Q&A Hero

Q: In evaluating proposed or existing strategies managers should A. initiate new initiatives even though they don't seem to match the company's internal and external situation. B. scrutinize the company's existing strategies compatibility with desired outcomes on a regular basis. C. evaluate the firm's business model at least every three years. D. ensure core capabilities are incorporated for establishing a competitive advantage. E. align existing strategies with new strategies to emphasize incremental gains.

Q: A well-conceived strategy is value creating producing excellence in company performance and is best when the gains are achieved. A. in profitability and financial strength. B. in competitive strength and market standing. C. in developing distinctive competencies and sustainability. D. in developing a desirable competitive edge. E. All of these

Q: A winning strategy is one that A. builds strategic fit, is socially responsible, and maximizes shareholder wealth. B. is highly profitable and boosts the company's market share. C. results in a company becoming the dominant industry leader. D. fits the company's internal and external situation, builds sustainable competitive advantage, and improves company performance. E. can pass the ethical standards test, the strategic intent test, and the profitability test.

Q: A company's business model A. details the manner in which the company will pass the three tests of a winning strategy . B. indicates how the strategy will result in achieving the targeted strategic objectives. C. clarifies (1) how the business will provide customers with value, and (2) why the business will generate revenues sufficient to cover costs and produce attractive profits. D. explains how it intends to achieve high profit margins. E. sets forth the actions and approaches that it will employ to achieve market leadership.

Q: A viable business model includes a valuable customer value proposition that A. is always partly deliberate/planned and partly emergent/reactive. B. is an essential component of pursuing the company's strategic intent. C. suggests the greater the value provided and the lower the price, the more attractive the value proposition. D. lays out the approach to satisfying buyer wants and needs at a premium price. E. must set forth management's long-term action plan for achieving market leadership.

Q: The elements of a company's business model are A. its customer value proposition as well as the company's profit formula. B. its business strategy, its collection of competitively valuable resources, and a strong management team. C. its deliberate strategy, its emergent strategy, and its realized strategy. D. its actions to capture emerging market opportunities and defend against threats to the company's business prospects, its actions to strengthen competitiveness via strategic alliances, and its actions to enter new geographic or product markets. E. management's answers to "Where are we now?" "Where do we want to go?" and "How are we going to get there?".

Q: A company's business model A. concerns the actions and business approaches that will be used to grow the business, conduct operations, please customers, and compete successfully. B. relates to the principle business components that will allow the business to generate revenues ample to cover costs and produce a profit. C. concerns what moves in the marketplace it plans to make to outcompete rivals. D. deals with how it can simultaneously maximize profits and operate in a socially responsible manner. E. concerns how management plans to pursue strategic objectives, given the larger imperative of meeting or beating its financial performance targets.

Q: A company's realized strategy is made up of A. deliberate/planned initiatives that have proven themselves in the marketplace and newly launched initiatives aimed at further boosting performance. B. emergent/reactive adjustments to unanticipated strategic moves by rivals, unexpected changes in customer preferences, and new market opportunities. C. tactical plans to imitate the key elements of the strategies employed by rivals. D. Both deliberate/planned initiatives that have proven themselves in the marketplace and newly launched initiatives aimed at further boosting performance and emergent/reactive adjustments to unanticipated strategic moves by rivals, unexpected changes in customer preferences, and new market opportunities. E. All of these.

Q: Which of the following statements about a company's realized strategy is true? A. A company's realized strategy is mostly hidden to outside view and is deliberately kept under wraps by top-level managers. B. A company's realized strategy is typically planned well in advance and usually deviates little from the planned set of actions. C. A company's realized strategy generally changes very little over time unless a newly appointed CEO decides to take the company in a new direction with a new strategy. D. A company's realized strategy is typically a blend of deliberate/planned initiatives and emergent/unplanned reactive strategy elements. E. A company's realized strategy is developed mostly on the fly because of the constant efforts of managers to keep rival companies at a disadvantage.

Q: A company may develop an emergent strategy due to A. strategic moves by rival firms. B. unexpected shifts in customer preferences. C. fast-changing technological developments. D. new market opportunities. E. All of these.

