Deck 4: Leveraging Resources and Capabilities

Question 1

According to the VRIO framework,only valuable and rare resources and capabilities have the potential to provide temporary competitive advantage for a firm.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A firm's resources and capabilities are the tangible and intangible assets used to choose and implement its strategies.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The value chain exclusively deals with a firm's primary activities.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Offshoring refers to setting up subsidiaries in foreign locations to perform in-house work.

Question 5

Commoditization is the point at which an activity becomes proprietary or firm-specific.

Question 6

Product design is considered an upstream activity in the value chain.

Question 7

Activities with high levels of commoditization should be performed in-house to increase competitiveness.

Question 8

The resource-based view is developed on the insight that competitors do not share certain resources and capabilities specific to one's firm.

Question 9

According to the VRIO framework,imitable but well organized resources and capabilities will provide sustained competitive advantage to a firm.

Question 10

A firm's financial resources and capabilities are an example of its intangible assets.

Question 11

The rarity of a firm's resources and capabilities is studied under the VRIO framework.

Question 12

Captive sourcing is also known as foreign direct investment (FDI).

Question 13

The process of outsourcing to a domestic firm is known as captive sourcing.

Question 14

Benchmarking is the process of converting a firm-specific activity into an industry-specific activity.

Question 15

The SWOT analysis exclusively focuses on the value and imitability aspects of the resources and capabilities of a firm.

Question 16

A firm's reputational resources are an example of its tangible resources and capabilities.

Question 17

Onshoring is the process of turning over an organizational activity to a foreign supplier that will perform it on behalf of the focal firm.

Question 18

In global business,the institution-based view deals with internal strengths and weaknesses.

Question 19

Tangible resources and capabilities are assets that are observable and easily quantified.

Question 20

A SWOT analysis deals with a firm's external S (strengths)and W (weakness),and internal O (opportunities)and T (threats).

Question 21

Original brand manufacturers cover more value chain activities than original equipment manufacturers.

Question 22

Original design manufacturers are firms that both design and manufacture products.

Question 23

In global business,social complexity refers to the socially intricate and interdependent ways firms are typically organized.

Question 24

A competitive advantage that is sustained implies that it is permanent.

Question 25

Original equipment manufacturers are firms that design,manufacture,and market branded products.

Question 26

The VRIO framework differs from SWOT analysis in that the VRIO framework promotes nonoffshoring.

Question 27

The resource-based view differs from the institution-based view in that the resource-based view focuses on a firm's _____.

A) external threats and opportunities
B) internal strengths and weaknesses
C) external strengths and opportunities
D) internal threats and weaknesses

Question 28

BPO refers to the outsourcing of low-end manufacturing to third-party providers.

Question 29

Tangible resources differ from intangible resources in that tangible resources are easier to imitate.

Question 30

Which of the following is considered as a tangible resource of a firm?

A) The research and developmental capabilities of a firm
B) The organizational culture of a firm
C) The copyrights that belong to a firm
D) The reputation of a firm as being socially responsible

Question 31

Valuable and rare,but imitable,resources and capabilities give firms a permanently sustainable competitive advantage.

Question 32

An original design manufacturer includes final assembly in its value chain activities.

Question 33

The combination of resources and assets that enable a firm to gain a competitive advantage are referred to as supplementary assets.

Question 34

According to the VRIO framework,valuable,rare,and hard-to-imitate resources and capabilities will lead to a competitive parity.

Question 35

According to the VRIO framework,valuable,but common resources and capabilities,will lead to a temporary competitive advantage.

Question 36

The institution-based view deals with the ____ in the SWOT analysis.

A) external strengths and weaknesses
B) internal weaknesses and opportunities
C) external opportunities and threats
D) internal strengths and threats

Question 37

Which of the following business tools focuses on a firm's external threats and opportunities?

A) The VRIO framework
B) The BCG matrix
C) The SWOT analysis
D) The Pareto analysis

Question 38

An original brand manufacturer includes research and development in its value chain activities.

Question 39

Which of the following is considered as an intangible resource of a firm?

A) The ability to raise external capital
B) The access to raw materials of production
C) The possession of patents to an invention
D) The managerial skills of an employee

Question 40

An original equipment manufacturer does not include marketing in its value chain activities.

Question 41

Captive sourcing is also known as _____.

A) business process outsourcing
B) foreign direct investment
C) securitization
D) domestic in-house activity

Question 42

According to the VRIO framework,non-value-adding resources and capabilities will lead to _____ for a firm.

A) a temporary competitive advantage
B) a competitive parity
C) a sustained competitive advantage
D) a competitive disadvantage

Question 43

Turning over an organizational activity to a domestic firm is called _____.

A) captive sourcing
B) onshoring
C) offshoring
D) nearshoring

Question 44

_____ is defined as turning over an organizational activity to an outside supplier that will perform it on behalf of the focal firm.

A) Deregulation
B) Outsourcing
C) Commoditizing
D) Securitization

Question 45

The perceptions of product quality,durability,and reliability are an example of _______ resources and capabilities.

A) physical
B) reputational
C) technological
D) human

Question 46

According to the VRIO framework,a firm with an organized,valuable,rare,but imitable resources and capabilities will display a(n)_____ performance.

