Question 1

The chief advantage of a decentralized organizational structure is to

Accepted Answer

A)  put decision-making authority in the hands of those closest and most knowledgeable about the situation. 
B)  make it easy to fix accountability when company performance targets are not met. 
C)  increase productivity on the part of the workforce. 
D)  enhance cross-unit coordination and capture of strategic fits. 
E)  create a collegial,collaborative culture in which teamwork is a core value and decisions are made on the basis of consensus.

Question 2

Explain how managerial leadership can foster a high-performance culture.

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The answer of Explain how managerial leadership can foster a...

Question 3

Which one of the following statements about a high-performance culture is false?

Accepted Answer

A)  High-performance cultures are characterized by a pride in doing things right and a no-excuses sense of accountability. 
B)  High-performance cultures often have a low regard for high ethical standards,a strong preference for high-risk strategies,and a slow and methodical approach to responding to changes in the marketplace. 
C)  The challenge in creating a high-performance culture is to inspire high loyalty and dedication on the part of employees,such that they are energized to do things right. 
D)  In a high-performance culture,there's a razor sharp focus on what needs to be done. 
E)  In high-performance cultures,there's a strong sense of involvement on the part of company personnel and emphasis on individual initiative and creativity.

Question 4

Identify at least four guidelines for creating incentive compensation systems that link employee behavior to organizational objectives.

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Question 5

The guidelines for designing an incentive compensation system that will help drive successful strategy execution include

Accepted Answer

A)  making the payoff for meeting or beating performance targets a major,not minor,piece of the total compensation package. 
B)  having a bonus and incentive plan that applies to managers only (employees should generally not be included in incentive pay plans but should have attractive wages and salaries). 
C)  having an outside wage and salary expert administer the system,so that there is no doubt as to its fairness and impartiality. 
D)  basing the incentives on group performance rather than individual performance. 
E)  making minimal use of nonmonetary incentives and rewarding people for diligently performing their assigned duties.

Question 6

A highly centralized organizational structure

Accepted Answer

A)  allows top executives to retain authority for most strategic and operating decisions. 
B)  is based on strict enforcement of detailed procedures backed by rigorous managerial oversight as the most reliable way to keep the daily execution of strategy on track. 
C)  allows for tight control from the top that makes it easy to fix accountability when things do not go well. 
D)  relies on the assumption that most company personnel have neither the time nor the inclination to direct and properly control the work they are performing and,further,that they lack the knowledge and judgment to make wise decisions about how best to do their work. 
E)  All of these choices are correct.

Question 7

Identify the actions that are key elements of leading the strategy execution process.

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Question 8

Building an organization capable of good strategy execution entails

Accepted Answer

A)  staffing the organization,building core competencies and competitive capabilities,and structuring the organization and work effort. 
B)  decentralizing authority for performing strategy-critical value chain activities,establishing at least two distinctive competencies,and hiring talented employees. 
C)  investing heavily in employee training,using an empowered organization design and structure to maximize labor productivity,and employing effective incentive compensation systems. 
D)  centralizing authority in the hands of a chief strategy implementer so as to create the leadership authority for driving implementation forward at a rapid pace. 
E)  empowering employees,maximizing internal operating efficiency,and optimizing core competencies.

Question 9

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)  widespread adoption of industry standard operating practices 
D)  benchmarking and total customer satisfaction 
E)  empowerment of employees and team-based work design

Question 10

Which of the following is not among the types of actions and initiatives undertaken by management in the strategy execution process?

Accepted Answer

A)  building an organization capable of executing the strategy 
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)  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 11

The three components of building a capable organization are

Accepted Answer

A)  making periodic changes in the firm's internal organization to keep people from getting into a comfortable rut,instituting a decentralized approach to decision making,and developing the appropriate competencies and capabilities. 
B)  hiring a capable top management team,empowering employees,and establishing a strategy-supportive corporate culture. 
C)  putting a centralized decision-making structure in place,determining who should have responsibility for each value chain activity,and aligning the corporate culture with key policies,procedures,and operating practices. 
D)  staffing the organization,building core competencies and competitive capabilities,and structuring the organization and work effort. 
E)  optimizing the number of core competencies and competitive capabilities,making sure that all managers and employees are empowered,and maximizing internal operating efficiency.

