Q&A Hero

Q: The vision statement answers which question? A) What is our business? B) How can we improve ourselves? C) What do we want to become? D) Who are our stakeholders? E) How can we increase profitability?

Q: List five reasons why preserving the environment should be a permanent part of doing business.

Q: The Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) Rule 142 deals with A) illegal inflation of financial projections. B) hacking issues in MIS. C) goodwill. D) how firms conduct R&D. E) improving marketing policies.

Q: In the BCG Matrix, how would a division with a low relative market share position in a high growth industry be described? A) Question Mark B) Cash Cow C) Star D) Stuck-in-the-middle E) Dog

Q: Which management function includes breaking tasks into jobs, combining jobs to form departments, and delegating authority? A) Motivating B) Staffing C) Organizing D) Controlling E) Planning

Q: The mission statement answers which question? A) What is our business? B) How can we improve ourselves? C) What do we want to become? D) Who are our stakeholders? E) How can we increase profitability?

Q: Describe a sustainability report.

Q: The valuation of a firm's worth A) is an exact science. B) requires both qualitative and quantitative skills. C) is based solely on financial facts. D) is known only to the firm's accountants. E) is static.

Q: In the BCG Matrix, which element represents the industry growth rate in sales, measured in percentage terms? A) x-axis B) y-axis C) first quadrant D) second quadrant E) third quadrant

Q: Synergy A) is the 2 + 2 = 5 effect. B) can result in powerful competitive advantages. C) can be developed by an organization through planning. D) exists when everyone pulls together as a team that knows what it wants to achieve. E) all of the above

Q: A business' mission is the foundation for all of the following EXCEPT A) priorities B) strategies C) plans D) employee wage rates E) work assignments

Q: Discuss how Japan is dealing with problems associated with an aging and shrinking workforce.

Q: Which method of determining a firm's net worth divides the market price of the firm's stock by the annual earnings per share, and multiplies this number by the firm's average net income for the past five years? A) Debt/equity method B) Current ratio method C) Price-earnings ratio method D) Long-term asset method E) Outstanding shares method

Q: The BCG Matrix is designed specifically to enhance which type of firm's efforts to formulate strategies? A) Companies with more than one division B) Large companies C) Companies with annual sales greater than $1 million D) Companies with annual sales of less than $1 million E) All companies

Q: Who does a planning horizon of two to five years apply to? A) Top-level management B) General management C) Middle-level management D) Lower-level management E) All levels of management

Q: As indicated in the strategic-management model, a clear ________ is needed before long-term objectives can be established. A) short-term objective B) implementation plan C) audit policy D) mission statement E) evaluation strategy

Q: Compare and contrast Ralph Nader's and Milton Friedman's positions on social responsibility. With whose view do you agree?

Q: Which item is NOT included in net worth? A) Fixed assets B) Common stock C) Additional paid-in-capital D) Retained earnings E) All of these are included in net worth.

Q: The two positive-rated dimensions on the SPACE Matrix are A) FP and CP. B) CP and SP. C) FP and IP. D) IP and SP. E) FP and SP. Answer: C 73) What type of strategies would you recommend when a firm's SPACE Matrix directional vector has the coordinates (-2, +3)? A) Aggressive B) Conservative C) Competitive D) Defensive E) Integrative Answer: B Learning Outcome: Define corporate strategy and identify its key elements 74) In the SPACE analysis, what does a (+6, +3) strategy profile portray? A) A strong industry position B) An unstable environment C) A stable environment D) A weak industry position E) A weak financial position Answer: A Learning Outcome: Define corporate strategy and identify its key elements

Q: Which function of management includes areas such as job design, job specification, job analysis, and unity of command? A) Planning B) Organizing C) Motivating D) Staffing E) Controlling

Q: The purpose of a mission statement is to declare all of these EXCEPT A) a reason for being B) an annual financial plan C) a statement of purpose D) a statement of beliefs E) whom it wants to serve

Q: Describe how organizations can create an ethics "culture."

Q: Which of the following is NOT an accepted approach for determining a business' worth? A) determining what the firm owns B) determining what the firm earns C) determining what the firm's return on investment has been D) determining what the firm will bring in the market E) All of the above are accepted approaches.

Q: What are the two external dimensions of the SPACE Matrix? A) Stability position and industry position B) Stability position and competitive position C) Industry position and competitive position D) Competitive position and financial position E) Financial position and industry position

Q: Which of the following does the text call an up-front investment in success? A) Planning B) Organizing C) Motivating D) Staffing E) Controlling

Q: According to the comprehensive strategic-management model, which step needs to be completed immediately following the establishment of long-term objectives? A) Developing vision and mission statements B) Performing external audits C) Performing internal audits D) Generating, evaluating, and selecting strategies E) Measuring and evaluating performance

Q: Within an organization, who is responsible for providing ethics leadership?

