competitive environment often focus their sights too ___________ on current customers, technologies, and competitors.

When using industry norms as a standard of comparison, managers must be sure that the firms used in the comparisons are representative of all sizes and strategies within the industry.

With the total performance indicators in place at Sears, it can evaluate if a single store improves its employee attitude by 5 percent and therefore predict with confidence that if the revenue growth in the district as a whole is 5 percent, the revenue growth in this particular store would be 5.5 percent. This is an example of the _______ perspective of the balanced scorecard.