Q: Crafting a strategy involves A. blending deliberate/planned initiatives with emergent/unplanned reactive responses to changing circumstances, while abandoning planned strategy elements that have failed in the marketplace. B. developing a five-year strategic plan and then fine-tuning it during the remainder of the plan period. C. trying to imitate as much of the market leader's strategy as possible so as not to end up at a competitive disadvantage. D. doing everything possible (in the way of price, quality, service, warranties, advertising, and so on) to make sure the company's product/service is very clearly differentiated from the product/service offerings of rivals. E. All of these accurately characterize the managerial process of crafting a company's strategy.

Q: It is normal for a company's strategy to end up being A. left unchanged from management's original planned set of actions and business approaches since making on-the-spot changes is too risky. B. a combination of defensive moves to protect the company's market share and offensive initiatives to set the company's product offering apart from rivals. C. like the strategies of other industry members since all companies are confronting much the same market conditions and competitive pressures. D. a blend of deliberate planned actions to improve the company's competitiveness and financial performance and as-needed unplanned reactions to unanticipated developments and fresh market conditions. E. a mirror image of its business model, so as to avoid impairing company profitability.

Q: Changing circumstances and ongoing managerial efforts to improve the strategy A. account for why a company's strategy evolves over time. B. explain why a company's strategic vision undergoes almost constant change. C. make it very difficult for a company to have concrete strategic objectives. D. make it very hard to know what a company's strategy really is. E. All of these.

Q: A company's strategy is a "work in progress" and evolves over time because of A. the ongoing need of company managers to react and respond to changing industry and competitive conditions. B. the ongoing need to imitate the new strategic moves of the industry leaders. C. the need to make regular adjustments in the company's strategic vision. D. the importance of developing a fresh strategic plan every year. E. the frequent need to modify key elements of the company's business model.

Q: Which of the following is not one of the basic reasons that a company's strategy evolves over time? A. An ongoing need to abandon those strategy features that are no longer working well B. The proactive efforts of company managers to improve the company's financial performance and secure a competitive advantage C. The need on the part of company managers to make regular adjustments in the company's business model D. The need to respond to the actions and competitive moves of rival firms E. The need to keep strategy in step with changing industry and competitive conditions

Q: Which of the following is not a frequently used strategic approach to setting a company apart from rivals and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage? A. Aiming for a cost-based competitive advantage
 B. Outcompeting rivals on the basis of such differentiating features as higher quality, wider product selection, added performance, better service, or more attractive styling
 C. Striving to be more profitable than rivals by aiming for a competitive edge based on bigger profit margins
 D. Focusing on a narrow market niche and winning a competitive edge by doing a better job than rivals of satisfying the needs and tastes of buyers comprising the niche
 E. Developing expertise and resources that give the company competitive capabilities that rivals can't easily imitate or trump with capabilities of their own

Q: Which of the following is a frequently used strategic approach to setting a company apart from rivals and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage? A. Striving to be the industry's low-cost provider, thereby aiming for a cost-based competitive advantage. B. Outcompeting rivals on the basis of such differentiating features as higher quality, wider product selection, added performance, better service, more attractive styling, or technological superiority. C. Developing competitively valuable resources and capabilities that rivals can't easily match, copy, or trump with capabilities of their own. D. Focusing on a narrow market niche and winning a competitive edge by doing a better job than rivals of serving the special needs and tastes of buyers comprising the niche. E. All of these.

Q: Proven approaches to winning a sustainable competitive advantage include which of the following? A. Strategies keyed to developing a low-cost-based advantage. B. Strategies keyed to creating a broad differentiation-based advantage. C. Focusing on a narrow market niche within an industry. D. Developing a best-cost provider strategy. E. All of these.

Q: A creative, distinctive strategy that sets a company apart from rivals and that gives it a sustainable competitive advantage A. is a reliable indicator that the company has a profitable business model. B. is a company's most reliable ticket to above-average profitability. C. signals that the company has a bold, ambitious strategic intent that places the achievement of strategic objectives ahead of the achievement of financial objectives. D. is the best indicator that the company's strategy and business model are well-matched and properly synchronized. E. All of these.

Q: A company achieves sustainable competitive advantage when A. it has a profitable business model. B. a sufficiently large number of buyers have a lasting preference for its products or services as compared to the offerings of competitors. C. it is able to maximize shareholder wealth. D. it is consistently able to achieve both its strategic and financial objectives. E. its strategy and its business model are well-matched and in sync.

Q: A creative, distinctive strategy that delivers a sustainable competitive advantage is important because A. without a proven strategy a company is likely to fall into bankruptcy. B. without a competitive advantage a company cannot have a profitable business model. C. a strategy that yields a competitive advantage over rivals is a company's most reliable means of achieving above-average profitability and financial performance. D. a competitive advantage is what enables a company to achieve its strategic objectives. E. how a company goes about trying to please customers and outcompete rivals is what enables senior managers to choose an appropriate strategic vision for the company.

Q: The most important aspect(s) of a company's business strategy A. are the actions and moves in the marketplace that managers take to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. B. is figuring out how to maximize profits and shareholder value. C. concerns how to improve the efficiency of its business model. D. deals with how management plans to maximize profits while, at the same time, operating in a socially responsible manner. E. is figuring out how to become the industry's low-cost provider.

Q: Which of the following is an issue likely to be addressed by a company's business strategy? A. Actions to respond to changing economic and market conditions. B. Actions to supplement the company's resources and capabilities through alliances and joint ventures. C. Reactions to offensive moves by rival sellers. D. Actions and approaches used in managing the functional areas of the business. E. All of these are pertinent in identifying a company's strategy.

Q: Which of the following is not an element of a company's business strategy? A. Actions to respond to changing market conditions or other external factors B. Actions to strengthen competitiveness via strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships C. Actions to strengthen internal capabilities and competitively valuable resources D. Actions to manage the functional areas of the business E. Management actions to revise the company's financial and strategic performance targets

Q: Which of the following is not something a company's strategy is concerned with? A. Management's choices about how to attract and please customers B. Management's choices about how quickly and closely to copy the strategies being used by successful rival companies C. Management's choices about how to grow the business D. Management's choices about how to outcompete rivals E. Management's action plan for conducting operations and improving the company's strategic and financial performance

Q: A company's strategy is most accurately defined as A. management's approaches to building revenues, controlling costs, and generating an attractive profit. B. management's game plan for growing the business, attracting and pleasing customers, conducting operations, and achieving financial and market performance objectives. C. management's concept of "where we are headed." D. the business model that a company's board of directors has approved for outcompeting rivals and making the company profitable. E. the choices management has made regarding what financial plan to pursue.

Q: The competitive moves and business approaches a company's management is using to grow the business, compete successfully, attract and please customers, conduct operations, respond to changing economic and market conditions, and achieve organizational objectives is referred to as its A. strategy. B. mission statement. C. strategic intent. D. business model. E. strategic vision.

Q: A company's strategy consists of A. actions to develop a more appealing business model than rivals. B. plans involving alignment of organizational activities and strategic objectives. C. offensive and defensive moves to generate revenues and increase profit margins. D. competitive moves and approaches that managers have developed to grow the business, attract and please customers, conduct operations, and achieve targeted objectives. E. its strategic vision, its strategic objectives, and its strategic intent.

Q: Managers in all types of businesses must address the central strategic question: A. Where are we now? B. Where do we want to go from here? C. How are we going to get there? D. When will we know we are there? E. All of these

Q: Reactive strategy often involves an out of sight, out of mind mentality. a. True b. False

Q: There is no conclusive evidence of a direct, positive link between CSR and economic performance, such as profits and shareholder returns. a. True b. False

Q: The five forces framework reinforces the important point that all industries are equal in terms of their exposure to CSR challenges. a. True b. False

Q: When facing mounting pressures to be more socially responsible, most firms resist until some first-mover firms deviate from the norms in order to score competitive points with game-changing new products. a. True b. False

Q: Advocates of shareholder capitalism argue that if firms attempt to attain social goals, it will actually help them focus on profit maximization (and its derivative, shareholder value maximization). a. True b. False

Q: Milton Friedman, a University of Chicago economist and Nobel laureate, suggested: The business of business is business. a. True b. False

