Q&A Hero

Q: Four types of resources that can be used to achieve desired objectives are financial, physical, human, and technological.

Q: Four basic approaches exist to determine R&D budget allocations. What are these approaches? Which one would you recommend for a pharmaceutical company? Why?

Q: Five major categories of external variables are: 1) economic forces, 2) social, cultural, demographic, and natural environment forces, 3) political, governmental, and legal forces, 4) technological forces and 5) demographic forces.

Q: A global strategy means considering individual countries distinctly, one at a time, when designing, producing, and marketing products.

Q: The form of a Balanced Scorecard does not vary for different organizations or industries.

Q: Not allocating resources according to the priorities indicated by approved objectives is detrimental to the strategic-management process.

Q: According to Roger Schroeder, there are five basic functions or decision areas in production. Describe these five functions.

Q: External audits attempt to identify key variables that offer actionable responses.

Q: The need to amortize massive R&D investments over many markets is a major reason why the aircraft manufacturing industry became global.

Q: According to research, participation in strategy-evaluation activities is one of the best ways to overcome individuals' resistance to change.

Q: Strategies clarify what can and cannot be done in pursuit of an organization's objectives.

Q: Discuss the limitations of financial ratio analysis.

Q: The aim of an external audit is to develop an exhaustive list of every possible factor that could influence the business.

Q: While there are a few U.S. industries that are not yet greatly challenged by foreign competitors, many products and components within these industries too are now manufactured in foreign countries.

Q: Future shock occurs when the nature, type, and speed of changes overpower an individual's or organization's ability and capacity to adapt.

Q: Policies refer to specific guidelines, methods, procedures, rules, forms, and administrative practices established to support and encourage work toward stated goals.

Q: An external audit focuses on identifying and evaluating trends and events within the control of management.

Q: The U.S. furniture manufacturing industry is not yet greatly challenged by foreign competitors.

Q: Alvin Toffler argues that environments are becoming so dynamic and complex that they threaten people and organizations with future shock, in his thought-provoking books entitled Future Shock and The Third Wave.

Q: Undesirable conduct such as distorting the records can be a result of overemphasis on achieving objectives.

Q: Industry analysis is also referred to as external strategic management audit.

Q: Almost 70 percent of the world's population lives outside of the U.S.

Q: Corrective action in strategy evaluation is necessary to keep an organization on track toward achieving stated objectives.

Q: Horizontal consistency is more important than vertical consistency in developing annual objectives.

Q: Joint ventures and partnerships between domestic and foreign firms are becoming the exception rather than the rule.

Q: Taking corrective actions does not necessarily mean that existing strategies will be abandoned, or even that new strategies must be formulated.

Q: Annual objectives are key components in the strategic-management process because they dictate how resources will be allocated.

Q: Discuss what needs to be completed, besides the calculation and interpretation of ratios, to complete an effective financial ratio analysis.

Q: Define and give an example of the self-concept component in a mission statement.

Q: Foreign revenue as a percentage of total company revenues is approaching 20 percent for Colgate-Palmolive.

Q: Measuring organizational performance requires making changes to reposition a firm competitively for the future.

Q: A bottom-up flow of communication is essential for developing top-down support.

Q: Identify the reasons dividends are sometimes paid out even when funds could be better reinvested in the business or when the firm has to tap outside sources to pay the dividends.

Q: List and define the major components of an effective mission statement.

Q: A primary reason why most domestic firms are engaging in global operations is that growth in demand for goods and services outside the U.S. is considerably higher than inside.

Q: Most quantitative evaluation criteria are geared to long-term objectives rather than annual objectives.

Q: Unlike strategy formulation, strategy implementation varies considerably among different types and sizes of organizations.

Q: According to James Van Horne, what are the three decisions that comprise the functions of finance? Describe each function.

Q: A good mission statement effectively reflects the anticipations of customers and reveals the utility that various products or services offer customers. Give three examples of this.

Q: Labor markets have become steadily more international with more and more countries around the world welcoming foreign investment and capital.

Q: Intuitive judgments are almost always involved in deriving quantitative criteria.

