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Management
Q:
Sustainable development is defined as growth that is sustainable because there are so many available resources that they will virtually never run out.
Q:
The scope of an organization is the breadth of its activities across markets, functions, resource conversion processes, and products.
Q:
A mission statement may contain a statement of vision.
Q:
It has been suggested that the business definition question should include not only "What is our business?" but also "What was our business?"
Q:
The labels a firm uses for its written statements of strategic direction are just as important as the elements they contain.
Q:
Broad environmental forces influence strategic direction.
Q:
Inertia facilitates change in organizations.
Q:
Government regulation can influence corporate governance practices.
Q:
Agency problems occur when an agent sacrifices his or her own interests for the benefit of the organization.
Q:
One important responsibility of boards of directors is to monitor and prevent the potential for agency problems.
Q:
The traditional view of leaders in organizations is that they set direction, make the important decisions, and rally the followers.
Q:
Please describe value chain analysis and how it can be used to help firms develop competitive advantages.
Q:
What does organizational learning involve? If a firm is involved in multiple countries, how is organizational learning affected?
Q:
What is the difference between a tangible and an intangible resource? Give an example of each? Which of these types of resources is most likely to lead to competitive advantage? Why?
Q:
What are the basic categories of organizational resources and capabilities and how are they interconnected? What is likely to happen if a firm neglects one of the resource areas?
Q:
What are the essential characteristics of a resource or capability that leads to a sustainable competitive advantage? Please explain.
Q:
Firm performance has traditionally been measured in purely financial terms such as shareholder returns. What are some of the weaknesses associated with this approach?
A. They are hard to calculate
B. They encourage executives to focus on short-term profits
C. They reflect only current performance, with no expectations about the future
D. There is no link between the measures and the capital provided to the firm
E. None of these
Q:
With regards to the value chain, an organization can develop a competitive advantage:
A. In any of the basic or support activities
B. In the way basic and support activities are combined
C. In the way internal activities are linked to the external environment
D. Through activities that create value for the customer
E. All of these are ways to develop a competitive advantage
Q:
Support activities of the value chain include:
A. Human resources/compensation systems
B. Physical location management
C. Distribution management
D. Marketing management
E. Management of post-transaction contacts
Q:
Support activities of the value chain include:
A. Internal operations management
B. Transportation
C. Direct sales
D. Installation
E. Information technology
Q:
Basic activities of the value chain include all of the following except:
A. Supply chain management
B. Strategic planning processes
C. Marketing management
D. Management of post-transaction contacts
E. Internal operations management
Q:
Basic activities of the value chain include:
A. Product/service R&D
B. Information technology
C. Marketing management
D. Human resources/compensation systems
E. Financial management
Q:
General organizational resources include such things as:
A. Brands, culture, and an organization's reputation
B. Financial assets
C. Plants and equipment
D. Knowledge and learning systems
E. None of the above
Q:
Organizational learning involves:
A. Knowledge retention
B. Knowledge utilization
C. Knowledge sharing
D. Knowledge creation
E. All of the above
Q:
Which group of stakeholders plays an important role in governing the behavior of top managers?A. ManagersB. EmployeesC. Board of directorsD. UnionsE. Customers
Q:
Which ratio measures a firm's leverage?A. Debt-to-equityB. CurrentC. Return-on-assetsD. Asset turnoverE. None of these
Q:
Which ratio measures a firm's liquidity?A. Debt-to-equityB. CurrentC. Return-on-assetsD. Asset turnoverE. None of these
Q:
All of the following resources and capabilities fall within the category of general organizational resources except:
A. A strong balance sheet
B. Organizational structure
C. Organizational culture
D. Unique stakeholder relationships
E. A brand name
Q:
Which of the following is least likely to be a source of sustainable competitive advantage?
A. A unique and valuable relationship with an important stakeholder
B. A computer program
C. An organization's culture
D. An organization's reputation
E. A well-known and respected brand
Q:
Which of the following is most likely to be a source of sustainable competitive advantage?