Q: Primary stakeholder groups are defined as those who influence or affect, or are influenced or affected by, the corporation, but they are not engaged in transactions with the corporation and are not essential for its survival. a. True b. False

Q: Suppliers and customers are typically considered primary stakeholders. a. True b. False

Q: Although costs of complying with tough environmental laws may be high, these green taxes simply force firms to pay the real costs of their activities they were previously placing on others.​ a. True b. False

Q: ​A firm with employees that hold strong convictions about being socially responsible in the way they carry out the firms activities is a rare but highly imitable. a. True b. False

Q: ​CSR-related resources are valuable because they are almost always rare. a. True b. False

Q: ​CSR-related resources are mostly in the form of tangible technologies. a. True b. False

Q: ​Given the increased number of challenges to firms to improve their level of corporate responsibility, firms may want to proactively embrace CSR and partner with those groups doing the challenging in finding solutions. a. True b. False

Q: ​The bargaining power of buyers in influencing firms to be socially responsible may be even more powerful than the bargaining power of suppliers. a. True b. False

Q: ​Socially and environmentally conscious suppliers are not likely to have greater bargaining power than those that are not, regardless of how differentiated their products are. a. True b. False

Q: ​By employing the standards of CSR, the barriers to entry for the industry actually go down. a. True b. False

Q: CSR standards are more difficult for firms in a concentrated and competitive industry.​ a. True b. False

Q: Compared with the relatively expanded power of national governments in the wake of globalization, NGOs and other civil society stakeholders have lost the ability to affect firms and their management or to impact legislation. a. True b. False

Q: Numerous protests around the world are indicative of resentment against globalization and a perceived lack of CSR in firms, particularly those that relocate offices (and jobs) to foreign countries. a. True b. False

Q: According to the text, one driver of CSR in the twenty-first century is the declining levels of population in some countries. a. True b. False

Q: A key goal for CSR is global sustainability, which is defined as the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. a. True b. False

Q: Because each firm is different (a basic assumption of the resource-based view), not every firms economic performance is likely to benefit from CSR. a. True b. False

Q: Firms pursuing a reactive CSR strategy actively participate in policy discussions, build alliances with stakeholder groups, and voluntarily go beyond what the regulations require. a. True b. False

Q: Companies have had their CSR policies certified by NGOs that might otherwise be hostile. a. True b. False

Q: The more concentrated an industry is, the more likely that competitors will recognize their mutual interdependence based on old ways of doing business that are not up to the higher CSR standards. a. True b. False

Q: ​The driving forces of the CSR school are the widening of the gap between the haves and have-nots and the astonishing speed of technological development. a. True b. False

Q: ​CSR advocates argue that a free market system that takes the pursuit of self-interest and profit as its guiding light may in practice fail to constrain itself, thus often breeding greed, excesses, and abuses. a. True b. False

Q: ​With a stakeholder view, firms look at the triple bottom line of economic, social, and environmental performance. a. True b. False

Q: ​Governments and communities whose laws and regulations must be obeyed are considered primary stakeholders. a. True b. False

Q: ​Looking at the big picture enables managers to understand the drivers underpinning global sustainability as simple and straightforward. a. True b. False

Q: ​Global sustainability is the number one goal of a firm. a. True b. False

Q: ​Stakeholders of the firm are the same thing as shareholders. a. True b. False

Q: Nearly all CSR advocates argue for a revival of socialism in the world. a. True b. False

Q: A stakeholder is any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organizations objectives. a. True b. False

Q: Your competitors have been praised for their CSR while some have compared your efforts to theirs unfavorably. However, you view their efforts as not just window dressing but as manipulation of public opinion. In one case, you noted that the company spent $50,000 on a community project to help the homeless and over $1 million advertising to the world what it had done. You are under pressure to follow their examples. What should you do?

Q: Your company has been active in CSR. It has even avoided shutting down its local factory and moving its production overseas where its labor costs could be significantly less because it recognizes the harm that would do the employees and the community. However, the CSR has resulted in a lower level of profitability and now a corporate raider appears to be ready to launch a takeover bid for your company. In the past, when that raider has taken over a company, payrolls have been slashed, all CSR has been discontinued, and nearly all stakeholders other than some investors have been harmed. What should you?

