Deck 4: Leveraging Resources and Capabilities

Question 1

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

Answer 1

False

Question 2

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

Answer 2

True

Question 3

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

Answer 3

False

Question 4

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

Question 5

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

Question 6

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

Question 7

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

Question 8

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

Question 9

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

Question 10

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

Question 11

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 12

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

Question 13

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

Question 14

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

Question 15

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

Question 16

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

Question 17

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

Question 18

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

Question 19

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

Question 20

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

Question 21

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

Question 22

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

Question 23

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

Question 24

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

Question 25

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 26

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

Question 27

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

Question 28

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

Question 29

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 30

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 31

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

Question 32

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

Question 33

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 34

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

Question 35

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

Question 36

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

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

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

Question 39

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

Question 40

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

Question 41

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 42

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 43

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 44

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 45

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

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

Question 46

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

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

Question 47

_____ 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 48

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 49

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 50

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 51

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 52

_____ 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 53

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 54

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 55

Captive sourcing is also known as _____.

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

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

_____ 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 59

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 60

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 61

Describe the VRIO framework.

Question 62

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 63

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

Question 64

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 65

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 66

How can a manager use a value chain to improve a company?

Question 67

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

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

Question 68

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 69

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 70

Give three examples of intangible resources and capabilities that a firm could possess.

Question 71

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

Question 72

An original equipment manufacturer refers to 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 73

Briefly explain outsourcing and its different types.

Question 74

_____ 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 75

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

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

Articulate the benefits of offshoring.

Question 78

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.