Deck 4: Managing Company Resources

Question 1

Resource-based theory offers a complete framework for analyzing organizations.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Patents are legal decrees that protect inventions from direct imitation for a limited period of time.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

An organization cannot hope to create an enduring competitive advantage around common resources.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Intangible resources of a firm include the knowledge and skills of its employees, its reputation, and its property, plants, and equipment.

Question 5

A resource is valuable to the extent that it helps a firm create strategies that capitalize on opportunities and ward off threats.

Question 6

A firm's property, reputation, and culture are considered to be its tangible resources.

Question 7

Resources refer to what an organization owns, capabilities refer to what the organization can do.

Question 8

A distinctive competence is a set of strategic resources that an organization owns.

Question 9

A strategic resource is an asset that is valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and nonsubstitutable.

Question 10

The distinctive competency theory offers a complete framework for analyzing organizations.

Question 11

Companies develop intellectual property to eliminate the risk of substitution of resources by competitors.

Question 12

The four Ps of marketing are: product, price, place, and promotion.

Question 13

A firm that enjoys a dynamic capability is one that is skilled at continually updating its strategic resources.

Question 14

All difficult to imitate strategic resources are protected by various legal means including trademarks, patents, and copyrights.

Question 15

The four main types of intellectual property are patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.

Question 16

The marketing mix concept was proposed by circus impresario P.T. Barnum.

Question 17

A strategic resource is valuable to the extent that it is difficult to imitate.

Question 18

A resource that is valuable and rare but that can be imitated might provide an edge in the short-term, but competitors can overcome such an advantage eventually.

Question 19

Tangible resources are more likely to meet the criteria for strategic resources than are intangible resources.

Question 20

To earn a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, an inventor must demonstrate than an invention is new, non-obvious, and useful.

Question 21

Which of the following qualities of an asset makes it a strategic resource for a business?

A) available
B) dynamic
C) tangible
D) difficult to imitate
E) competitive

Question 22

According to the resource-based theory, resources that provide a firm a sustained competitive advantage are rare:

A) dynamic, non-substitutable, and available.
B) valuable, non-substitutable, and available.
C) valuable, non-substitutable, and difficult to imitate.
D) valuable, dynamic, and difficult to imitate.
E) dynamic, distinctive, and difficult to imitate.

Question 23

SWOT analysis examines the situation faced by the competitors in an industry.

Question 24

A firm that enjoys a(n) _____ capability is one that is skilled at continually updating its array of capabilities in order to keep pace with changes in its environment.

A) competitive
B) distinctive
C) strategic
D) dynamic
E) evolving

Question 25

Which of the following is least likely to meet the criteria for strategic resources?

A) A firm's raw material inventory
B) A firm's organizational culture
C) A firm's reputation
D) A firm's intellectual properties
E) A firm's employees' skills

Question 26

Tangible resources are resources that can be readily seen, touched, and _______.

A) Compared
B) Available
C) Qualified
D) Quantified
E) None of these

Question 27

According to the resource-based theory, what characteristic of strategic resources are trademarks an example of?

A) Difficult to imitate
B) Valuable
C) Rare
D) Non-substitutable
E) None of these

Question 28

Transaction cost economics is a theory that centers on just one element of business activity: the cost of creating a product and moving it to the customer.

Question 29

Enactment and environmental determinism offer similar views on why some firms succeed and others fail.

Question 30

Relative to their peers, best value supply chains focus on the total value added to the customer.

Question 31

Opportunities and threats, as a part of the SWOT analysis, are assessed by examining the firm's resources.

Question 32

Enactment contends that an organization can, at least in part, create an environment for itself that is beneficial to the organization.

Question 33

Strengths and weaknesses, as a part of the SWOT analysis, refer to external events and trends.

Question 34

Which of the following is also known as the four Ps of marketing and provides important insights into how to convince customers to purchase a firm's goods and services?

A) The marketing bible
B) The marketing mix
C) The marketing cocktail
D) The marketing mantra
E) The marketing gospel

Question 35

A resource is _____ to the extent that it helps a firm create strategies that capitalize on opportunities and ward off threats.

A) rare
B) difficult to imitate
C) nonsubstitutable
D) executable
E) valuable

Question 36

According to the resource-based theory, _____ of an asset is one of the four qualities that makes it a strategic resource for a business.

A) availability
B) dynamism
C) rarity
D) tangibility
E) competitiveness

Question 37

Philip Selznick developed and defined the concept of distinctive competence as:

A) A systematic set of questions to determine how strategic advantages are achieved
B) A set of activities that an organization performs especially well
C) A set of operational questions managers can use to optimize performance
D) An exceptional evaluation process for upper management to access lower managements competencies
E) None of these

Question 38

A value chain charts the path by which products and services are created and eventually sold to customers.

Question 39

Patents are phrases, pictures, names, or symbols used to identify a particular organization.

Question 40

Best value supply chains strive to excel along four measures: speed, quality, cost, and flexibility.

