Question 1

The idea behind benchmarking and best practices is to:

Accepted Answer

A)   identify which companies are the best performers of a strategically relevant activity and then copy their methods exactly.
B)   search the world for a company that performs a strategically relevant task or value chain activity at the lowest possible cost and then use business process reengineering techniques to try to meet or beat the costs of the world's low-cost performer of that activity.
C)   perform each activity in the industry value chain according to standard industry practice and then regularly benchmark the company's performance to see if it is actually achieving the industry standard.
D)   identify companies that are the best performers of an activity and then "adapt" their practices to fit the company's own specific circumstances and operating requirements.
E)   determine whether a company has a "world-class" value chain. D

Question 2

The use of incentives and rewards is the single most powerful tool at management's disposal to win strong employee commitment to carrying out the strategic plan.True or false? Explain.

Accepted Answer

No Answer

Question 3

Managers charged with implementing and executing strategy need to be deeply involved in the budgeting and resource allocation process because:

Accepted Answer

A)   too little funding deprives organizational units of the necessary resources to execute their piece of the strategic plan while too much funding wastes organizational resources and reduces financial performance.
B)   a change in strategy nearly always calls for budget reallocations and resource shifting.
C)   without major budget reallocations there is little chance that desired core competencies and organizational capabilities will emerge.
D)   lean,carefully managed budgets protect the company's financial condition and eliminate the wasteful use of cash.
E)   All of these. E

Question 4

From a strategy-implementing/strategy-executing perspective,operating budget allocations should:

Accepted Answer

A)   primarily be based on the number of new strategic initiatives being implemented in each operating department.
B)   be based on the number of people employed in each of the divisions.
C)   be strategy-driven and be based on how much each organizational unit needs to carry out its piece of the strategic plan efficiently and effectively.
D)   be linked to the costs of performing value chain activities as determined by benchmarking against best-in-industry competitors.
E)   depend on how much stretch there is in each department's objectives and what additional resources are needed to help reach these performance targets.

Question 5

The resolute standard for judging whether individuals,teams,and organizational units have done a good job must be measured by:

Accepted Answer

A)   comparing industry performance standards against the company's own internal criteria.
B)   the level of rapid growth in industry (buyer) demand.
C)   whether they meet or beat performance targets that reflect good strategy execution.
D)   the number of rivals existing in the marketplace and their growth results.
E)   the relative competitive strengths of the industry leaders and how vulnerable they are to mimicry.

Question 6

In what ways do well-conceived policies and operating procedures facilitate strategy execution?

Accepted Answer

A)   They provide top-down guidance regarding how things are to be done.
B)   They help ensure consistency in how execution-critical activities are performed.
C)   They promote the creation of a work climate that facilitates good strategy execution.
D)   They channel individual and group efforts along a strategy-supportive path.
E)   All of these.

Question 7

Information systems provide managers with a means for:

Accepted Answer

A)   monitoring up-to-the-minute and daily team performance in real time.
B)   staying on top of implementation initiatives and daily operations as well as the performance of empowered workers to see that they are acting within specified guidelines.
C)   monitoring daily and weekly operating statistics.
D)   All of these.
E)   None of these.

Question 8

What action steps can managers take to build a total quality culture and instill a strong commitment to continuously improving how strategy is being executed?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What action steps can managers take to...

Question 9

Six Sigma programs:

Accepted Answer

A)   utilize advanced statistical methods to improve quality by reducing defects and variability in the performance of business processes.
B)   consist of a disciplined,statistics-based system aimed at producing not more than 2.5 defects per million iterations for a manufacturing or assembly process.
C)   are based on three principles: (1) all work is a statistically controllable process;(2) no well-controlled process allows variability;and (3) defect-free work requires tight statistical controls.
D)   suggest that all activities can be controlled,employee empowerment is the best control tool,and 100 percent control is possible.
E)   All of these.

Question 10

The big difference between business process reengineering and continuous improvement programs like TQM or Six Sigma is that:

Accepted Answer

A)   reengineering is a tool for installing process organization,whereas TQM/Six Sigma concern defect-free production methods and delivering world-class customer service.
B)   reengineering helps create core competencies,whereas TQM/Six Sigma are tools for making a core competence stronger and more efficient.
C)   reengineering is a tool for achieving one-time quantum improvement,whereas TQM and Six Sigma programs aim at ongoing incremental improvement.
D)   business process reengineering requires benchmarking,whereas TQM and Six Sigma do not.
E)   reengineering represents an effort to totally revamp a firm's value chain,whereas TQM looks at incrementally improving the performance of two or three targeted value chain activities and Six Sigma is primarily for reducing manufacturing defects.

