Question 1

Prescribing new policies and operating procedures can aid the task of implementing strategy:

Accepted Answer

A)  provided they promote greater use of and commitment to best practices and total quality management. 
B)  because really effective internal policies and procedures are not easily duplicated by other firms. 
C)  because astutely conceived policies or procedures can result in competitive advantage. 
D)  by helping align the actions and behavior of company personnel with the requirements for good strategy execution,placing limits on independent action and helping overcome resistance to change. 
E)  by making it easier to impose tight budget controls and avoid wasting scarce resources.

Question 2

Discuss how the Six Sigma process of define,measure,analyze,improve,and control (DMAIC)works.What is the logic underlying the DMAIC process?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss how the Six Sigma process of...

Question 3

Without a strategic framework,managers lack the context in which:

Accepted Answer

A)  to fix things that really matter to business-unit performance and competitive success. 
B)  to carry out company-wide goals related to the dynamics of a single business model. 
C)  to employ the company's resources in the pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage. 
D)  to communicateaspirations for the company. 
E)  to analyze the emerging market opportunities more precisely.

Question 4

Company managers can significantly advance the cause of superior strategy execution by doing all of the following,EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

A)  employing best practices methods and using process management tools to drive continuous improvement in how internal operations are conducted. 
B)  adopting benchmarking of the company's operating activities and business processes against "best-in-industry" and "best in world" performers. 
C)  adopting "best-in-company" operating activities and processes when a company's various organizational units are performing the same functions differently. 
D)  instituting operating practices that generate economies of scale and scope with current value chain activities. 
E)  develop performance yardsticks for judging effectiveness and efficiency for particular value chain activities and business processes deemed strategically critical.

Question 5

Merely fine-tuning the execution of a company's existing strategy normally requires that companies embrace:

Accepted Answer

A)  big shifts of resources from one area to another. 
B)  a larger allocation of resources to the effort. 
C)  trimming costs and shifting resources to activities that have a higher priority. 
D)  a high degree of creativity in finding ways to find and reduce cost reductions (ways to do less with less)and reallocating those resource costs to other areas. 
E)  All of these.

Question 6

From the standpoint of promoting successful strategy execution,it is important that the firm's motivation and reward system:

Accepted Answer

A)  be completely free of such elements as tension,pressure,anxiety,job insecurity,and tight deadlines-a no-pressure/no-adverse-consequences work environment is essential. 
B)  emphasize only positive types of rewards. 
C)  accentuate positive rewards but also carry the risk of an "up-or-out" policy for performance that does not meet expectations. 
D)  not deny rewards to employees who put forth good effort and try hard. 
E)  reduce job insecurity and give employees an incentive to stay busy and work hard.

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT a sound guideline for designing a reward and incentive system that helps promote good strategy execution?

Accepted Answer

A)  The reward system must be administered with scrupulous objectivity and fairness. 
B)  The payoff for meeting or beating performance targets must be a major,not minor,piece of the total compensation package. 
C)  The incentive plan should extend to all managers and all employees,not just top management. 
D)  The reward system must reward non-performers who,despite expending tremendous effort,have not fared well in achieving the benchmarks under the incentive system. 
E)  Make sure that the performance targets each individual or team is expected to achieve involve outcomes that the individual or team can personally affect.

Question 8

Which one of the following is NOT likely to be effective in trying to gain employees' wholehearted commitment to good strategy execution and operating excellence?

Accepted Answer

A)  Adopting aggressive management efforts to eliminate stress,anxiety,and job insecurity from the work environment. 
B)  Utilizing extensively such nonmonetary incentives as frequent words of praise (or constructive criticism),special recognition at company gatherings,and stimulating assignments. 
C)  Providing opportunities for high-performing employees to transfer to attractive locations. 
D)  Providing opportunities for rapid promotion (or the risk of being sidelined in a routine job). 
E)  Providing performance bonuses and reward incentives.

Question 9

What do companies need to do (in prescribing policies and procedures)to promote the creation of a favorable work climate that facilitates independent action on the part of empowered employees for good strategy execution?

Accepted Answer

A)  Give organization members clear direction and place reasonable boundaries on their actions. 
B)  Empower employees to act within the company's set boundaries in pursuit of company goals. 
C)  Allow company personnel to act with some defined degree of freedom,especially when individual creativity and initiative are more essential to good strategy execution than standardization and strict conformity. 
D)  Institute policies that give employees substantial leeway to carry out activities the way they think best. 
E)  All of these.