Question 41

Which of the following is one of the four Ps of the marketing mix?

A) Process
B) Physical evidence
C) People
D) Promotion
E) Planning

Question 42

The signature red sole of Christian Louboutin's high-end shoes is an example of a(n) _____.

A) Inventor right
B) Patent
C) Trademark
D) Copyright
E) Trade secret

Question 43

Which of the following applies to intangible resources?

A) Can be easily seen and touched.
B) Examples are property equipment, and cash.
C) Are unlikely to provide long-term advantages.
D) Examples are employee skills as well as company culture and reputation.
E) Can be easily quantified.

Question 44

_____ is one of the four Ps of the marketing mix.

A) Process
B) Physical evidence
C) People
D) Planning
E) Price

Question 45

The formulation of Dr. Pepper's is an example of a(n) _____.

A) copyright
B) trademark
C) trade secret
D) patent
E) inventor right

Question 46

_________ property refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, artistic products, and symbols.

A) Institutional
B) Intellectual
C) Investment
D) Innovative
E) Informational

Question 47

Trade secrets:

A) are phrases, pictures, names, or symbols used to identify a particular organization.
B) provide exclusive rights to the creators of original artistic works such as books, movies, songs, and screenplays.
C) are legal decrees that protect inventions from direct imitation for a limited period of time.
D) refer to formulas, practices, and designs that are central to a firm's business and that remain unknown to competitors.
E) provide exclusive rights to the creators of formulas, practices, and designs and allow them to keep those a secret.

Question 48

To earn a(n) _____ from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, an inventor must demonstrate than an invention is new, non-obvious, and useful.

A) copyright
B) trademark
C) trade secret
D) patent
E) inventor right

Question 49

Which of the following is an example of a trade secret?

A) Richard James's Slinky
B) McDonald's golden arches
C) The Nike swoosh
D) The formulation of Coca-Cola
E) Original artistic creations, like books

Question 50

Trademarks:

A) are phrases, pictures, names, or symbols used to identify a particular organization.
B) provide exclusive rights to the creators of original artistic works such as books, movies, songs, and screenplays.
C) are legal decrees that protect inventions from direct imitation for a limited period of time.
D) refer to formulas, practices, and designs that are central to a firm's business and that remain unknown to competitors.
E) provide exclusive rights to the creators of formulas, practices, and designs and allow them to keep those a secret.

Question 51

Which of the following is an example of a copyright?

A) Richard James's Slinky
B) McDonald's golden arches
C) The Nike swoosh
D) The formulation of Coca-Cola
E) Original artistic creations, like books

Question 52

The legal system is the least favored choice of firms for protecting their _____.

A) patents
B) copyrights
C) trademarks
D) trade secrets
E) inventor rights

Question 53

The blend of 11 herbs and spices used in Kentucky Fried Chicken's original chicken recipe is an example of a(n) _____.

A) copyright
B) trademark
C) trade secret
D) patent
E) inventor right

Question 54

_____ are legal decrees that protect inventions from direct imitation for a limited period of time.

A) Patents
B) Copyrights
C) Trademarks
D) Trade secrets
E) Inventor rights

Question 55

McDonald's golden arches, the Nike swoosh, and Apple's outline of an apple are examples of _____.

A) copyrights
B) trademarks
C) trade secrets
D) patents
E) inventor rights

Question 56

The formulation of Coca-Cola is an example of a(n) _____.

A) copyright
B) trademark
C) trade secret
D) patent
E) inventor right

Question 57

Resources that do not have all four qualities can still be very useful, but they ______________________.

A) are difficult to allocate
B) always lead to additional opportunities
C) are unlikely to provide long-term advantages
D) are time consuming
E) are rarely inexpensive

Question 58

_____ provide exclusive rights to the creators of original artistic works such as books, movies, songs, and screenplays.

A) Patents
B) Copyrights
C) Trademarks
D) Trade secrets
E) Inventor rights

Question 59

Which of the following refer to formulas, practices, and designs that are central to a firm's business and that remain unknown to competitors?

A) Patents
B) Copyrights
C) Trademarks
D) Trade secrets
E) Inventor rights

Question 60

Which of the following is an example of a patent?

A) Richard James's Slinky
B) McDonald's golden arches
C) The Nike swoosh
D) The formulation of Coca-Cola
E) Original artistic creations, like books

Question 61

A value chain differs from a supply chain in that a value chain:

A) is a system of people, activities, information, and resources involved in creating a product and moving it to the customer.
B) charts the path by which products and services are created and eventually sold to customers.
C) is a broader concept than a supply chain.
D) concept is fixated on how fast products can be made available to consumers.
E) creation requires the components of agility, adaptability, and alignment.

Question 62

Which of the following is true about institutional theory?

