Question 1

From a customer's point of view, for an organization's capability to be a core competence it must be:

Accepted Answer

A)   inimitable and unique.
B)   valuable and unique.
C)   inimitable and nonsubstitutable.
D)   valuable and nonsubstitutable. B

Question 2

A local restaurant, Farm Fresh Ingredients, has become highly successful through its menu, based solely on organically raised chicken and beef, and organic seasonal produce. It has opened new locations in other cities, and these new locations are becoming highly profitable. Farm Fresh can expect that, at best, its competitive advantage will be:

Accepted Answer

A)   permanent.
B)   sustainable.
C)   temporary.
D)   defensible. C

Question 3

All core competencies have the potential to become core:

Accepted Answer

A)   rigidities.
B)   stagnations.
C)   inefficiencies.
D)   weaknesses. A

Question 4

Define outsourcing.  Why do organizations outsource?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Define outsourcing.  Why do organizations outsource?...

Question 5

All of the following were traditional sources of competitive advantage EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

A)   labor costs.
B)   access to financial resources.
C)   protected markets.
D)   a highly educated labor market.

Question 6

______ can be viewed as the capacity to take action.

Accepted Answer

A)   Strategic assets
B)   Human capital
C)   Core competencies
D)   Functional capabilities

Question 7

To build social capital whereby resources such as knowledge are transferred across organizations requires ______ between the parties.

Accepted Answer

A)   a contract
B)   determination
C)   confidence
D)   trust

Question 8

The value of tangible assets, such as the firm's borrowing capacity and its physical plant, is high because these assets can be easily leveraged to derive additional value.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

To provide a sustainable competitive advantage, a capability must satisfy all of the following criteria EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

A)   be technologically innovative.
B)   be hard for competing firms to duplicate.
C)   be without good substitutes.
D)   be valuable to customers.

Question 10

Value chain analysis is a tool used to:

Accepted Answer

A)   analyze a firm's external environment for value-creating opportunities.
B)   analyze a firm's value chain activities and support functions in isolation from its competitors' value chain.
C)   understand the parts of the firm's operation that create value and those that do not.
D)   identify the firm's core competencies in each of the primary activities of the firm.

Question 11

A major reason outsourcing is effective is that:

Accepted Answer

A)   it increases the innovative potential of the firm.
B)   few firms possess superior capability in all primary and support activities.
C)   it permits unlimited access to capital resources.
D)   competitors do not have access to the same external sources.

Question 12

Capabilities may be costly to imitate if firms have unique and valuable organizational cultures, are causally ambiguous, and socially complex.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

One reason executive judgment can be a particularly important source of competitive advantage is that judgment:

Accepted Answer

A)   allows a firm to build a strong reputation.
B)   gains the loyalty of shareholders.
C)   increases human intellectual capacity.
D)   allows for superior bundling of resources.

Question 14

Firms should seek to continually develop new core competencies because all core competencies guarantee above-average profit.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

ACME Corp. is a leading provider of radios to the commercial market. Its products all rely on printed circuit-board technology. ACME has protected its market leadership with continued advancements in this technology, which it patents. A competitor has developed a radio for this market with equal performance but uses a software-based technology instead of circuit boards. ACME's technology leadership fails which capability test?

Accepted Answer

A)   The value test
B)   The rareness test
C)   The substitutability test
D)   The costly-to-imitate test

Question 16

Government agencies are known for having so many layers and rules that decisions are made slowly and inefficiently.  In this case the ______ resource is a detriment to taxpayers using and paying for the bureaucracy.

Accepted Answer

A)   financial
B)   organizational
C)   physical
D)   technological

Question 17

Describe the four specific criteria that managers can use to decide which of their firm's capabilities have the potential to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the four specific criteria that managers...

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT a component of internal analysis leading to competitive advantage?

Accepted Answer

A)   Tangible and intangible resources
B)   Analysis of supplier power
C)   Capabilities
D)   Core competencies

Question 19

The most numerous of the following organizational characteristics are:

Accepted Answer

A)   resources.
B)   capacities.
C)   capabilities.
D)   core competencies.

Question 20

Tangible resources include:

Accepted Answer

A)   assets that are people-dependent, such as know-how.
B)   assets that can be observed and quantified.
C)   organizational culture.
D)   a firm's reputation.

Exam 3: The Internal Organization: Resources, Capabilities, Core Competencies, and Competitive Advantages

From a customer's point of view, for an organization's capability to be a core competence it must be:

All core competencies have the potential to become core:

Define outsourcing. Why do organizations outsource?

All of the following were traditional sources of competitive advantage EXCEPT:

______ can be viewed as the capacity to take action.

To build social capital whereby resources such as knowledge are transferred across organizations requires ______ between the parties.

The value of tangible assets, such as the firm's borrowing capacity and its physical plant, is high because these assets can be easily leveraged to derive additional value.

To provide a sustainable competitive advantage, a capability must satisfy all of the following criteria EXCEPT:

Value chain analysis is a tool used to:

A major reason outsourcing is effective is that:

Capabilities may be costly to imitate if firms have unique and valuable organizational cultures, are causally ambiguous, and socially complex.

One reason executive judgment can be a particularly important source of competitive advantage is that judgment:

Firms should seek to continually develop new core competencies because all core competencies guarantee above-average profit.

Government agencies are known for having so many layers and rules that decisions are made slowly and inefficiently. In this case the ______ resource is a detriment to taxpayers using and paying for the bureaucracy.

Describe the four specific criteria that managers can use to decide which of their firm's capabilities have the potential to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

Which of the following is NOT a component of internal analysis leading to competitive advantage?

The most numerous of the following organizational characteristics are:

Tangible resources include: