CEBS GBA 1 2 AND 3 2026 2027
VERIFIED ANSWERS ACTUAL UPDATED
PRACTICE QUESTIONS HIGH YIELD
STUDY GUIDE EXAM PREP MATERIAL
LATEST VERSION REAL EXAM
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS GRADED A+
SUCCESS PACK REVIEW EDITION
1)What Do We Mean By Strategy?
a) Strategy: the coordinated set of actions that its managers take in order to outperform the
company’s competitors and achieve superior profitability
i) Objective of a strategy: lasting success that can support growth and secure the
company’s future over the long term
ii) Helps:
(1) How to position the company in the marketplace
(2) How to attract customers
(3) How to compete against rivals
(4) How to achieve the company’s performance targets
(5) How to capitalize on opportunities to grow the business
(6) How to respond to changing economic and market conditions
2) Strategy is About Competing Differently
a) Strategy is about competing differently (must differ is at least some important aspects
b) A strategy will work out better in long run when it is predicated on actions, business
approaches, and competitive moves aimed at:
i) Appealing to buyers in ways that set a company apart from its rivals ii) Staking
out a market position that is not crowded with strong competitors
c) Figure 1.1: Identifying a Company’s Strategy – What to Look For
i) The Pattern of Actions That Define A Company’s Strategy:
(1) Actions to strengthen the firm’s bargaining position with suppliers, distributors, and
others
(2) Actions to gain market share via more performance features, better design, quality
or customer services, wider product selection, or other such actions
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, (3) Actions to gain increased market share or profitability via lower costs
(4) Actions to enter new product or geographic markets or to exit existing ones
(5) Actions to capture emerging market opportunities and defend against external
threats to the company’s business prospects
(6) Actions to strengthen market standing and reputation through corporate
responsibility and environmental sustainability programs
(7) Actions to strengthen corporate culture, motivate employees, and create a
productive working environment
(8) Actions to strengthen competitiveness via strategic alliances, and collaborative
partnerships, mergers, or acquisitions
(9) Actions and approaches used in managing R&D, production, sales and marketing,
finance, and other key activities
(10) Actions to upgrade, build, or acquire competitively important resources and
capabilities
3) Strategy and A Quest for Competitive Advantage
a) A company achieves a competitive advantage when it provides buyers with superior value
compared to rival sellers or offers the same value at a lower cost to the firm. i) 2 Basic
Mechanisms to Competitive Advantage:
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(1) Higher perceived value: provide the customer with a product or service that the
customer values more highly than others
(2) Lower costs: produce their product or service more efficiently ii) If a strategy is not
distinctive, then there can be no competitive advantage, since no firm would be
meeting customer needs better or operating more efficiently than any other.
b) The advantage is sustainable if it persists despite the best efforts of competitors to match
or surpass this advantage.
i) Reasons that competitors are unable to nullify, duplicate, or overcome despite their
best efforts
c) 5 Most Frequently Used Strategic Approaches to Setting Company Apart from Rivals:
i) Low-cost provider strategy: achieving a cost-based advantage over rivals
(1) Produce a durable competitive edge when rivals find it hard to match the low- cost
leader’s approach to driving costs out of business
(a) Ex: Walmart and Southwest Airlines ii) Broad differentiation strategy:
seeking to differentiate the company’s product or service from that of rivals in a way
that will appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers
(1) Can sustain this by being sufficiently innovative to thwart the efforts of clever
rivals to copy or closely imitate the product offering
(2) Ex: Apple, BMW, Rolex iii) Focused low-cost strategy: concentrating on a narrow
buyer segment (or market niche) and outcompeting rivals by having lower costs
and thus being able to serve niche members at a lower cost
(1) Ex: IKEA iv) Focused differentiation strategy: concentrating on a market niche and
outcompeting rivals by offering buyers customized attributes that meet their specialized
needs and tastes better than rivals’ products
(1) Ex: Lululemon
v) Best-cost provider strategy: giving customers more value for the money by satisfying
their expectations on key quality features, performance, and/or service attributes
while beating their price expectations
(1) Hybrid b/w low-cost provider and differentiation strategies
(2) Aim: have lower costs while offering better differentiating attributes
(3) Ex: Target
d) Sustainable comp. edge hinges as much on building competitively valuable expertise and
capabilities that rivals cannot readily match as it does on having a distinctive product
offering
4) A Company’s Strategy is Partly Proactive and Partly Reactive
a) Proactive: planned initiatives to improve the company’s financial
performance and secure a competitive edge
Reactive : responses b) to unanticipated developments and fresh market conditions
Deliberative strategy:
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c) consisting of proactive strategy elements that are both planned and
realized as planned
d) Emergent or realized strategy: a combination of proactive and
reactive elements, with certain strategy elements being abandoned
because they have become obsolete or ineffective
i) Can be observed in the pattern of actions over time
e) Cannot be considered ethical just bc it is legal to meet the standard
of being ethical, a strategy must entail actions and behavior that can
pass moral scrutiny in the sense of not being deceitful, unfair or
harmful to others, disreputable, or unreasonably damaging to the
environment
5) Strategy and Ethics: Passing the Test of Moral Scrutiny
a) A company’s strategic actions cross over into the “should not do”
zone and are likely to be deemed unethical when:
i) They reflect badly on the company
ii) Adversely impact the legitimate interests and wellbeing of shareholders, customers,
employees, suppliers, the communities where it operates, and society at large
iii) Provoke public outcries about inappropriate or irresponsible actions, behavior, or
outcomes
6) A Company’s Strategy and Its Business Model
a) Business model: management’s blueprint for delivering a valuable
product or service to customers in a manner that will generate
revenues sufficient to cover costs and yield an attractive profit
b) 2 Elements in a company’s business model:
i) Customer value proposition ii) Profit formula
c) Customer value proposition: lays out the company’s approach to
satisfying buyer wants and needs at a price customers will consider
a good value i) V – P
d) Profit formula: describes the company’s approach to determining a
cost structure that will allow for acceptable profits, given the pricing
tied to its customer value proposition i) P – C
ii) Reveals how efficiently a company can meet customer wants and needs and deliver on
the value proposition
7) What Makes a Strategy a Winner?
a) The Fit Test: How well does the strategy fit the company’s situation?
i) A strategy must be well matched to industry and competitive conditions, a company’s
best market opportunities, and other pertinent aspects of the business environment
in which the company operates
ii) A strategy must exhibit:
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VERIFIED ANSWERS ACTUAL UPDATED
PRACTICE QUESTIONS HIGH YIELD
STUDY GUIDE EXAM PREP MATERIAL
LATEST VERSION REAL EXAM
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS GRADED A+
SUCCESS PACK REVIEW EDITION
1)What Do We Mean By Strategy?
a) Strategy: the coordinated set of actions that its managers take in order to outperform the
company’s competitors and achieve superior profitability
i) Objective of a strategy: lasting success that can support growth and secure the
company’s future over the long term
ii) Helps:
(1) How to position the company in the marketplace
(2) How to attract customers
(3) How to compete against rivals
(4) How to achieve the company’s performance targets
(5) How to capitalize on opportunities to grow the business
(6) How to respond to changing economic and market conditions
2) Strategy is About Competing Differently
a) Strategy is about competing differently (must differ is at least some important aspects
b) A strategy will work out better in long run when it is predicated on actions, business
approaches, and competitive moves aimed at:
i) Appealing to buyers in ways that set a company apart from its rivals ii) Staking
out a market position that is not crowded with strong competitors
c) Figure 1.1: Identifying a Company’s Strategy – What to Look For
i) The Pattern of Actions That Define A Company’s Strategy:
(1) Actions to strengthen the firm’s bargaining position with suppliers, distributors, and
others
(2) Actions to gain market share via more performance features, better design, quality
or customer services, wider product selection, or other such actions
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document is illegal extra per year?
, (3) Actions to gain increased market share or profitability via lower costs
(4) Actions to enter new product or geographic markets or to exit existing ones
(5) Actions to capture emerging market opportunities and defend against external
threats to the company’s business prospects
(6) Actions to strengthen market standing and reputation through corporate
responsibility and environmental sustainability programs
(7) Actions to strengthen corporate culture, motivate employees, and create a
productive working environment
(8) Actions to strengthen competitiveness via strategic alliances, and collaborative
partnerships, mergers, or acquisitions
(9) Actions and approaches used in managing R&D, production, sales and marketing,
finance, and other key activities
(10) Actions to upgrade, build, or acquire competitively important resources and
capabilities
3) Strategy and A Quest for Competitive Advantage
a) A company achieves a competitive advantage when it provides buyers with superior value
compared to rival sellers or offers the same value at a lower cost to the firm. i) 2 Basic
Mechanisms to Competitive Advantage:
Downloaded by: dukejosh116 | Want to earn $1.236 Distribution of this
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(1) Higher perceived value: provide the customer with a product or service that the
customer values more highly than others
(2) Lower costs: produce their product or service more efficiently ii) If a strategy is not
distinctive, then there can be no competitive advantage, since no firm would be
meeting customer needs better or operating more efficiently than any other.
