Deck 2: Contemporary Issues in the Strategic Planning Process SPP

Question 1

The only reasons that contribute to the underutilization of female talent in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are lack of motivation and the low secondary education enrollment rate of women compared to men.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Diversity in the workplace is important, but it is not crucial for companies to include diversity approaches in their human resource strategic planning.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Equitable Talent Development criteria of diversity management assess the following factors: employee resource groups, mentoring, philanthropy, movement and fairness.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Inclusion and diversity strategy of any company would positively affect the level of sales and overall performance.

Question 5

Ethical behavior is based upon adherence to a "law," and is thus difficult to characterize.

Question 6

Small-batch technology, as proposed by Joan Woodward, is characteristic of an organization producing relatively small quantities of product, often custom-made.

Question 7

Bureaucratic management methods, as concluded by Joan Woodward, would be appropriate in the continuous process technology company only.

Question 8

Technology transfer process is becoming a part of the global strategic planning process of corporations and thus needs not to consider cultural dimension.

Question 9

Cultural factors influence project success merely in the transfer process' formulation phase of the overall strategic planning process.

Question 10

Small companies fail because of a shortage of good judgment and understanding at the low managerial level.

Question 11

Entrepre?neurs may be found in businesses of any size.

Question 12

Individual managers generally have more impact on larger organizations than on smaller ones.

Question 13

Strategy implementation is much more time consuming that strategy formulation.

Question 14

A study of small businesses by Karger and Blumenthal suggests that businesses of all sizes experience same level of implementation problems.

Question 15

Intrapreneurship, a social invention, is a strategy that fosters innovation and independent thinking especially in activities.

Question 16

Strategic management process is used effectively only in profit oriented organizations.

Question 17

Compared to for-profit firms, nonprofit and public organizations often function as a monopoly.

Question 18

A firm's strategy is essentially the way it goes about seeking to compete successfully.

Question 19

A diverse group is by nature less flexible and unlikely to get stuck in old assumptions.

Question 20

Corporate Social Responsiveness is proactivity or at least acting in response for the organizations to societal demands and issues.

Question 21

Benchmarking is the organization's transformation process through which the inputs (raw materials) are turned into outputs (product or service).

Question 22

Mass production technology is characterized by the use of assembly lines (or something similar), and relatively standardized parts, leading to large production volumes, especially that the process does not cease.

Question 23

Society is the collection of individuals living together in a particular geographical area.

Question 24

The discretionary responsibility of an organization includes compliance with various laws regulating on how business may be carried out.

Question 25

Traditionally, an organization's primary goal is to maximize the customer demand.

Question 26

Which of the following is not among the four key areas of diversity management as proposed by Diversity Inc.?

A) Talent pipeline
B) Equitable Talent Development
C) CEO/Leadership Commitment
D) Customer Diversity

Question 27

____________ is the recognition and consideration of the impact of the corpora?tion's activities on its stakeholders and the society in general.

A) Corporate Social Responsibility
B) Ethics
C) Diversity
D) Code of conduct

Question 28

____________ is proactivity or at least act in response of the organizations to societal demands and issues.

A) Corporate Social Responsibility
B) Ethics
C) Corporate Social Responsiveness
D) Code of conduct

Question 29

Total social responsibility covers the following aspects:

A) Economic responsibility, shareholder responsibility, stakeholder responsibility, and legal responsibilities
B) Environment responsibility, social responsibility, monetary responsibility, and economic responsibilities
C) Economic responsibility, legal responsibility, ethical responsibility, and discretionary responsibilities
D) Economic responsibility, Environment responsibility, social responsibility, and stakeholder responsibilities

Question 30

______________ is the responsibility to be an economic entity and produce its goods and services for a profit.

A) Economic responsibility
B) Legal responsibility
C) Ethical responsibility
D) Discretionary responsibilities

Question 31

Ethical Responsibility is:

A) The responsibility to be an economic entity and produce its goods and services for a profit
B) Compliance with various laws regulating how business may be carried out
C) Areas where society expects certain performance but has not yet articulated them in the form of laws
D) Voluntary actions by business which are neither regulated by law nor necessarily expected by society

Question 32

___________ is defined as the code of moral principles that set standards of good and bad or right and wrong in one's behavior.

A) Corporate Social Responsibility
B) Ethics
C) Diversity Management
D) Code of Conduct

Question 33

The benefits of having a diverse workforce is all except:

A) Boosting marketing efforts
B) Improving operations
C) Increased employee turnover
D) Driving innovation

Question 34

_________ is a situation where managers privately uphold ethical principles, while denying or ignoring their relevance in a business context.

A) Wall Street ethics
B) Ethical dilemma
C) Environmental issues
D) Moral schizophrenia

Question 35

Organizations that are attempting to act in a responsive manner, produces periodicals such as _____________ to follow voluntary manufacturer recalls of various products and to consider social media as a tool to reach to customers' reviews and complaints.

