Question 1

The primary activities included in the value chain include

Accepted Answer

A)  supply chain management,operations,distribution,sales and marketing,and customer service activities. 
B)  product R&D,technology and systems development. 
C)  human resource management. 
D)  general administration. 
E)  All of these.

Question 2

The competitive power of a company resource or competitive capability hinges on

Accepted Answer

A)  how hard it is for competitors to copy or imitate. 
B)  whether it is rare and,therefore,something rivals lack. 
C)  whether it is really competitively valuable. 
D)  how easily it can be trumped by the substitute resources/capabilities of rivals. 
E)  All of these.

Question 3

A much-used and potent managerial tool for determining whether a company performs particular functions or activities in a manner that represents "the best practice" when both cost and effectiveness are taken into account is

Accepted Answer

A)  competitive strength analysis. 
B)  activity-based costing. 
C)  resource cost mapping. 
D)  SWOT analysis. 
E)  benchmarking.

Question 4

Identify five indicators of whether a company's present strategy is working well.

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The answer of Identify five indicators of whether a company's...

Question 5

Assume a firm is not cost competitive with rivals because of higher supplier-related costs.Identify three strategic moves that it can make to restore cost parity.

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The answer of Assume a firm is not cost competitive...

Question 6

Which one of the following is not part of conducting a SWOT analysis?

Accepted Answer

A)  Identifying a company's resource strengths and competitive capabilities 
B)  Benchmarking the company's resource strengths and competitive capabilities against industry key success factors 
C)  Identifying a company's market opportunities 
D)  Drawing conclusions about the company's overall business situation 
E)  Matching the company's strategy to its resource strengths and market opportunities,correcting problematic weaknesses,and defending against worrisome threats

Question 7

Which one of the following is not a reliable measure of how well a company's current strategy is working?

Accepted Answer

A)  Trends in the company's sales and earnings growth. 
B)  The company's development of human capital,organizational capital,and information capital. 
C)  Changes in the firm's image and reputation with its customers. 
D)  The company's overall financial strength. 
E)  Evidence of improvement in internal processes such as defect rate,order fulfillment,and employee productivity.

Question 8

A capability of the firm is not considered to be

Accepted Answer

A)  the capacity of a firm to competently perform some internal activity. 
B)  referred to as a competence. 
C)  developed and enabled through the deployment of a company's resources or some combination of its resources. 
D)  a competitively valuable resource. 
E)  related to the level of resources available.

Question 9

Why is it important for company managers to develop a "worry list" of strategic issues and problems that they need to address and to resolve? What should they consider to develop this list?

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The answer of Why is it important for company managers...

Question 10

One of the most telling signs of whether a company's market position is strong or precarious is

Accepted Answer

A)  whether its product is strongly or weakly differentiated from rivals. 
B)  whether its prices and costs are competitive with those of key rivals. 
C)  whether it has a lower stock price than key rivals. 
D)  the opinions of buyers regarding which seller has the best product quality and customer service. 
E)  whether it is in a bigger or smaller strategic group than its closest rivals.

Question 11

Sizing up a company's overall resource strengths and weaknesses

Accepted Answer

A)  essentially involves constructing a "strategic balance sheet" where the company's resource strengths represent competitive assets and its resource weaknesses represent competitive liabilities. 
B)  is called benchmarking. 
C)  is called competitive strength assessment. 
D)  is focused squarely on ascertaining whether the company has more/less resource strengths than weaknesses. 
E)  is called company resource mapping.

Question 12

For a particular company resource to have meaningful competitive power and perhaps qualify as a basis for competitive advantage,it should

Accepted Answer

A)  be competitively important,hard for competitors to copy or imitate,rare and something rivals lack,and not be easily trumped by the substitute resources/capabilities of rivals. 
B)  be something that a company does internally rather than in collaborative arrangements with outsiders. 
C)  be patentable. 
D)  be rooted in the company's organizational capital,information capital,or human capital. 
E)  have the potential for lowering the firm's unit costs.

Question 13

In conducting a SWOT analysis,is it enough to simply compile lists of the company's strengths,weaknesses,opportunities,and threats? Why or why not?

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Question 14

The common types of valuable resources and competitive capabilities that management should consider when crafting a strategy include

Accepted Answer

A)  a skill,specialized expertise,or competitively important capability. 
B)  valuable physical and intangible assets. 
C)  valuable human assets and intellectual capital. 
D)  valuable organizational assets and competitively valuable alliances. 
E)  All of these.

Question 15

A company's resource weaknesses can relate to

Accepted Answer

A)  inferior or unproven skills,lack of expertise,or intellectual capital shortfalls in competitively important parts of the business. 
B)  something that it lacks or does poorly (in comparison to rivals). 
C)  deficiencies in competitively important physical,organizational,or intangible assets. 
D)  missing or competitively inferior capabilities in key areas. 
E)  All of these

Question 16

In determining the various strategic issues that a company needs to address,managers need to consider both the results of its analysis of the company's external environment and the results of its evaluation of the company's competitive position,customer value proposition,and cost structure.True or false? Explain and defend your answer.

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The answer of In determining the various strategic issues that...

Question 17

Identify the six questions that form the framework of evaluating a company's resources and competitive position.

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Question 18

Assume a firm is at a cost disadvantage with rivals because its internal costs are higher than rivals.Identify five strategic moves that it can make to restore cost parity.

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The answer of Assume a firm is at a cost...

Question 19

A resource-based strategy

Accepted Answer

A)  is often based on cross-department combinations of intellectual capital and expertise. 
B)  uses a company's valuable and rare resources and competitive capabilities to deliver value to customers that rivals have difficulty matching. 
C)  is typically based on a stand-alone resource strength such as technological expertise. 
D)  refers to a company's most efficiently executed value-chain activity. 
E)  uses industry key success factors to provide a company with a core competence that rivals cannot effectively imitate.

Question 20

Which of the following is not an option for remedying a forward channel-related cost disadvantage?

Accepted Answer

A)  Negotiate more favorable prices with suppliers 
B)  Integrate forward into company-owned retail outlets 
C)  Collaborate closely with forward channel allies to identify mutual cost-saving opportunities 
D)  Change to a more economical distribution strategy 
E)  Pressure dealer-distributors to reduce their costs and markups

Exam 4: Evaluating a Companys Resources, Capabilities, and Competitiveness