b) The advantage is sustainable if it persists despite the best efforts of competitors to match
or surpass this advantage.
i) Reasons that competitors are unable to nullify, duplicate, or overcome despite their
best efforts
c) 5 Most Frequently Used Strategic Approaches to Setting Company Apart from Rivals:
i) Low-cost provider strategy: achieving a cost-based advantage over rivals
(1) Produce a durable competitive edge when rivals find it hard to match the low- cost
leader’s approach to driving costs out of business
(a) Ex: Walmart and Southwest Airlines ii) Broad differentiation strategy:
seeking to differentiate the company’s product or service from that of rivals in a way
that will appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers
(1) Can sustain this by being sufficiently innovative to thwart the efforts of clever
rivals to copy or closely imitate the product offering
(2) Ex: Apple, BMW, Rolex iii) Focused low-cost strategy: concentrating on a narrow
buyer segment (or market niche) and outcompeting rivals by having lower costs
and thus being able to serve niche members at a lower cost
(1) Ex: IKEA iv) Focused differentiation strategy: concentrating on a market niche and
outcompeting rivals by offering buyers customized attributes that meet their specialized
needs and tastes better than rivals’ products
(1) Ex: Lululemon
v) Best-cost provider strategy: giving customers more value for the money by satisfying
their expectations on key quality features, performance, and/or service attributes
while beating their price expectations
(1) Hybrid b/w low-cost provider and differentiation strategies
(2) Aim: have lower costs while offering better differentiating attributes
(3) Ex: Target
d) Sustainable comp. edge hinges as much on building competitively valuable expertise and
capabilities that rivals cannot readily match as it does on having a distinctive product
offering
4) A Company’s Strategy is Partly Proactive and Partly Reactive
a) Proactive: planned initiatives to improve the company’s financial
performance and secure a competitive edge
Reactive : responses b) to unanticipated developments and fresh market conditions
Deliberative strategy:
Downloaded by: dukejosh116 | Want to earn $1.236 Distribution of this
document is illegal extra per year?
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c) consisting of proactive strategy elements that are both planned and
realized as planned
d) Emergent or realized strategy: a combination of proactive and
reactive elements, with certain strategy elements being abandoned
because they have become obsolete or ineffective
i) Can be observed in the pattern of actions over time
e) Cannot be considered ethical just bc it is legal to meet the standard
of being ethical, a strategy must entail actions and behavior that can
pass moral scrutiny in the sense of not being deceitful, unfair or
harmful to others, disreputable, or unreasonably damaging to the
environment
5) Strategy and Ethics: Passing the Test of Moral Scrutiny
a) A company’s strategic actions cross over into the “should not do”
zone and are likely to be deemed unethical when:
i) They reflect badly on the company
ii) Adversely impact the legitimate interests and wellbeing of shareholders, customers,
employees, suppliers, the communities where it operates, and society at large
iii) Provoke public outcries about inappropriate or irresponsible actions, behavior, or
outcomes
6) A Company’s Strategy and Its Business Model
a) Business model: management’s blueprint for delivering a valuable
product or service to customers in a manner that will generate
revenues sufficient to cover costs and yield an attractive profit
b) 2 Elements in a company’s business model:
i) Customer value proposition ii) Profit formula
c) Customer value proposition: lays out the company’s approach to
satisfying buyer wants and needs at a price customers will consider
a good value i) V – P
d) Profit formula: describes the company’s approach to determining a
cost structure that will allow for acceptable profits, given the pricing
tied to its customer value proposition i) P – C
ii) Reveals how efficiently a company can meet customer wants and needs and deliver on
the value proposition
7) What Makes a Strategy a Winner?
a) The Fit Test: How well does the strategy fit the company’s situation?
i) A strategy must be well matched to industry and competitive conditions, a company’s
best market opportunities, and other pertinent aspects of the business environment
in which the company operates
ii) A strategy must exhibit:
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