Deck 9: Strategy Review, Evaluation, and Control

Question 1

Strategy-evaluation activities should ideally be performed

A) just on a periodic basis.
B) only at the onset of a problem.
C) on a continuous basis.
D) solely upon completion of major projects.
E) annually only.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

With the passage of time strategy evaluation is becoming

A) increasingly difficult.
B) much simpler.
C) very convenient.
D) an unnecessary activity.
E) less important.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In Rumelt's work, the final broad test of strategy is its

A) advantage.
B) feasibility.
C) consonance.
D) consistency.
E) distinctiveness.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Adequate and timely feedback is critical to effective strategy evaluation.

Question 5

Rumelt's criteria of consonance refers to the need for strategists to examine

A) inconsistent goals.
B) trends.
C) impractical objectives.
D) competitive advantages.
E) the costs associated with particular strategies.

Question 6

All of the following are reasons strategy evaluation is more difficult today EXCEPT

A) a dramatic increase in the environment's complexity.
B) the increasing number of variables.
C) the increase in the number of both domestic and world events affecting organizations.
D) the increasing time span for which planning can be done with any degree of certainty.
E) the rapid rate of obsolescence of even the best plans.

Question 7

What term refers to the need for strategists to examine sets of trends, as well as individual trends, in evaluating strategies?

A) Consistency
B) Consonance
C) Synergy
D) Feasibility
E) Advantage

Question 8

According to Rumelt, consistency and feasibility are largely based on a firm's internal assessment.

Question 9

All of these are Richard Rumelt's criteria to evaluate a strategy EXCEPT

A) advantage.
B) consistency.
C) feasibility.
D) distinctiveness.
E) consonance.

Question 10

Too much emphasis on evaluating strategies may be expensive and counterproductive.

Question 11

Modern organizational realities demand that employees demonstrate greater

A) flexibility.
B) innovation.
C) creativity.
D) initiative.
E) all of the above

Question 12

Consistency, distinctiveness, advantage, and feasibility are Richard Rumelt's four criteria for evaluating a strategy.

Question 13

Strategies may be inconsistent if policy problems and issues continue to be brought to the top for resolution.

Question 14

Competitive advantages normally are the result of superiority in one of three areas: feasibility, consistency, or consonance.

Question 15

If success for one organizational department means failure for another department, then strategies may be

A) synergistic.
B) advantageous.
C) trendy.
D) feasible.
E) inconsistent.

Question 16

Competitive advantage normally is the result of superiority in resources, skills, or

A) employees.
B) position.
C) consistency.
D) feasibility.
E) governance.

Question 17

Success today

A) guarantees success tomorrow.
B) is no guarantee of success tomorrow.
C) provides significant assurance of success tomorrow.
D) is all that really matters.
E) none of the above

Question 18

According to Richard Rumelt, consonance and consistency are mostly based on a firm's external assessment.

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT a reason for the increasing difficulty of evaluating strategies?

A) Product life cycles are longer.
B) Domestic and world economies are less stable.
C) Product development cycles are shorter.
D) Technological advancement is more rapid.
E) Change is occurring more frequently.

Question 20

What is the cornerstone of effective strategy evaluation?

A) Adequate and timely feedback
B) Quality and quantity of managers
C) Smaller ratio of top- to lower-level management
D) Evaluation preceding implementation stage
E) Punitive corrective actions

Question 21

A revised ________ should focus on changes in the organization's management, marketing, finance and accounting, production and operations, research and development (R&D), and management information systems (MIS) strengths and weaknesses.

A) mission
B) IFE Matrix
C) vision
D) EFE Matrix
E) EPM Matrix

Question 22

List and describe Rumelt's four criteria for evaluating strategies.

Question 23

Strategy evaluation is becoming increasingly easier with the passage of time, given technological advances.

Question 24

What are some of the reasons why strategy evaluation is becoming increasingly difficult with the passage of time?

Question 25

It is most effective to conduct strategy evaluation annually, at the end of the fiscal year.

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT included in measuring organizational performance?

A) Comparing results to competitors' expectations
B) Examining progress being made toward meeting stated objectives
C) Investigating deviations from plans
D) Evaluating individual performance
E) Comparing expected results to actual results

Question 27

Which of these is a basic activity of strategy evaluation?