Q: It is always easier to say you are going to do something (strategy formulation) than to actually do it (strategy implementation).

Q: There are seven basic functions of marketing. List and define these functions.

Q: List the two major characteristics of an effective mission statement.

Q: Though China has more than 1.3 billion residents, the middle class segment that is able to buy goods and services is rapidly shrinking.

Q: Measuring organizational performance includes comparing expected results to actual results, investigating deviations from plans, evaluating individual performance, and examining progress being made toward meeting stated objectives.

Q: Strategy formulation requires coordination among a few individuals, but strategy implementation requires coordination among many.

Q: What four basic steps comprise the controlling function of management?

Q: King and Cleland recommend organizations carefully develop a written mission statement for six reasons. List and describe five of these reasons.

Q: The drive to improve the efficiency of global business operations is leading to lesser functional specialization.

Q: Financial ratios are rarely used as criteria to evaluate strategies.

Q: Strategy formulation is the managing of forces during the action, whereas strategy implementation is the positioning of forces before the action.

Q: Identify the five basic functions of management, and describe each function.

Q: Explain the process of developing a mission statement.

Q: Shifts in the nature and location of production systems, especially to China and India, are reducing the response time to changing market conditions.

Q: Criteria for evaluating strategies should be measurable and easily verifiable.

Q: Effective strategy formulation can usually guarantee successful strategy implementation.

Q: Define cultural products, and give six examples of them.

Q: Compare and contrast vision statements with mission statements.

Q: Wynn and Las Vegas Sands report their net revenue in Brazil is growing more than triple their U.S. properties.

Q: When measuring organizational performance, you need to compare expected results to actual results.

Q: Explain the resource-based view and its relation to strategic management.

Q: Describe why a mission statement is so important in the strategic-management process.

Q: Yum Brands, which owns KFC and Pizza Hut, reported in 2011 that its China division overtook the U.S. in profits generated.

Q: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, cost and threats should continually be monitored for change because it is not really a question of whether these factors will change, but rather when they will change and in what ways.

Q: Discuss the appropriate role of a board of directors in an organization.

Q: The IFE Matrix should be ________ in multidivisional firms. A) constructed for each division B) all-inclusive C) constructed only for the major divisions D) developed before the EFE Matrix E) revised monthly

Q: Effective and carefully planned mission statements A) require major changes every few months. B) require major changes every few quarters. C) require major revision every few years. D) become ineffective in the first year. E) stand the test of time.

Q: Protectionism refers to countries imposing tariffs, taxes, and regulations on firms outside the country to favor their own companies and people.

Q: In strategy evaluation, a revised IFE matrix should indicate how effective a firm's strategies have been in response to key opportunities and threats.

Q: Describe the tactics that have been used by politicians that can also aid strategists.

Q: Which of the following is the first step in developing an IFE Matrix? A) Determining the organization's structure B) Summing the weighted scores for each variable C) Identifying the organization's strengths and weaknesses D) Identifying the organization's functions of business E) Assigning a weight to each factor

Q: Which of the following is NOT one of the nine recommended components of a mission statement? A) Strategies B) Self-concept C) Concern for employees D) Markets E) Customers

Q: Many countries became less protectionist during the recent global economic recession.

Q: Changes in the organization's management, marketing, finance/accounting, production/operations, R&D, and MIS strengths and weaknesses should all be the focus of a revised EFE matrix in strategy evaluation.

Q: Describe the positive features and limitations of QSPM.

Q: The initial step to implementing value chain analysis is A) attaching a cost to each discrete activity. B) establishing costs in terms of time. C) establishing costs in terms of money. D) converting the cost data into information by looking for competitive cost strengths and weaknesses. E) dividing a firm's operations into specific activities or business processes.

Q: Which question(s) are answered in an effective mission statement? A) Is the firm committed to growth and financial soundness? B) Are employees a valuable asset of the firm? C) Geographically, where does the firm compete? D) Who are the firm's customers? E) All of the above

Q: Brazil offers skilled labor and technology, while Germany offers abundant natural resources and rapidly developing markets.

Q: It is most effective to conduct strategy evaluation annually, at the end of the fiscal year.