A. A state-of-the art machine that a firm purchases from a supplier
B. A new product
C. A research and development process
D. A plant design
E. A new service
Q:
What are the probable implications of a firm neglecting its knowledge and learning resources?
A. It will become weaker financially
B. Its general organizational resources will become weaker
C. Its physical resources will become weaker
D. Its human resources will become weaker
E. All of the above
Q:
A resource or capability that has led to sustainable competitive advantage for a firm has the following characteristic(s):
A. It is hard to imitate
B. Managers are aware of and taking advantage of the potential of the resource or capability
C. It is unique
D. It is valuable
E. All of the above
Q:
If an organizational capability or resource is valuable and unique, but it is easy to imitate:
A. It cannot be a source of competitive advantage
B. It is likely to lead to a sustainable competitive advantage
C. It is a core competency or capability
D. It can be a source of competitive advantage for a period of time
E. None of these is correct
Q:
A realized competitive advantage becomes sustainable when:
A. It is unique, valuable, and based on strong financial resources
B. It involves all of the functional areas of the organization
C. It is based on physical assets rather than knowledge
D. It is based on a resource or capability that is difficult to imitate by competitors and there is no readily available substitute
E. It is based on the quality of the organization's products and services
Q:
Stakeholder-based performance measures reflect more of the total value a firm creates.
Q:
Human resource management is a basic activity in the value chain.
Q:
Tacit knowledge can be communicated with precision through written means.
Q:
Organizations that cluster near each other typically are at a competitive disadvantage relative to organizations that are not in clusters.
Q:
Board members can play important strategic roles in organizations such as providing advice to managers with regard to strategies and strategic direction.
Q:
An organization's human resources, physical resources, financial resources, knowledge and learning resources, and general organizational resources are highly interconnected.
Q:
Effective training programs can be a source of competitive advantage.
Q:
A firm with weak knowledge and learning resources is at risk that its financial resources will also become weak.
Q:
If an organization possesses a valuable and unique resource, it is always a source of competitive advantage.
Q:
Capabilities and resources have the potential to lead to competitive advantage if they are valuable and unique.
Q:
According to Michael Porter, what are the conditions that create advantages for firms in certain countries and industries? Please explain each of them.
Q:
What are strategic groups? Why are strategic group maps useful?
Q:
When do customers exhibit a powerful force on competition in an industry?
Q:
What are some of the most critical economic factors for a firm to track? Why are they important?
Q:
Why is analysis of social trends important? Give examples.
Q:
What is a firm's broad environment? To what extent can the broad environment influence a firm? To what extent can one firm influence the broad environment?
Q:
According to Michael Porter, conditions that create advantages for firms in certain countries and industries include:
A. Suppliers to a particular industry are the very best in the world
B. Strong industry competition
C. Buyers are among the most demanding in the world
D. Ability to attract the most talented managers
E. All of the above
Q:
According to Michael Porter, all of the following are conditions that create advantages for firms in certain countries and industries except:
A. Suppliers to a particular industry are the very best in the world
B. Strong industry competition
C. Buyers are among the most demanding in the world
D. Shortages of critical raw materials or other supplies
E. Ability to attract the most talented managers
Q:
When two or more firms form a legally independent company to pursue common objectives, in is called:
A. A semiautonomous partnership
B. A social network
C. An equity alliance
D. A business network
E. None of these
Q:
What should organizations do with stakeholders that have a large influence on environmental uncertainty?
A. Fight against them with competitive weapons
B. Ignore them
C. Just monitor their activities
D. Cooperate with them
E. None of the above
Q:
All of the following are true about environmental uncertainty except:
A. It makes managerial decision making more difficult
B. Organizations feel most of its influence directly from the broad environment
C. Political power of stakeholders influences it
D. Economic power of stakeholders influences it
E. Network centrality of stakeholders influences it
Q:
Which of the following makes an industry more attractive to enter?
