Exam 2: Strategic Management and the Entrepreneur

To be effective,a mission statement must become a natural part of the organization,embodied in the minds,habits,attitudes,and decisions of everyone in the company every day.

Once the vision and mission are established,the entrepreneur needs to:

The final step in creating a knowledge management program is:

Key success factors are simply relationships between controllable factors and critical elements that permit a firm to compete in its industry.

A strategy is a road map of action for fulfilling a firm's mission,goals and objectives.

To be of any real value to the small business owner,strategic plans must be broken down beyond operational plan level into projects with assigned responsibilities.

It is possible for a small business owner to gather competitive data inexpensively,even data on other companies' financial condition.

A competitive profile matrix:

The key to a successful differentiation strategy is to build it on a distinctive competence - something the small company is uniquely good at doing in comparison to its competitors.

When the small business owner assesses her company's strengths and weaknesses,she is dealing with the ________ business environment.

The best way to build a cost leadership competitive advantage is to focus entirely on manufacturing costs.

A small company following a ________ strategy seeks to build customer loyalty by positioning its goods and services in a unique fashion.

________ are negative external forces that inhibit the firm's ability to achieve its objectives.

Most small business owners believe it is relatively unimportant to monitor their competitors' activities.

The strategic management process:

Michael Porter defines three basic strategies cost leadership,differentiation,and focus.Describe each,explain under what conditions each works,and what the pitfalls are of each one.

How is the strategic planning process for small companies different from that for large companies?

It is important for the small business owner to remember that the strategic planning process is:

Tight cost control;trained,dependable,honest in-store managers can be success factor for a restaurant.

Goals and objectives provide the direction for the small firm and are essential to the strategic planning process.