A) Annual Reports
B) Consumer Reports
C) Complaints Reports
D) Ethical Reports

Question 36

Intervention strategies that an individual can follow to change unethical behavior, as suggested by Richard Nielson, includes all except:

A) Secretly blowing the whistle within the organization
B) Publicly threatening a responsible manager with blowing the whistle
C) Supporting the unethical behaviour and involving in conspiracy
D) Publicly blowing the whistle outside the organization

Question 37

An organization's attempts to measure its own performance against that of the most successful competitors in its industry is called:

A) Competitive advantage
B) Talent pipeline
C) Benchmarking
D) Intrapreneurship

Question 38

The technological processes suggested by Joan Woodward are:

A) Simple-batch technology, Large-batch technology, and continuous process technology
B) Small-batch technology, mass-production technology, and continuous process technology
C) Small-batch technology and continuous process technology
D) Simple-batch technology, mass-production technology and continuous process technology

Question 39

___________ type/s of process/es is/are characterized by the use of assembly lines and relatively standardized parts, leading to large production volumes.

A) Small-batch technology
B) Mass-production technology
C) Continuous process technology
D) Mass-production technology and continuous process technology

Question 40

Ford Motors and Um Said Refinery are respective examples of:

A) Mass-production technology and Small-batch technology
B) Both are continuous process technology
C) Continuous process technology and Small-batch technology
D) Mass-production technology and Continuous process technology

Question 41

____________ is/are characterized by the use of assembly lines (or something similar), and relatively standardized parts, leading to large production volumes; however, the process does not cease.

A) Small-batch technology
B) Mass-production technology
C) Continuous process technology
D) Mass-production technology and continuous process technology

Question 42

By __________ non-core business activities, organizations will be able to lower the supply chain costs and simultaneously will be able to focus more on their core competencies.

A) Diversifying
B) Outsourcing
C) Innovating
D) Increasing

Question 43

The biggest cause for small business failure is:

A) Lack of finance
B) Economic recession/depression
C) Managerial incompetence
D) Lack of customer

Question 44

____________ believe that they have an idea for a product or service that will solve someone's problems, as well as be needed and desired in the marketplace.

A) CEO/CFO
B) Entrepreneurs
C) Top management
D) Shareholders

Question 45

Successful entrepreneurs have to yield a number of traits; they include all except:

A) Innovation
B) Risk averse
C) Hard work
D) Self-confidence

Question 46

The strategies which are chosen for a small business are influenced by the entrepreneur's personality, management style, and his/her perceptions of the:

A) Opportunities and threats present in the internal environment
B) Strengths and threats present in the external environment
C) Opportunities and threats present in the external environment
D) Strengths and weaknesses present in the external environment

Question 47

_______ is found in large, complex companies where the employees/entrepreneurs are given the freedom and incentive to do their best in small groups.

A) Diversity
B) Intrapreneurship
C) Entrepreneurship
D) Strategic groups

Question 48

The use of strategic management process in countless nonprofit and governmental organizations includes all except:

A) Microsoft Corporation
B) Wikimedia Foundation
C) Islamic Relief International
D) Red Cross

Question 49

___________ involves the critical decisions a firm makes about how to match its resources and strengths with its environment to create an advantage over its competitors.

A) Goals
B) Strategy
C) Mission statement
D) Vision

Question 50

GATT is:

A) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
B) General Agreement on Tax and Tariffs
C) General Arrangement on Tariffs and Trade
D) General Arrangement on Tax and Tariffs

Question 51

Explain how diversity in the workforce affects the performance of an organization. Support your answer with real examples.

Question 52

What should be the counter argument to Milton Friedman's understanding of social concerns? Do you agree? Justify your response.

Question 53

Is it sufficient for a business to focus only on generating maximum profits in the current competitive environment? Why? Why not?

Question 54

Discuss how companies effectively exercise corporate social responsiveness using real examples.

Question 55

How do organizations try to bridge the gap between moral schizophrenia and ethics in business context? In your opinion, are they effective?

Question 56

Define the term benchmarking. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of putting this concept in practice.

Question 57

In your opinion, how can technology serve as a strategic weapon to give organizations competitive advantage?

Question 58

Discuss this quotation by Harris and Moran: "the technology transfer is best accomplished when it fosters cultural synergy for all parties."

Question 59

How can strategic planning affect the success or failure of small businesses? Support your answer with real examples.

Question 60

Mintzberg suggests that "individual managers generally have more impact on small organizations than on larger ones." What is the rationale in terms of intuition and strategic planning process?

Question 61

How do small businesses usually have competitive advantage over large ones in terms of the implementation of strategic plans?