Q: What is a limitation of using financial budgets? A) They can be so detailed that they are cumbersome and expensive. B) They can become a substitute for objectives. C) They can hide inefficiencies if done only on precedent. D) They are sometimes used as instruments of tyranny. E) All of the above

Q: The two internal dimensions represented on the axes of the SPACE Matrix are A) stability position and industry position. B) industry position and internationalization. C) internationalization and competitive position. D) competitive position and financial position. E) financial position and stability position.

Q: All of the following are basic duties of management EXCEPT A) staffing B) planning C) consolidating D) organizing E) motivating

Q: What is the first step in the comprehensive strategic-management model? A) Developing vision and mission statements B) Performing external audits C) Performing internal audits D) Measuring and evaluating performance E) Establishing long-term objectives

Q: Explain why it is important to encourage whistle-blowing in a firm.

Q: How should financial budgets be thought of? A) as a tool for limiting expenditures B) as a method for obtaining the most productive and profitable use of an organization's resources C) as a method for rationing the profits from the past year D) as a method for determining who should receive the largest pay raise E) as a tool for forecasting future profits

Q: What type of strategy would divestiture be classified as? A) Aggressive B) Defensive C) Competitive D) Offensive E) Conservative

Q: What is the essential bridge between the present and the future that increases the likelihood of achieving desired results? A) Motivating B) Planning C) Controlling D) Staffing E) Organizing

Q: Who is referred to as the father of modern management? A) Deming B) Peters C) Drucker D) McGinnis E) Smith

Q: Define a code of business ethics and its role in an organization.

Q: Who has mandated that every publicly held company in the United States must issue an annual cash-flow statement in addition to the usual financial reports? A) SEC B) Congress C) FCC D) FASB E) OPEC

Q: Which of these is NOT a SPACE Matrix quadrant? A) Aggressive B) Defensive C) Competitive D) Offensive E) Conservative

Q: Metaphors are A) several rites connected together. B) shorthand of words used to capture a vision or to reinforce old or new values. C) narratives based on true events. D) fictional stories. E) any objects, acts, events, qualities, or relations used to convey meaning.

Q: The ideal length of a vision statement is A) one page. B) several paragraphs. C) one sentence. D) several sentences. E) as long as is necessary to convey the message.

Q: Discuss how business ethics, social responsibility, and sustainability are interrelated.

Q: What is the most common type of financial budget? A) Cash B) Sales C) Profits D) Factory E) Flexible

Q: Which of the following is a limitation associated with a SWOT Matrix? A) Viewing every business as a Star, Cash Cow, Dog, or Question Mark is an oversimplification. B) Many businesses fall right in the middle of the matrix. C) It is a static assessment in time. D) Other variables besides relative market share position and industry growth rate in sales need to be considered. E) The matrix does not reflect whether or not various divisions or their industry are growing over time.

Q: Any object, act, event, quality, or relation used to convey meaning is known as a A) myth. B) rite. C) value. D) symbol. E) metaphor.

Q: Which type of statement should be created first and foremost? A) Strategic B) Vision C) Objectives D) Mission E) Competitive advantage

Q: Under the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, the state intends to cut its dependence on oil to ________ percent by 2030. A) 10 B) 20 C) 30 D) 40 E) 50

Q: If a firm incurs a loss during a particular year, or if the firm had positive net income but paid out dividends more than the net income, what happens to the RE amount? A) It increases. B) It is unchanged. C) It decreases. D) It doubles. E) It cannot be determined from the information given.

Q: Which of the following is NOT one of the steps involved in constructing a SWOT Matrix? A) List the firm's key external threats. B) Match internal strengths with external opportunities, and record the resultant SO strategies in the appropriate cell. C) Match internal weaknesses with external threats, and record the resultant WT strategies. D) List the firm's external weaknesses. E) List the firm's external opportunities.

Q: Life-directing attitudes that serve as behavioral guidelines are called A) values. B) rites. C) beliefs. D) metaphors. E) legends.

Q: Which of these basic questions should a vision statement answer? A) What is our business? B) Who are our employees? C) What are our challenges? D) What do we want to become? E) Who are our competitors?

Q: The company Better Place A) is building a network of 250,000 electric car recharging stations. B) is donating $2.4 billion in funding for electric car manufacturing. C) is developing electric plug-in vehicles. D) recently unveiled the country's first all-electric vehicle for the mass market. E) is buying 25,000 electric vehicles between 2011 and 2015 to use in its fleet-services business.