A) Examining the underlying bases of current strategies
B) Measuring organizational performance
C) Taking corrective actions
D) Choices B and C only
E) All of the above

Question 28

________ are quantitative criteria commonly used to evaluate strategies.

A) Cash budgets
B) Balanced Scorecards
C) Capital Asset Pricing Models
D) Financial ratios
E) Present value strategic analyses

Question 29

Regardless of the size of the organization, a certain amount of "management by wandering around" at all levels is essential to effective strategy evaluation.

Question 30

Financial ratios are used to compare a firm's performance over different time periods, to compare the firm's performance to industry averages, and to compare a firm's performance with

A) overall business standards.
B) projected goals.
C) the performance of suppliers.
D) non-financial ratios.
E) the performance of competitors.

Question 31

The decreasing time span for which planning can be done with any degree of certainty is a reason strategy evaluation is more difficult today.

Question 32

Which of the following is a corrective action a company might take to correct unfavorable variances?

A) Divesting a division
B) Revising objectives
C) Raising capital with stock or debt
D) Allocating resources differently
E) All of the above

Question 33

Explain why strategy evaluation can be a complex and sensitive undertaking.

Question 34

What corrective actions might a firm take during strategy evaluation?

A) Revise the business mission
B) Issue stock
C) Revise objectives
D) Sell a division
E) All of the above

Question 35

If you discover during the course of strategy evaluation that major changes have occurred in the firm's internal strategic position, you should

A) continue on the present strategic course.
B) wait until the next quarter to see if things revert.
C) take corrective actions.
D) follow the original strategic plan.
E) none of the above

Question 36

A revised ________ should indicate how effective a firm's strategies have been in response to key opportunities and threats.

A) IFE Matrix
B) mission
C) EFE Matrix
D) vision
E) CPM Matrix

Question 37

Evaluating strategies on a continuous rather than on a periodic basis allows benchmarks of progress to be established and more effectively monitored.

Question 38

Corrective actions are almost always ________ except when external and internal factors have not significantly changed and the firm is progressing satisfactorily toward achieving stated objectives.

A) unnecessary
B) needed
C) undesirable
D) prohibitively expensive
E) futile

Question 39

Most quantitative criteria are geared to ________ objectives rather than to ________ objectives.

A) top-management; employee
B) short-term; annual
C) annual; long-term
D) environmental; community
E) long-term; short-term

Question 40

Which of these is a potential problem associated with using only quantitative criteria for selecting strategies?

A) Most quantitative criteria are geared to long-term objectives rather than annual objectives.
B) Different accounting methods can provide different results on many quantitative criteria.
C) Intuitive judgments are almost never used in deriving quantitative criteria.
D) Quantitative criteria include human factors that may be underlying causes of declining performance.
E) Quantitative criteria are not useful for comparisons of the firm's performance over different periods of time.

Question 41

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, cost and threats that represent the bases of current strategies should continually be monitored for change because it is not really a question of whether these factors will change, but rather when they will change and in what ways.

Question 42

Taking corrective actions, requires making changes to competitively reposition a firm for the future.

Question 43

According to researchers, all of the following encourage individuals to accept change EXCEPT

A) having a cognitive understanding of the changes.
B) having a sense of control over the situation.
C) having an awareness that necessary actions are going to be taken to implement change.
D) participating in strategy-evaluation activities.
E) being overpowered by the nature, types, and speed of changes.

Question 44

Intuitive judgments are almost always involved in deriving quantitative criteria.

Question 45

Measuring organizational performance requires making changes to reposition a firm competitively for the future.

Question 46

Corrective action should do all of the following EXCEPT

A) capitalize upon internal strengths.
B) avoid external opportunities.
C) avoid, reduce, or mitigate external threats.
D) improve internal weaknesses.
E) strengthen an organization's competitive position.

Question 47

According to Alvin Toffler, future shock occurs when the nature, type, and speed of changes overpower an individual's or organization's ability and capacity to adapt.

Question 48

Changes in the organization's management, marketing, finance and accounting, production and operations, research and development (R&D), and management information systems (MIS) strengths and weaknesses should all be points of focus of a revised EFE Matrix in strategy evaluation.

Question 49

Most quantitative evaluation criteria are geared to long-term objectives rather than annual objectives.

Question 50

Criteria for evaluating strategies should be measurable and easily verifiable.

Question 51

Measuring organizational performance includes comparing expected results to actual results, investigating deviations from plans, evaluating individual performance, and examining progress being made toward meeting stated objectives.