A) below average
B) average
C) above average
D) poor

Question 47

Which of the following is an example of innovation resources and capabilities of a firm?

A) Integrated management information systems
B) Possession of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets
C) Formal planning, command, and control systems
D) Research and development capabilities

Question 48

Which of the following strategies would suit a firm activity that is both firm-specific and industry-specific?

A) Keep the activity in-house
B) Offshore the activity to a foreign supplier
C) Outsource the activity to a domestic firm
D) Set up a subsidiary in a foreign location to perform the activity

Question 49

Which of the following is an example of a firm's physical resources and capabilities?

A) Integrated management information systems
B) Access to raw materials and distribution channels
C) Ability to generate internal funds
D) Capacities for organizational innovation and change

Question 50

The ability to raise external capital is an example of a firm's _____.

A) human resources
B) technological resources
C) financial resources
D) intangible resources

Question 51

_____ includes setting up subsidiaries abroad so that the work done is in-house but the location is foreign.

A) Captive sourcing
B) Onshoring
C) Offshoring
D) Insourcing

Question 52

_____ is an examination as to whether a firm has resources and capabilities to perform a particular activity in a manner superior to competitors.

A) Commoditization
B) Performance appraisal
C) Asset appraisal
D) Benchmarking

Question 53

Which of the following support activities corresponds to a firm's primary activity of final assembly?

A) Technology development
B) Human resources
C) Infrastructure
D) Logistics

Question 54

Organizational culture is an example of _____.

A) human resources and capabilities
B) physical resources and capabilities
C) organizational resources and capabilities
D) technological resources and capabilities

Question 55

The point at which an industry-specific activity becomes common across industries and the need to keep it proprietary no longer exists is called _____.

A) commoditization
B) monopolization
C) break-even point
D) captive sourcing

Question 56

Turning over an organizational activity to an international firm or foreign firm is called _____.

A) captive sourcing
B) onshoring
C) offshoring
D) commoditizing

Question 57

Which of the following activities is achieved within the domestic location of a firm?

A) Offshoring
B) FDI
C) Captive sourcing
D) Onshoring

Question 58

Which of the following primary activities of a firm corresponds to its support activity of human resources?

A) Final assembly
B) Marketing
C) Components
D) Research and development

Question 59

Which of the following primary activities of a firm corresponds to its support activity of infrastructure?

A) Research and development
B) Components
C) Final assembly
D) Marketing

Question 60

Which of the following is an example of a firm's technological resources and capabilities?

A) Location of plants, offices, and equipment
B) Managerial talents of employees
C) Possession of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets
D) Reputation of employees as socially responsible citizens

Question 61

Describe the VRIO framework.

Question 62

Which of the following firms is most likely to have a sustained competitive advantage based on the VRIO framework?

A) A firm with valuable but common resources and capabilities
B) A firm with valuable and rare but imitable resources and capabilities
C) A firm with valuable, rare, inimitable resources, and organizationally capabilities
D) A firm with non-value-adding resources and capabilities

Question 63

What is a value chain?

Question 64

Illustrate with examples the difference between OEMs,ODMs,and OBMs.

Question 65

Firms that design,manufacture,and market distinguished products are called _____.

A) original design manufacturers
B) original equipment manufacturers
C) original brand manufacturers
D) business process outsourcing firms

Question 66

_____ refers to a combination of resources and assets that enables a firm to gain a competitive advantage.

A) Core assets
B) Standard assets
C) Supplementary assets
D) Complementary assets

Question 67

Explain the different categories of intangible resources and capabilities that a firm could possess.

Question 68

Which of the following value chain activities does an original equipment manufacturer perform?

A) Research and development
B) Product branding
C) Final assembly
D) Marketing

Question 69

An original equipment manufacturer refers a firm that _____.

A) executes design blueprints provided by other firms and manufactures such products
B) both designs and manufactures products
C) designs, manufactures, and markets branded products
D) licenses its patented inventions to other firms for manufacturing

Question 70

Identify the four categories of tangible resources that a firm can possess.

Question 71

Which of the following is true of OEMs?

A) It includes research and development in its value chain.
B) It does not include procurement of components in its value chain.
C) It does not include marketing in its value chain.
D) It does not include final assembly in its value chain.

Question 72

The difficulty of identifying the causal determinants of successful firm performance is called _____.

A) causal determination
B) causal indifference
C) causal agency
D) causal ambiguity

Question 73

Articulate the benefits of offshoring.

Question 74

An ODM is similar to an OBM in that both _____.

A) execute design blueprints provided by other firms
B) include product marketing in their organizational boundary
C) exclude manufacturing in their organizational boundary
D) design and manufacture their own products

Question 75

Briefly explain outsourcing and its different types.

Question 76

An original design manufacturer (ODM)differs from an original brand manufacturer (OBM)in that an ODM _____.

A) does not include final assembly in its organizational boundary
B) does not include research and development in its organizational boundary
C) does not include marketing in its organizational boundary
D) only executes design blueprints provided by other firms

Question 77

Including _____ into its organizational boundaries would convert an OEM into an ODM.

A) research and development
B) components
C) final assembly
D) marketing

Question 78

Give an account of the political argument against outsourcing practiced by US firms.