Question 11

The broad areas that internal information business systems need to cover include:

Accepted Answer

A)   financial performance data.
B)   supplier/strategic partner data.
C)   customer data.
D)   operations data.
E)   All of these.

Question 12

An ambidextrous organization is one that:

Accepted Answer

A)   pursues incremental improvements in operating efficiency,while R&D and other processes that allow the company to develop new ways of offering value to customers are given freer rein.
B)   is capable of using efficiency and effectiveness with equal skill.
C)   is very skillful and versatile with operating activity.
D)   is managed by employing continuous improvement in operating practices while managing employees as a loosely integrated network of efficiency.
E)   All of these.

Question 13

Although it is relatively easy for rivals to implement process management tools,it is much more difficult and time-consuming for them to:

Accepted Answer

A)   instill a deeply ingrained culture of operating excellence.
B)   keep employees well-informed about the strides being made with continuous improvement.
C)   unify the managerial efforts behind improving operating practices as a commendable goal.
D)   combine the pursuit of financial objectives with the pursuit of its strategic objectives.
E)   understand the barriers to installing new operating activities.

Question 14

An important consideration in designing a strategy-supportive reward system is to:

Accepted Answer

A)   link the payment of all monetary rewards to the company's bottom-line profitability.
B)   employ incentives that will help motivate employees to put in long hours and sacrifice personal ambitions and aspirations to pursue the priorities of management.
C)   choose those types of rewards and incentives that will focus employees' attention on total customer satisfaction.
D)   make across-the-board wage and salary increases the cornerstone of monetary rewards.
E)   make non-monetary rewards and recognition an integral part of the reward system.

Question 15

New strategies often entail budget reallocations because:

Accepted Answer

A)   revamping the performance of value chain activities can be costly.
B)   the accompanying policy revisions and compensation incentives tend to require different levels of funding than before.
C)   business units important in the prior strategy but having a lesser role in the new strategy may need downsizing,while units and activities that now have a bigger and more critical strategic role may need more people,new equipment,additional facilities,and above-average increases in their operating budgets.
D)   empowering employees to carry out the new strategy elements and shifting to a total quality management type of culture to build skills in competent strategy execution typically require substantial new funding and budget revisions.
E)   adopting best practices and pushing for continuous improvement tends to reduce costs and reduce overall resource requirements.

Question 16

A useful guideline in designing strategy-facilitating policies and operating procedures is:

Accepted Answer

A)   to prescribe enough policies to give organizational members clear direction in implementing strategy and to place reasonable boundaries on their actions.This then empowers them to act within these boundaries in pursuit of company goals.
B)   that strictly enforced policies work better than loosely enforced policies.
C)   that more policies/procedures work better than fewer policies/procedures,and that strict enforcement always beats lax enforcement.
D)   to let individuals act in an empowered and self-directed way,subject only to the constraint that their actions and behavior be ethical and in step with the corporate culture.
E)   to prescribe enough policies and procedures that little is left to chance in performing value chain activities,and employees should have no leeway to do things in a manner that deviates from the company's best-practices standard.

Question 17

Give at least three non-monetary examples of motivation and rewards practices that have the capability to foster good strategy execution and explain how they act to produce such a result.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Give at least three non-monetary examples of...

Question 18

Well-conceived,state-of-the-art information and operating systems:

Accepted Answer

A)   are essential because business process reengineering efforts,TQM,Six Sigma,and benchmarking programs can't be carried out effectively without them.
B)   not only enable better strategy execution but also strengthen organizational capabilities (perhaps enough to provide a competitive edge over rivals) .
C)   make it simple and easy to spot cost overruns and inefficiencies.
D)   are valuable tools for shortening a company's value chain,boosting workforce morale and productivity,and simplifying the task of adopting best practices.
E)   All of these.

Question 19

A no-pressure/no-adverse-consequences work environment does not necessarily lead to:

Accepted Answer

A)   superior strategy execution or operating excellence.
B)   satisfactory outcomes because there is always a cadre of ambitious people who relish the challenge.
C)   workforce morale issues.
D)   establishing more positive than negative motivational reward elements.
E)   None of these,because it depends on the organization's motivational approaches.

Question 20

What is the role of budgets and resource allocation in successfully implementing and executing strategy? Why does a company's budget need to be closely linked to the needs of good strategy execution?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is the role of budgets and...

Exam 11: Managing Internal Operations: Actions That Promote Good Strategy Execution