Deck 10: Ensuring Execution

Question 1

Employees of Trader Joe's are called "crew."

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Strategy flexibility is the ability to respond to unanticipated situations in ways that are compatible with the organization's strategic vision.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Trader Joe's does not sell products made from genetically modified ingredients.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Labor cost is a primary expense in grocery retailing.

Question 5

Trader Joe's has a policy opposed to employee involvement in decision-making.

Question 6

IBM's initial personal computer followed the strategy of sourcing hardware internally, not purchasing components from outside.

Question 7

Strategic options are teams of people organized to develop new markets, create new products, pursue process innovations or launch new corporate ventures.

Question 8

As introduced by Michael Dell, his company's "winning cultures" refers to de-emphasizing customers, service and quality and instead emphasizing low pricing.

Question 9

In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins emphasizes hiring the right people.

Question 10

Apple Computer recently decided to make the customer service function part of U.S. operations, rather than relying on a contractor in India to answer customer calls.

Question 11

Nike is a company that does very little outsourcing; Nike has a large number of full-time employees.

Question 12

The strategy execution model of Silicon Valley has been tried and rejected in Hong Kong's Cyberport and India's Bangalore.

Question 13

The Chrysler division that developed the Neon was based on the idea of a 'boundaryless' structure.

Question 14

Many governments around the world are interested in fostering a Silicon valley-like culture and networks.

Question 15

Attendance was mandatory even for top brass at Bratton's semi-weekly strategy review meetings.

Question 16

Autonomous initiatives emerge as the result of experimentation outside the official resource allocation process.

Question 17

It is increasingly recognized that good ideas emerge from middle and lower levels in an organization.

Question 18

Kaplan and Norton found that only 5% of the organization's workforce understands its strategy.

Question 19

Strategic planning is the mechanism used by organizations to align culture, people, and structure to strategy and to generate change.

Question 20

Over time, strategic planning processes have shifted from linear, hierarchical top-down process to be more interactive and involving of multiple levels.

Question 21

Jack Welch was the former CEO of:

A) General Electric
B) Home Depot
C) Nike
D) IBM

Question 22

Which of the following is not a classical type of formal organizational structure?

A) functional
B) divisional
C) matrix
D) boundaryless

Question 23

Which company dominates today's bicycle industry, along with China Bicycle Company?

A) Schwinn
B) Raleigh
C) Huffy
D) Giant

Question 24

The typical flow design of a strategic planning structure has _________ as the first element.

A) Follow-through
B) Budgeting
C) Environmental analysis
D) Vision

Question 25

Control systems are analogous to what part of an automobile?

A) Speedometer
B) Steering wheel
C) Engine
D) Brakes

Question 26

______________ structures divide work based on products or markets.

A) Functional
B) Divisional
C) Matrix
D) Network

Question 27

Which of the following is not a purpose of organizational structure?

A) Identify what people do
B) Divide tasks across units in order to accomplish strategy
C) Identify how people coordinate activities
D) Recruit individuals to the firm

Question 28

__________ initiatives are carried out within the official resource allocation process.

A) Autonomous
B) Induced
C) Informal
D) Emergent

Question 29

Which of the following is not true about Trader Joe's execution strategy?

A) Most sales come from in-store brands.
B) Employees are not continuously trained and developed.
C) Carry more items than competitors such as Safeway and Kroger.
D) Provide compensation and bonuses that are significantly higher than industry averages.

Question 30

Strategy _________ is an interactive process of experimenting with structures and routines that will refine strategic directions.

A) Initiatives
B) Execution
C) Options
D) Planning

Question 31

Jack Welch established the global _________ initiative to force GE businesses to involve people at all levels of the organization in reinventing the basic ways of managing, operating and thinking about business.

A) "Be number one"
B) "Destroy your business"
C) "Enjoy your business"
D) "Reinvent the wheel"

Question 32

Strategic implementation was traditionally based on which 3Cs?

A) Command, Control, Coordination
B) Collaboration, Communication, Control
C) Communication, Change, Community
D) Control, Communication, Command

Question 33

Which of the following is not true about IBM?

A) Introduced the initial product in 1981
B) Soon faced a number of rivals that 'cloned' products
C) Internally produced hardware
D) Sold the personal computer division to Lenovo

Question 34

According to Larry Bossidy, GE veteran and Allied Signal/Honeywell CEO, _____ are the most important part of the business model.

A) Finances
B) People
C) Products
D) Services

Question 35

__________ organizations operate with a central core group composed of a relatively small staff of full-time employees who are responsible for key strategic activities and outsource all others.

A) Divisional
B) Matrix
C) Network
D) Functional

Question 36

Which of the following is not a component of the strategic planning process?

A) Reflect on vision
B) Analyze business and corporate environment
C) Recruit the right people
D) Select strategy

Question 37

Which of the following is not true about control systems?

A) Measure the extent that action and decisions in the organization are consistent with management intent
B) Give the executives information about whether current strategies are still appropriate
C) Include finance indicators
D) Informal process

Question 38

What are the four components of the balanced scorecard?

A) Financial, Customer, Internal business processes, Learning and Growth
B) Human Resources, Finance, Marketing, Information Technology
C) Management, Marketing, Finance, Accounting
D) Knowledge Management, Human Resources, Marketing, Finance

Question 39

Which of the following does not characterize strategic planning by managers?

A) Always a monthly process
B) Reflect on vision
C) Analyse the business and corporate environment
D) Formulate alternatives

Question 40

Which of the following is typically the first step in strategic planning?

A) Vision
B) Corporate analysis
C) Action planning
D) Budgeting

Question 41

In addition to the three classical types of formal organizational structure, two new types have emerged. Name them and describe each.

Question 42

Define autonomous initiatives and provide an example.

Question 43

Describe two limitations of using financial measures as performance indicators.

Question 44

What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of a network organization?

Question 45

What are some of the important networks in Silicon Valley? How does geographic proximity facilitate their interaction?

Question 46

What is the difference between an induced initiative and an autonomous initiative in the strategic planning and resource allocation process?

Question 47

What is a network organization? Give an example with detail.

Question 48

How can individual and unit performance be improved?

Question 49

List the four components of the balanced scorecard and explain each.

Question 50

How is the strategic planning process changing?