A. Strong supplier power
B. Strong customer power
C. No close substitutes
D. Many strong competitors
E. Low sales growth
Q:
High levels of competition may be caused by:
A. Rapid industry growth
B. Low fixed costs
C. A small number of competitors
D. A lack of product differentiation
E. Low exit barriers
Q:
Customers tend to exhibit a powerful force on competition in the industry if:
A. There are a large number of customers that buy the product
B. Few similar products exist
C. Purchases customers make from the industry are large relative to the amount spent for items from other industries
D. The sellers' products are highly differentiated
E. The customers are earning high profits
Q:
The influence of potential competitors on industry competition is determined primarily by:
A. Buyer power
B. Supplier power
C. Strength of entry barriers
D. Strength of exit barriers
E. Threat of substitutes
Q:
Suppliers tend to exhibit greater power if:
A. There are few suppliers of the raw material, product, or service
B. There are many substitutes for the product or service that suppliers sell
C. Suppliers are small businesses with regards to total sales volume
D. The suppliers' products are undifferentiated and plentiful
E. Suppliers cannot integrate forward
Q:
Which of the following is not included as a major force that drives industry competition and profitability?
A. Existing competitors
B. Economic power of suppliers
C. Potential competitors
D. Unions
E. Indirect competitors
Q:
Among the following, the best definition of technology is:
A. Human knowledge about products and services and the ways they are made and delivered
B. Technical equipment such as computers and electronics
C. Knowledge about computers, electronics, and information systems
D. Knowledge about computers, electronics, and information systems as well as the equipment and systems themselves
E. All equipment that is used to create products and services
Q:
Among the most critical economic factors to monitor are:
A. Interest rates
B. Economic growth
C. Foreign trade balances
D. Inflation rates
E. All of these factors are important
Q:
Analysis of social trends is important because:
A. The values and beliefs of key stakeholders are derived from societal influences
B. Correct assessment of social trends can help businesses avoid restrictive legislation
C. Changes in society can create either opportunities or threats for organizations
D. All of these are correct
E. Only A and C are correct
Q:
Analysis of society is important for all of the following reasons except:
A. Awareness of what is happening in society virtually guarantees that an organization will be able to successfully compete in its own industry
B. Most of the other stakeholder groups are also members of society
C. Awareness of and compliance with the attitudes of society can help an organization avoid problems associated with being a bad corporate citizen
D. Changes in society can provide opportunities for organizations
E. Correct assessment of social trends can help businesses avoid restrictive legislation
Q:
Which of the following is part of the broad environment?
A. Competitors
B. Suppliers
C. Technological forces
D. Government agencies
E. Unions
Q:
The broad environment consists of all of the following except:
A. Technological trends
B. Political and legal forces
C. Competitors
D. Economic forces
E. Sociocultural forces
Q:
An organization can typically have:
A. Little influence over events in its task environment
B. Little influence over major occurrences and patterns in the broad environment
C. Significant influence over major occurrences and patterns in the remote environment
D. Significant influence over major social trends
E. Significant influence on government policy in a nation as a whole
Q:
What is a primary reason that an organization should monitor the broad environment?
A. To anticipate concerns and trends
B. To determine the firm's internal strengths
C. To determine the firm's internal weaknesses
D. To identify key employees within the firm
E. To determine the firm's focus on manufacturing and materials management
Q:
Discriminating and demanding buyers in the home country of a firm can help the firm to succeed as it competes in foreign markets.
Q:
The higher the entry barriers, the more intense is competition in an industry.
Q:
A strategic group map involves plotting industry rivals based on two or more strategic dimensions that are important to the industry.
Q:
Low levels of competition may be caused by high fixed costs.
Q:
Organizations that are in a weak position relative to their suppliers can attempt to balance power through vertical integration.
Q:
The power of a single customer is greater when there are many customers than when there are few.
Q:
The three major forces that drive industry competition and profitability are government regulators, direct competitors and social forces.
Q:
Industries may be defined as a group of organizations that compete directly with one another to win orders or sales in the marketplace.
Q:
The task environment consists of stakeholders with whom organizations interact on a fairly regular basis.
Q:
Government intervention in business is increasing worldwide.
Q:
Technology is human knowledge about products and services and the ways they are made and delivered.