Deck 6: Organizational Strategy: Part B

Question 1

Significant cost reductions, layoffs of employees, closing of poorly performing stores, offices, or manufacturing plants, or closing or selling entire lines of products or services would be characteristic of a __________ strategy.

A) portfolio
B) retrenchment
C) stability
D) firm-level
E) rehabilitation

Answer 1

B
A retrenchment strategy shrinks the size or the scope of the business.

Question 2

Which of the following is a condition that must be met if a firm's resources are to be used to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage?

A) differentiation
B) imperfectly imitable resources
C) diversification
D) entrepreneurial orientation
E) a matrix organizational structure

Answer 2

B

Question 3

An organization implementing a(n) ____________________ strategy would NOT follow a consistent strategy.

A) defender
B) pioneer
C) analyzer
D) reactor
E) prospector

Answer 3

D
Companies using a reactor strategy simply react to changes in the external environment.

Question 4

Which of the following is a mechanism used to examine external threats and opportunities facing a firm as well as its internal strengths and weaknesses?

A) organizational scanning
B) internal marketing
C) shadow-strategy task forces
D) benchmarking
E) a situational analysis

Question 5

The first step in the strategy-making process is to:

A) assess the need for strategic change
B) conduct a situation analysis
C) choose strategic alternatives
D) evaluate the impact of changes on the internal environment
E) create a strategic budget

Question 6

Resource similarity and __________ are factors that determine the extent to which firms will be in direct competition with each other.

A) market commonality
B) resource similarity
C) related diversification
D) product differentiation
E) customer autonomy

Question 7

The research on diversification in portfolio management indicates that the best approach is probably:

A) related differentiation
B) related diversification
C) unrelated diversification
D) repositioning
E) no diversification

Question 8

The term __________ refers to the overall organizational strategy that addresses the question "What business or businesses are we in or should we be in?"

A) firm-level strategy
B) corporate-level strategy
C) industry-level strategy
D) portfolio strategy
E) vision

Question 9

According to Michael Porter, five industry forces determine an industry's overall attractiveness and potential for long-term profitability. Which of the following is one of those forces Porter identified?

A) existence of complementary products
B) organizational structure
C) existing benchmarks
D) span of management
E) bargaining power of suppliers

Question 10

In a situational analysis, a strategic group is a group of __________ that top managers choose for comparing, evaluating, and benchmarking their company's strategic threats and opportunities.

A) non-industry-specific companies
B) expert managers
C) trade journals and other relevant periodicals
D) other firms within an industry
E) consulting firms that use the Delphi technique

Question 11

The __________ is a portfolio strategy that managers use to categorize their corporation's businesses by growth rate and relative market share. This strategy guides them on how to decide how to invest corporate funds.

A) investment matrix
B) SWOT matrix
C) BCG matrix
D) portfolio management matrix
E) Maslow grid

Question 12

In any organization, the __________ are the less visible, internal decision-making routines, problem-solving processes, and organization cultures that determine how efficiently inputs can be turned into outputs.

A) imperfectly imitable resources
B) valuable resources
C) distinctive competencies
D) core capabilities
E) sources of innovation