Question 12

Companies with insular,inwardly focused cultures usually

Accepted Answer

A)  tend to possess arrogant overconfident mind-sets,thereby tending to underestimate the competencies and accomplishments of rival companies and overestimate their own progress. 
B)  tend to concentrate on benchmarking to find out the best methods of doing things. 
C)  tend to concentrate greed and ego gratification. 
D)  tend to discount and doubt their own performance statistics. 
E)  All of these choices are correct.

Question 13

A company's ability to marshal adequate resources in support of new strategic initiatives and steer them to the appropriate organizational units is important to the strategy execution process because

Accepted Answer

A)  a change in strategy nearly always calls for budget reallocations and resource shifting. 
B)  accurate budgets are the key to exercising tight financial controls over organizational units. 
C)  tight budget control is management's most powerful tool for first-rate strategy execution. 
D)  lean,carefully managed budgets protect the company's financial condition and eliminate wasteful use of cash. 
E)  lean,strictly enforced budgets are management's best and most used means of getting organizational units to exercise fiscal discipline.

Question 14

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

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

Question 15

The place for management to begin in trying to change a problem culture is by

Accepted Answer

A)  selling company personnel on the need for a new set of behaviors and work practices. 
B)  spending heavily on programs to train employees in the ways and beliefs of the new culture to be implanted. 
C)  visibly praising and rewarding people who exhibit traits and behaviors that undermine the existing culture. 
D)  writing a new values statement and describing in highly motivating terms the kind of culture that is needed. 
E)  instituting incentive compensation programs that generously reward employees for adopting best practices.

Question 16

Essential state-of-the-art operating and information systems that support company strategies and value-creating internal processes include all of the following except

Accepted Answer

A)  customer database systems. 
B)  information systems to track supplier/partner/collaborative ally data. 
C)  human resources systems that maintain employee data. 
D)  systems to record and report financial performance data. 
E)  data management systems for undertaking benchmarking,TQM,and Six Sigma quality control.

Question 17

Which of the following is not a common trait of an unhealthy company culture?

Accepted Answer

A)  a politicized internal environment 
B)  hostility to change and a wariness of people who champion new ways of doing things 
C)  aversion to looking outside the company for best practices,new managerial approaches,and innovative ideas 
D)  aversion to incentive compensation,failure to recruit the best and brightest employees,subpar support for employee training,and overemphasis on working in teams 
E)  disregard for high ethical standards and an overzealous pursuit of wealth and status on the part of key executives

Question 18

Which of the following is most integral to the task of leading the drive for good strategy execution and operating excellence?

Accepted Answer

A)  pushing lower-level managers and supervisors to practice MBWA 
B)  being a good motivator and a decisive decision maker 
C)  staying on top of how well things are going,pushing organization units to achieve good results,pushing for corrective actions to improve both the company's strategy and how well it is being executed,and displaying ethical integrity and leading social responsibility initiatives 
D)  practicing enlightened empowerment of employees and using a decentralized approach to decision making 
E)  being good at designing a strategy-supportive reward structure

Question 19

Proficient strategy execution requires executive managers to

Accepted Answer

A)  be current with events and closely monitor progress,put constructive pressure on the organization for operating excellence,and initiate corrective action when necessary to improve performance and achieve desired results. 
B)  understand all the tasks required to implement the strategy so as to ensure staff will not shortchange any strategic-critical activity. 
C)  attach great importance to gathering statistics that define every task effort and ensure limited variability. 
D)  initiate a problem-solving search to ensure obstacles to success are identified. 
E)  All of these choices are correct.

Question 20

Which one of the following is not a tool that company managers can use to promote continuous improvement (operating excellence) in performing value chain activities?

Accepted Answer

A)  variability reduction analysis in work processes 
B)  Six Sigma quality control techniques 
C)  total quality management (TQM) 
D)  business process reengineering 
E)  adoption of standard industry techniques

Exam 10: Super Strategy Execution-Another Path to Competitive Advantage