A) It is a theory that contends that an organization can, at least in part, create an environment for itself that is beneficial to the organization.
B) It is a theory that contends that organizations are very limited in their ability to adapt to the conditions around them.
C) It is a theory that examines the extent to which firms copy each other's strategies.
D) It is a theory that centers on whether it is cheaper for a firm to make or to buy the products that it needs.
E) It is a theory that contends that the possession of strategic resources can provide an organization with competitive advantages over its rivals.

Question 63

Which of the following theories for explaining a firm's competitiveness contends that organizations are very limited in their ability to adapt to the conditions around them?

A) Resource-based theory
B) Enactment
C) Transaction cost economics
D) Environmental determinism
E) Institutional theory

Question 64

Which of the following components required for creating best value supply chains can be achieved through the use of buffers?

A) Agility
B) Strategic supply chain management
C) Alignment
D) Adaptability
E) Operations

Question 65

Which of the following theories for explaining a firm's competitiveness centers on the extent to which firms copy each other's strategies?

A) Resource-based theory
B) Enactment
C) Transaction cost economics
D) Environmental determinism
E) Institutional theory

Question 66

_____ is a classic management tool that incorporates the idea of scanning elements such as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats which are both external and internal to the firm.

A) PESTLE analysis
B) Business intelligence
C) Enterprise resource planning
D) Process mining
E) SWOT analysis

Question 67

Apple has been able to reshape its environment by introducing products such as the iPhone and the iPad that transcend the traditional boundaries between the cell phone, digital camera, music player, and computer businesses. This is an example of _____ for explaining a firm's competitiveness.

A) resource-based theory
B) enactment
C) transaction cost economics
D) environmental determinism
E) institutional theory

Question 68

Which of the following theories for explaining a firm's competitiveness treats executives as the masters of their domains?

A) Resource-based theory
B) Enactment
C) Transaction cost economics
D) Environmental determinism
E) Institutional theory

Question 69

Which of the following is one of the four components required for creating best value supply chains?

A) Strategic value chain management
B) Adaptability
C) Technology
D) Diversification
E) Operations

Question 70

_____ is one of the five primary activities that value chains include.

A) Procurement
B) Firm infrastructure
C) Technology
D) Human resource management
E) Inbound logistics

Question 71

It would be simply too costly for an airline to pursue a backward integration strategy and enter the airplane manufacturing business. Which of the following theories for explaining a firm's competitiveness is most likely to give executives such insights?

A) Resource-based theory
B) Enactment
C) Transaction cost economics
D) Environmental determinism
E) Institutional theory

Question 72

Which of the following is a secondary activity that value chains include?

A) Inbound logistics
B) Firm infrastructure
C) Operations
D) Service
E) Marketing and sales

Question 73

Which of the following is true about transaction cost economics?

A) It is a theory that contends that an organization can, at least in part, create an environment for itself that is beneficial to the organization.
B) It is a theory that contends that organizations are very limited in their ability to adapt to the conditions around them.
C) It is a theory that examines the extent to which firms copy each other's strategies.
D) It is a theory that centers on whether it is cheaper for a firm to make or to buy the products that it needs.
E) It is a theory that contends that the possession of strategic resources can provide an organization with competitive advantages over its rivals.

Question 74

Which of the following theories for explaining a firm's competitiveness centers on just one element of business activity: whether it is cheaper for a firm to make or to buy the products that it needs?

A) Resource-based theory
B) Enactment
C) Transaction cost economics
D) Environmental determinism
E) Institutional theory

Question 75

Failing to manage a supply chain effectively causes serious harm. In terms of stock price, a company's market value erodes by an average of ____ percent following the announcement of a major supply chain problem.

A) 1
B) 100
C) 20
D) 10
E) 5

Question 76

Which of the following is a primary activity that value chains include?

A) Procurement
B) Firm infrastructure
C) Service
D) Technology
E) Human resource management

Question 77

_____ is one of the five secondary activities that value chains include.

A) Inbound logistics
B) Technology
C) Operations
D) Service
E) Marketing and sales

Question 78

Transaction cost theory helps executives decide whether to pursue a _____ integration strategy or not.

A) forward
B) forward vertical
C) forward horizontal
D) backward
E) backward horizontal

Question 79

Which of the following is true about enactment with regard to a firm's competitiveness?

A) It is a theoretical perspective that contends that an organization can, at least in part, create an environment for itself that is beneficial to the organization.
B) It is a theoretical perspective that contends that organizations are very limited in their ability to adapt to the conditions around them.
C) It is a theory that examines the extent to which firms copy each other's strategies.
D) It is a theory that centers on whether it is cheaper for a firm to make or to buy the products that it needs.
E) It is a theory that contends that the possession of strategic resources can provide an organization with competitive advantages over its rivals.

Question 80

A company manufacturing hockey sticks makes an annual assessment of its resources in terms of raw materials, technical expertise, and technological knowhow. It assesses the type of competition that it faces in the sports goods market and also looks out for opportunities that would allow it to expand its business. This is an example of a(n):

A) SWOT analysis.
B) enterprise resource planning.
C) process mining.
D) PESTLE analysis.
E) business intelligence.