Q: Which of these is the most common type of budgeting time frame? A) Daily B) Quarterly C) Annual D) Every decade E) Monthly

Q: How many cells are in a SWOT Matrix? A) Two B) Four C) Six D) Eight E) Nine

Q: What is the term for a historical narrative describing the unique accomplishments of a group and its leaders? A) Rite B) Saga C) Story D) Myth E) Folktale

Q: According to recent studies, what percent of companies have used a mission statement sometime in the past five years? A) 15% B) 30% C) 60% D) 75% E) 90%

Q: _______ is a set of standards in fields such as environmental auditing, performance evaluation, and labeling, that is adopted by thousands of firms worldwide to certify to their constituencies that they are conducting business in an environmentally friendly manner. A) ISO 14001 B) EMS 14000 C) UN 5000 D) SEC 100 E) A sustainability report

Q: In projected financial statements, what is used as a plug figure? A) Retained earnings B) Fixed assets C) The cash account D) Long-term liabilities E) Stockholders' equity

Q: Which strategies are defensive tactics directed at reducing internal weaknesses and avoiding external threats? A) SO B) WO C) SW D) ST E) WT

Q: A standardized set of behaviors used to manage anxieties is called a A) folktale. B) rite. C) metaphor. D) ritual. E) value.

Q: All of the following are mentioned as places where vision and mission statements can often be found EXCEPT A) SEC reports B) annual reports C) customer service agreements D) supplier agreements E) business plans

Q: All of the following statements are true EXCEPT A) ISO is the world's largest developer of sustainability standards. B) ISO standards are widely accepted all over the world. C) ISO has legal authority to enforce its regulations' implementation. D) ISO standards are voluntary. E) ISO itself does not regulate or legislate.

Q: Retained earnings is obtained by subtracting A) any dividends to be paid for that year from net income. B) net income from EBIT. C) taxes from EBIT. D) interest expense from EBIT. E) EBIT from CGS.

Q: Which strategies use a firm's strengths to avoid or reduce the impact of external threats? A) SO B) WO C) SW D) ST E) WT

Q: Which of the following were NOT mentioned as an example of cultural products? A) Rites B) Emotions C) Rituals D) Sagas E) Symbols

Q: Well-conceived and properly executed mission and vision statements do not need to be subject to revision.

Q: The _______ is a network of the national standards institutes of 147 countries, one member per country. A) ISO B) EMS C) UN D) EPA E) IMF

Q: Which element in the projected income statement CANNOT be forecasted using the percentage-of-sales method? A) Cost of goods sold B) Selling expense C) Administrative expense D) Interest expense E) All of these items can be forecasted using the percentage-of-sales method.

Q: Which strategies aim at improving internal weaknesses by taking advantage of external opportunities? A) SO B) WO C) SW D) ST E) WT

Q: A pattern of behavior developed by an organization as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, and that has worked well enough to be considered valid and to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel is called A) dysfunctional behavior. B) groupthink. C) behavior modification. D) organizational culture. E) internal audit effect.

Q: A sense of self-concept is one of the nine components a good mission statement should include.

Q: A proactive environmental policy is likely to lead to A) higher cleanup costs. B) conservation of energy. C) reduced customer loyalty. D) numerous liability suits. E) higher medical costs.

Q: In preparing projected statements, to project cost of goods sold and the expense items in the income statement, which of these methods is recommended? A) Determining the net worth method B) What a firm earns method C) Percentage-of-sales method D) Price-earnings ratio method E) Outstanding shares method

Q: Which section of the SWOT Matrix involves matching internal strengths with external opportunities? A) The WT cell B) The SW cell C) The WO cell D) The ST cell E) The SO cell

Q: Empirical indicators are resources that are either rare, hard to imitate, or A) expensive. B) inexpensive. C) easily substitutable. D) not easily substitutable. E) inefficient.

Q: According to Peter Drucker, developing a clear business vision and mission is the first responsibility of strategists.

Q: Preserving the environment should be a permanent part of doing business for which of the following reasons? A) Consumer demand for environmentally safe products and packages is low. B) Public opinion demanding that firms conduct business in ways that preserve the natural environment is weak. C) Federal and state environmental regulations are fairly simple and static. D) Many consumers, suppliers, distributors, and investors shun doing business with environmentally strong firms. E) More lenders are examining the environmental liabilities of businesses seeking loans.

Q: The first step in performing projected financial analysis is to A) prepare the projected balance sheet. B) take an inventory of goods. C) estimate increases in debt. D) prepare the projected income statement. E) calculate the projected net income.

Q: The match an organization makes between its internal resources and skills and the opportunities and risks created by its external factors can be defined as A) input. B) concept formulation. C) strategy. D) SWOT. E) weakness.

Q: Organizational resources include all of the following EXCEPT A) employee training B) firm structure C) planning processes D) information systems Answer: A