Question 52

Research suggests that which of the following is one of the best ways to overcome individuals' resistance to change in strategy evaluation?

A) Participation
B) Command-and-control
C) Laissez-faire system
D) Rational argument
E) Emotional reactions

Question 53

Taking corrective actions does not necessarily mean that existing strategies will be abandoned, or even that new strategies must be formulated.

Question 54

Alvin Toffler argues that environments are becoming so dynamic and complex that they threaten people and organizations with future shock, in his thought-provoking books entitled Future Shock and The Third Wave.

Question 55

When measuring organizational performance, a comparison should be made between expected results and actual results.

Question 56

Corrective action in strategy evaluation is necessary to keep an organization on track toward achieving stated objectives.

Question 57

Financial ratios are rarely used as criteria to evaluate strategies.

Question 58

Corrective actions are expected to

A) strengthen an organization's competitive position in its industry.
B) streamline asset holdings.
C) have no risk.
D) involve abandoning existing strategies.
E) all of the above

Question 59

In strategy evaluation, a revised IFE Matrix should indicate how effective a firm's strategies have been in response to key opportunities and threats.

Question 60

According to author Alvin Toffler, what occurs when the nature, types, and speed of changes overpower an individual's or organization's ability and capacity to adapt?

A) Corporate insecurity
B) Corrective actions
C) Future shock
D) Corporate agility
E) Projected performance

Question 61

Which of the following is NOT one of the four perspectives from which the Balanced Scorecard allows firms to evaluate strategies?

A) Social responsibility
B) Financial performance
C) Customer knowledge
D) Internal business processes
E) Learning and growth

Question 62

What are the four different perspectives related to the Balanced Scorecard and what does the Balanced Scorecard attempt to balance?

Question 63

The strategy-evaluation process should

A) dominate decisions.
B) be complex.
C) be cumbersome.
D) foster mutual understanding and trust.
E) be highly restrictive.

Question 64

List and describe each of the three strategy-evaluation activities.

Question 65

The Balanced Scorecard approach addresses the question "How satisfied are the firm's customers?"

Question 66

________ organizations require more elaborate and detailed strategy-evaluation systems than ________ ones, because it is more difficult to coordinate efforts among different divisions and functional areas.

A) Non-profit; for-profit
B) For-profit; non-profit
C) Large; small
D) Small; large
E) Foreign; domestic

Question 67

What aims to balance long-term with short-term concerns, financial with nonfinancial concerns, and internal with external concerns?

A) Contingency planning
B) The Balanced Scorecard approach
C) Taking corrective action
D) Benchmarking
E) Consonance

Question 68

Yahoo was one of the world's most admired companies, according to Fortune's 2014 evaluation.

Question 69

Each year, Fortune publishes strategy-evaluation research on both the United States and other countries.

Question 70

Timely approximate information is generally more desirable as a basis for strategy evaluation than accurate information that does not depict the present.

Question 71

Strategy-evaluation activities must be meaningful, that is, they should specifically relate to a firm's objectives.

Question 72

Which of the following is NOT a key attribute that serves as one of the evaluative criteria for Fortune's "America's Most Admired Companies"?

A) People management
B) Innovativeness
C) Financial soundness
D) Amount of physical resources
E) Social responsibility

Question 73

The Fortune 50 includes all of the following EXCEPT

A) the largest banks.
B) the largest hospitals.
C) the largest retailers.
D) the largest transportation companies.
E) the largest utilities.

Question 74

In evaluating strategies, what three critical comparisons are made using financial ratios?

Question 75

According to research, participation in strategy-evaluation activities is one of the best ways to overcome resistance to change.

Question 76

What three questions must be asked when using Balanced Scorecard Analysis?

Question 77

Controls need to be ________ rather than ________.

A) action-oriented; information-oriented
B) cultural; political
C) qualitative; quantitative
D) measurable; timely
E) universal; diverse

Question 78

The strategy-evaluation process should foster

A) mutual understanding.
B) doubt.
C) corporate culture.
D) complexity.
E) division.

Question 79

The construction of a Balanced Scorecard is consistent across organizations and industries.

Question 80

Which of the following is true regarding the design of a firm's strategy-evaluation system?

A) There is a one-size-fits-all system that works for all companies.
B) It does not need to take into account the organization's size.
C) The management style of a firm has no bearing on the design.
D) It should be determined based on the unique aspects of a company.
E) There is one ideal system.