Question 1

The two best signs of good strategy execution are:

Accepted Answer

A)   whether the company is challenging its current performance targets and whether value chain activities are fully integrated within the strategic response criteria.
B)   whether managers are personally leading the change process and whether they are meeting deadlines set for budgetary requirements.
C)   whether the company is meeting or beating its performance targets and whether they are performing value chain activities in a manner that is conducive to companywide operating excellence.
D)   whether managers are fully behind the changes and whether the company's value chain managers are executing them diligently.
E)   All of these. C

Question 2

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 competences to ensure cost reduction and competitiveness.
E)   None of these. B

Question 3

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. B

Question 4

A decentralized organizational structure is more likely to further the cause of good strategy execution than is a centralized organization structure.True or false? Justify your answer.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A decentralized organizational structure is more likely...

Question 5

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 6

What is the advantage of acquiring capabilities through merger and acquisition?

Accepted Answer

A)   Speed,since developing new capabilities internally can take many years of effort.
B)   Empowerment,since you can capture the essence of the capability and refocus the firm.
C)   Price,as it is always cheaper to buy a whole company and pull out the capabilities individually.
D)   Assets,as it the basis of the sale.
E)   All of these.

Question 7

The paramount aim in building a management team should be to:

Accepted Answer

A)   select people who are committed to decentralizing decision making and empowering employees.
B)   assemble a critical mass of talented managers who can function as agents of change,work well together as a team,and produce organizational results that are dramatically better than what one or two star managers acting individually can achieve.
C)   choose managers experienced in controlling costs and flattening the organization structure.
D)   select people who have similar management styles,leadership approaches,business philosophies,and personalities.
E)   choose managers who believe in having a strong corporate culture and deeply ingrained core values.

Question 8

A decentralized organizational structure is predicated on the belief that:

Accepted Answer

A)   top executives should establish a collegial,collaborative culture where decisions are made by general consensus on what to do and when.
B)   strict enforcement of detailed procedures backed by rigorous managerial oversight is necessary because company personnel cannot be counted on to act wisely or keep costs to a bare bones level.
C)   decision-making authority should be pushed down to the lowest organizational level capable of making timely,informed,and competent decisions.
D)   most company personnel have neither the time nor the inclination to direct and properly control the work they are performing and that they lack the knowledge and judgment to make wise decisions about how best to do their work.
E)   lower-level managers and employees should go up the ladder of command for approval on most all strategic and operating issues of much importance.

Question 9

The capability-building process:

Accepted Answer

A)   is first and foremost an activity in empowering employees,putting them on a single team (or in a single department) ,and giving them the tools and training to perform the desired activity with a high degree of proficiency.
B)   is a one-step process built around properly training and empowering employees to perform their assigned activities in a tightly prescribed manner.
C)   can be a shortcut that involves weeding out underperforming employees and replacing them with people having stronger skills sets and know-how.
D)   is best done by forming a new department charged with developing the desired competence or capability.
E)   requires two things: (1) developing the ability to do something,however imperfectly or inefficiently,and (2) molding these efforts into an organizational ability and as experience grows and personnel perform the activity consistently well and at an acceptable cost,it is transformed into a tried-and-true competence and as they continue to polish and refine their know-how into further improvements,they then create a real competitive capability.

Question 10

Identify and briefly discuss the three common approaches to building core competencies and competitive capabilities.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Identify and briefly discuss the three common...

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT one of the traits of the capability building process?

Accepted Answer

A)   Core competencies or capabilities are usually the product of astute company efforts to hire and train talented employees.
B)   Normally,core competencies and competitive capabilities emerge incrementally as a company acts to bolster skills that contributed to earlier successes.
C)   Core competencies or capabilities are most often bundles of skills and know-how that grow out of the combined efforts of cross-functional work groups and departments that perform complementary activities at several places in the firm's value chain.
D)   The key to leveraging a core competence into a distinctive competence (or transforming a capability into a competitively superior capability) is concentrating more effort and talent than rivals on strengthening the competence or capability to achieve a competitive advantage.
E)   Evolving changes in customer needs and competitive conditions often require tweaking and adjusting a company's portfolio of competencies and intellectual capital to keep its capabilities freshly honed and on the cutting edge.

Question 12

Management's handling of the strategy implementation/execution process can be considered successful:

Accepted Answer

A)   when the internal organization develops two or more core competencies in performing value chain activities.
B)   if and when the company meets or beats its performance targets and shows good progress in achieving its strategic vision for the company.
C)   if the company's culture is strong and strategy-supportive.
D)   if management is able to marshal adequate resources to put the strategy in place within 6 to 12 months.
E)   if managers and employees express strong support for the company's strategy and long-term direction.

Question 13

Recruiting and retaining capable employees:

Accepted Answer

A)   is usually much more important to good strategy execution than is assembling a capable top-management team.
B)   is important because the quality of an organization's people is always an essential ingredient of successful strategy execution.Knowledgeable,engaged employees are a company's best source of creative ideas for the nuts-and-bolts improvements that lead to operating excellence.
C)   is more important during periods of rapid growth than during periods of crisis and attempted turnarounds.
D)   is an important organization-building element,particularly when it comes to transforming a competence into a core competence or distinctive competence.
E)   is easily the most critical aspect in building competitively valuable core competencies and capabilities.

Question 14

A well-managed network structure typically includes one firm in a more central role,with:

Accepted Answer

A)   the responsibility of ensuring that the right partners are included and the activities are coordinated.
B)   more effective collaboration and cooperation among partners.
C)   a hand-picked,integrated network of suppliers.
D)   an arrangement of independent organizations involved in a common undertaking.
E)   All of these.

Question 15

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 16

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 17

When strategies fail,it is often because of:

Accepted Answer

A)   poor execution of the strategy.
B)   shortfalls exposed with the strategic management design process.
C)   inadequate support for the management team responsible for the planning process.
D)   secondary operating practices that hinder the required changes.
E)   All of these.

Question 18

The most important leadership trait in the strategy execution process is:

Accepted Answer

A)   a strong,confident sense of what to do and how to do it.
B)   strong communication skills (both written and verbal) covering motivating intent.
C)   strong management skills to ensure a systematic approach to administration.
D)   strong organizational skills so as to make actions structured toward results.
E)   strong empathy skills when employees run into challenging moments.

Question 19

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 20

Which one of the following statements about outsourcing the performance of value chain activities to outside specialists is false?

Accepted Answer

A)   Outsourcing support services often has cost-saving benefits but outsourcing primary value chain activities has the disadvantages of raising fixed costs,reducing variable costs,and making it harder to develop distinctive competencies.
B)   Outsourcing critics contend that shifting responsibility for performing value chain activities to outside specialists can hollow out a company's knowledge base and capabilities,leaving it at the mercy of outsider suppliers,and short of the resource strengths to be a master of its own destiny.
C)   Outsourcing the performance of certain value chain activities to able suppliers can add to a company's arsenal of capabilities and contribute to better strategy execution.
D)   The real debate surrounding outsourcing is not about whether too much outsourcing risks loss of control but about how to use outsourcing in a manner that produces greater competitiveness.
E)   Outsourcing can enable a company to heighten its strategic focus and concentrate its full energies and resources on even more competently performing those value chain activities that are at the core of its strategy and for which it can create unique value.

Exam 10: Building an Organization Capable of Good Strategy Execution: People, Capabilities, and Structure