Question 1

Which of the following is one of the first steps to take in launching the strategy execution process?

Accepted Answer

A)  Ensure all requirements of the value chain are fulfilled. 
B)  Form a mission statement as a basis for managers to achieve organizational objectives. 
C)  Go on the offensive by employing moves to make its product offering more distinctive and appealing to buyers. 
D)  Put together a talented management team with the right mix of experiences,skills,and abilities to get things done. 
E)  Strive to be more profitable than rivals and aim for a competitive edge based on bigger profit margins.

Question 2

Building organizational bridges with external allies is aided by:

Accepted Answer

A)  appointing "relationship managers" and giving them responsibility for making particular strategic partnerships or alliances generate the intended benefits. 
B)  agreeing with allies to meet frequently and make all decisions pertaining to the alliance on the basis of mutual agreement and consensus. 
C)  getting each strategic ally to agree to appoint someone as head of the collaborative effort and to give that person the authority to enforce tight coordination of joint activities. 
D)  forming a 50-50 joint venture with each strategic partner,and then assigning people to the joint venture that has the authority and responsibility to enforce tight coordination. 
E)  entering into a written agreement detailing the roles and responsibilities of the company and the ally/partner,setting forth the results that are expected,establishing deadlines for achieving these results,and designating the people who are to be responsible for making the collaborative effort work successfully.

Question 3

Explain the difference between a centralized and a decentralized organizational structure.Which one is more likely to further the cause of good strategy execution? Why?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain the difference between a centralized and...

Question 4

A firm's organizational structure is comprised of:

Accepted Answer

A)  resource strengths and competitive capabilities that allow it to incorporate attributes at lower costs than rivals whose products have similar attributes. 
B)  the formal and informal arrangement of tasks,responsibilities,lines of authority,and reporting relationships by which the firm is administered. 
C)  excellent marketing and sales skills to convince buyers to pay a premium price for the attributes/features incorporated in its product. 
D)  sustainable distinctive competencies to ensure cost reduction and competitiveness. 
E)  a number of independent functional units involved in some common undertaking,with one unit typically in a more central role.

Question 5

Sometimes a company can short-circuit the task of building an organizational capability in-house by:

Accepted Answer

A)  putting in high-incentive bonuses to reward individual employees who train hard to develop the desired capability. 
B)  launching an extensive training effort to develop the capability quickly with newly hired employees. 
C)  either acquiring a company that has already developed the capability or else acquiring the desired capability through collaborative efforts with outsiders having the requisite skills,know-how,and expertise. 
D)  using benchmarking and the adoption of best practices to imitate a capability that rivals have already developed. 
E)  empowering a team of employees to develop the capability however they best see fit.

Question 6

Outsourcing value chain activities has such strategy executing advantages as:

Accepted Answer

A)  less internal bureaucracy,speedier decision making,and quicker responses to changing market conditions. 
B)  facilitating the empowerment of employees (because there are fewer things to do internally). 
C)  promoting a total quality management culture. 
D)  reducing the need to establish a strongly implanted corporate culture. 
E)  reducing the strategic importance of building valuable core competencies.

Question 7

Encouraging employees to challenge existing ways of doing things,and to be creative and innovative in proposing better ways of operating,requires the company to create a supporting environment.In many firms,this means empowering their employees.What is meant by empowerment of employees? How does it differ from delegation of authority? In what ways can empowerment of employees aid the cause of good strategy execution?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Encouraging employees to challenge existing ways of...

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT among the principal managerial components of the strategy execution process?

Accepted Answer

A)  Building an organization with the competencies,capabilities,and resource strengths needed to execute strategy successfully 
B)  Instituting policies and procedures that facilitate rather than impede strategy execution 
C)  Deciding which core competencies and value chain activities to leave as is and which ones to overhaul and improve 
D)  Adopting best practices and pushing for continuous improvement in how value chain activities are performed 
E)  Tying rewards directly to the achievement of strategic and financial targets and to good strategy execution

Question 9

In which one of the following instances is the training and retraining of employees likely to make the LEAST important contribution to good strategy execution?

Accepted Answer

A)  When a company shifts to a strategy requiring different skills,competitive capabilities,managerial approaches,and operating methods 
B)  When an organization is striving to build skills-based competencies 
C)  When technical know-how is changing so rapidly that a company loses its ability to compete unless its skilled people have cutting-edge knowledge and expertise 
D)  When the chosen strategy calls for a deeper technological capability or building and using new capabilities 
E)  When the strategy execution effort is based on tried-and-true operating practices that vary little from year to year

Question 10

The strategic importance of deliberately trying to develop organizational competencies and capabilities is:

Accepted Answer

A)  lower costs for employee training. 
B)  improved strategy execution and a potential for competitive advantage. 
C)  an increased ability to reduce total operating costs. 
D)  the added ease with which strategic fit and resource fit benefits can be captured. 
E)  the enhanced ability to avoid the perils of outsourcing.