Question 10

Enlisting employees' sustained and energetic commitment to good strategy execution and achievement of the strategic priorities and financial objectives is best done by:

Accepted Answer

A)  having top executives commit to making employees the company's most valuable competitive asset. 
B)  developing core competencies in the use of TQM,Six Sigma programs,and business process reengineering. 
C)  resourceful and effective use of motivational incentives,both monetary and non-monetary. 
D)  clever and innovative use of benchmarking and best practices. 
E)  providing employees with a high degree of job security and attractive perks.

Question 11

Which one of the following statements about total quality management (TQM)is false?

Accepted Answer

A)  TQM aims at instilling enthusiasm and commitment to doing things right from the top to the bottom of the organization. 
B)  TQM produces significant results very quickly,with very little benefit emerging after the first six months. 
C)  TQM doctrine preaches that there's no such thing as "good enough" and that everyone has a responsibility to participate in continuous improvement. 
D)  Effective use of TQM entails creating a corporate culture bent on continuously improving the performance of every task and every value chain activity. 
E)  Total quality management (TQM)is a philosophy of managing a set of business practices that emphasizes continuous improvement in all phases of operations,100 percent accuracy in performing tasks,involvement and empowerment of employees at all levels,team-based work design,benchmarking,and total customer satisfaction.

Question 12

It is often said that competent strategy execution entails unyielding managerial commitment to best practices and continuous improvement.Why does this make good strategic sense?

Accepted Answer

The answer of It is often said that competent strategy...

Question 13

Motivational and incentive compensation practices that aim at winning the commitment of company personnel to good strategy execution typically:

Accepted Answer

A)  use only positive rewards and never involve the use of tension,fear,job insecurity,stress,or anxiety. 
B)  entail decidedly positive rewards for meeting or beating performance targets,but also impose sufficiently negative consequences when actual performance falls short of the target. 
C)  aim at creating a no-pressure/no-adverse-consequences work environment. 
D)  entail paying the highest wages and salaries in the industry for all jobholder positions and also stressing non-monetary rewards,like cash bonuses for high-performing employees. 
E)  put top priority on making employees happy and secure in their jobs.

Question 14

Give three examples of support systems that a company can install to support the execution of its strategy.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Give three examples of support systems that...

Question 15

Reward and incentive systems serve as:

Accepted Answer

A)  a direct stimulus for satisfying the basic expectations of the standard job and mechanisms. 
B)  an indirect motivational tool designed to convert employee commitment into high-powered incentives. 
C)  an indirect type of control mechanism that conserves on more costly control mechanisms of supervisory oversight. 
D)  a direct base-pay financial compensation mechanism that competes with rival companies' salary bands for similar work efforts. 
E)  All of these.

Question 16

Six Sigma's DMADV process of define,measure,analyze,design,and verify is a particularly good vehicle for:

Accepted Answer

A)  improving performance when there are small variations in how well an activity is performed.If there are wide variations,then the Six Sigma DMVSI process has to be used. 
B)  achieving 100 percent control over how a task is performed and eliminating 100 percent of the variability in how a task is performed. 
C)  improving performance when there are wide variations in how well an activity is performed. 
D)  developing new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels. 
E)  improving customer satisfaction,whereas Six Sigma improves manufacturing processes.

Question 17

Management's most powerful tool for winning employee commitment to good strategy execution and operating excellence is:

Accepted Answer

A)  the establishment of strategy-supportive policies and procedures. 
B)  empowering employees and encouraging them to adopt best practices. 
C)  setting stretch objectives. 
D)  a structure of rewards and incentives tied tightly to the achievement of the organization's strategic priorities. 
E)  aggressive use of TQM and Six Sigma quality control programs.

Question 18

Six Sigma processes:

Accepted Answer

A)  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. 
B)  can be used for both improving existing business processes and for developing new processes or products. 
C)  can be used for improving products or business processes but not for developing new products or new processes. 
D)  consists of a disciplined,statistics-based system aimed at producing not more than 10 defects per million iterations for a manufacturing or assembly process. 
E)  can be used for developing new products or new business processes but not for improving existing products or business processes.

Question 19

Six Sigma quality control:

Accepted Answer

A)  is a strategy implementer's best,most reliable tool for simultaneously achieving top-notch product quality and low manufacturing costs. 
B)  consists 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)  consists of a disciplined,statistics-based system aimed at producing not more than 3.4 defects per million iterations for any business process. 
D)  consists of a disciplined,statistics-based system aimed at fewer than 5.0 complaints per million customer transactions. 
E)  is a powerful tool for companies whose customers are very picky about product quality and product performance and who can't afford for the product they use to break down and require repairs.

Question 20

Total quality management (TQM)emphasizes all but which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

A)  100 percent accuracy in performing tasks. 
B)  Continuous improvement in all phases of operations. 
C)  Adoption of industry standard operating practices. 
D)  Benchmarking and total customer satisfaction. 
E)  Empowerment of employees and team-based work design.

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