Q: Describe in your own words the difference between corporate social responsibility and the idea of creating social value.​

Q: A representative of an NGO that has a significant influence on some your key stakeholders (especially your customers) has met with you. The person has indicated that the NGO are considering conducting a campaign against one of your policies. You feel the policy is totally justified but you have seen how the organization has smeared and destroyed others it has targeted. The person seems to be hinting that perhaps they might launch a campaign against some other target if you demonstrated CSR by making a big contribution to the NGO. You feel that you are a victim of extortion but the cost of buying them off might be less than the damage that they could do to you. What should you do?

Q: What is the race to the bottom discussed in the text? Give an example that shows it is a real phenomenon, and another example that refutes MNEs contribution to the problem.​

Q: Last week you attended a series of lectures at the local university in which the speakers were discussing the role of corporations (such as yours) overseas. The first lecturer discussed the role of MNEs over the years as instruments of national power for the country in which they were based and discussed instances in which the firms became involved in local politics. The speaker condemned such companies as imperialists for attempting to impose U.S. values on foreign nations. The last speaker in the series argued that MNEs have a responsibility to identify injustice and violation of human rights in the nations where they operate and to use either persuasion or economic pressure to bring about change. Whose advice will you follow?

Q: ​Not all firms are in a position to engage in high levels of CSR. What questions do managers need to consider when making decisions about engaging in CSR?

Q: Your firm has sought to be a responsible part of the community and has sought out ways to implement CSR within your capabilities. However, a news organization that has been trying to boost its ratings has done a series on your organization that suggests that your product is harming consumers and the communitys environment. You believe the reports are totally false but protests have recently been directed toward your facilities and a politician who seeking an issue has been loudly condemning your organization? Some of your shareholders are suggesting that the company takes its losses on the product by discontinuing it rather than risk further damage to the company and its reputation. What should you do?

Q: ​Using an MNE you are familiar with, list some of its primary and secondary stakeholders and describe how it uses CSR to address the needs of one of its stakeholder groups.

Q: ​If a key goal for CSR is global sustainability, how can a manager best go about incorporating it into managerial decisions?

Q: In the postGreat Recession environment, the responsibility of managers means:​ a. ​Relegating CSR to the back burner. b. ​Responding to changing societal expectations of the social and environmental roles of firms. c. ​Remembering that the business of business is business. d. ​Following only those CSR standards that are globally unambiguous.

Q: From an institutional perspective, proactive activities are indicative of all the following EXCEPT: a. Normative beliefs. b. Cognitive beliefs. c. The desire to do the right thing. d. An absence of window dressing.

Q: Reactive firms: a. Actively participate in regional, national, and international policy discussions. b. Often build alliances with stakeholder groups. c. Engage in voluntary activities that go beyond what the regulations require. d. React negatively to aspects of CSR that may increase costs.

Q: Some CSR advocates who question motives of firms implementing CSR are pleased that: a. Firms are embarking on some tangible CSR journey. b. CSRs legitimacy is rising on the organizational agenda. c. By adopting codes of conduct (even if only for window dressing purposes), they create a set of criteria against which they can be judged. d. All of the above.

Q: As seen through the instrumental view of CSR, those who are skeptical of CSR compliance claim: a. That firms may not necessarily be sincere. b. That firms may be compelled to appear to be sensitive to CSR by impression managementin other words, window dressing. c. That many firms may chase fads by following what others are doing, while not having truly internalized the need for CSR. d. That CSR activities simply represent a useful means to help make good profits; firms are not necessarily becoming more ethical.

Q: In regard to the link between CSR and economic performance: a. There is conclusive evidence of a direct, positive link between CSR and economic performance b. No studies report a definitive positive relationship. c. Almost all studies find a negative relationship or no relationship. d. It appears some firms are not cut out for a CSR-intensive strategy.

Q: In regard to the extent of CSR challenges, the following are true EXCEPT: a. All industries are equal in terms of their exposure to CSR challenges. b. Energy- and materials-intensive industries (such as chemicals) have been criticized. c. Firms that are major outsourcers in foreign countries have been criticized. d. Some firms have turned to NGO critics to have the NGOs certify their policies.