Question 11

The most common approaches to capability building include all of the following,EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

A)  developing capabilities internally. 
B)  acquiring capabilities through mergers and acquisitions. 
C)  accessing capabilities via collaborative partnerships. 
D)  renewing capabilities to align with customer expectations. 
E)  coaching average performers to improve their skills.

Question 12

When it is difficult or impossible to out-strategize rivals (beat them with a superior strategy),the other main avenue to competitive advantage is to:

Accepted Answer

A)  do a better job of empowering employees and flattening the organization structure. 
B)  outcompete rivals with a stronger corporate culture. 
C)  out execute them (beat them by performing certain value chain activities in superior fashion). 
D)  beat them with a healthy corporate culture based on such core values as high ethical standards,a strong sense of corporate social responsibility,and genuine concern for customer well-being. 
E)  institute a more motivating and cost-efficient compensation and reward system.

Question 13

Firms generally leverage the expertise of their talent pool in building capabilities by:

Accepted Answer

A)  updating existing capabilities. 
B)  establishing a new arsenal of resource capabilities by phasing out existing capabilities. 
C)  refreshing existing capabilities. 
D)  augmenting or recombining well-established capabilities with existing resources. 
E)  building resource capabilities from scratch so it is easy and less time-consuming.

Question 14

List the 10 principal managerial components of the strategy-implementing/strategy-executing process.

Accepted Answer

The answer of List the 10 principal managerial components of...

Question 15

The implementation process is likely to be hampered by missed deadlines,misdirected efforts,and managerial ineptness,if:

Accepted Answer

A)  a capable results-oriented management team is not in place. 
B)  the personnel have different management styles. 
C)  top managers start asking tough,incisive questions. 
D)  important details require attention. 
E)  an additional investment in capital projects is required.

Question 16

One of the big weaknesses of organization structures that do not have cross-business collaboration is:

Accepted Answer

A)  making it hard to effectively empower employees. 
B)  making it difficult to have closely related activities report to a single executive. 
C)  that pieces of strategically relevant activities and capabilities often end up scattered across many departments,with each pursuing its own priorities,projects,and agendas. 
D)  impeding the use of outsourcing. 
E)  making it hard to fix managerial accountability for poor results.

Question 17

In companies where intellectual capital is crucial to good strategy execution,which of the following is generally NOT among the practices companies use to establish a talented knowledge base?

Accepted Answer

A)  Providing promising employees with challenging,interesting,and skill-stretching assignments and also rotating them through jobs that not only have great content but also span functional and geographic boundaries 
B)  Providing employees promotions,salary increases,performance bonuses,stock options,and other perks 
C)  Coaching underperformers and benchwarmers to improve their skills and capabilities 
D)  Encouraging employees to challenge existing ways of doing things,to be creative and innovative in proposing better ways of operating,and to push their ideas for new products or businesses 
E)  Fostering a stimulating and engaging work environment such that employees will consider the company a great place to work

Question 18

Which of the following statements about implementing and executing a new strategy is true?

Accepted Answer

A)  Executing strategy calls for essentially the same kinds of creative management talent and innovative thinking as does crafting strategy. 
B)  Executing strategy is chiefly a financially driven process aimed at squeezing the most profit out of conducting daily operations. 
C)  Executing strategy is a job for a company's whole management team,not just a few senior managers. 
D)  Executing strategy depends heavily on the caliber of a CEO's business vision,industry and competitive analysis skills,and entrepreneurial creativity. 
E)  Executing strategy tends to be a simpler,quicker management task to perform as compared to crafting a winning strategy.

Question 19

Which of the following is a disadvantage of a decentralized organizational structure?

Accepted Answer

A)  Increasing the size of the corporate bureaucracy 
B)  Reducing a company's response times to changing external events 
C)  Discouraging lower-level managers and rank-and-file employees from exercising initiative 
D)  Putting the organization at risk if higher-level management is unaware of their actions 
E)  Creating more layers of management

Question 20

A disadvantage of the centralized organization is that it:

Accepted Answer

A)  lengthens response times by those closest to the market conditions because they must seek approval for their actions. 
B)  does not encourage responsibility among lower-level managers and rank-and-file employees. 
C)  discourages lower-level managers and rank-and-file employees from exercising any initiative. 
D)  diverts authority away from those closest to,and most knowledgeable about,the situation for actions. 
E)  results in higher-level managers being unaware of actions taken by empowered personnel under their supervision.

Exam 10: Building an Organization Capable of Good Strategy Execution