BMGT 301 COMPLETE EXAM QUESTIONS
AND DETAILED ANSWERS
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW RESOURCE
●● Strategic Positioning
Answer: performing different tasks than your rivals, or performing the
same tasks in a different way (creating higher value/revenue)
●● Competitive Advantage
Answer: the ability of a firm to outperform its competitors in financial
measures
●● Sustainable competitive advantage
Answer: financial performance that consistently outperforms industry
averages
●● A factor or set of factors can lead to sustainable competitive
advantage if:
Answer: Affects firm value in a positive way (advantage)
Not too many competitors can imitate it (competitive)
Can keep it up (sustainable)
,●● Resource-based view of competitive advantage (4 Resources)
Answer: the strategic thinking approach suggesting that if a firm is to
maintain a sustainable competitive advantage, it must control an
exploitable resource, or set of resources, that have four critical
characteristics. These resources must be:
Valuable
Rare
Imperfectly imitable (tough to imitate)
Nonsubstitutable
●● Imitation Resistant value chain
Answer: a way of doing business that competitors struggle to replicate
and that frequently involves technology in a key enabling role
●● Value Chain
Answer: the set of interrelated activities that bring products or services
to market
●● Resources for Competitive Advantage
Answer: Brand
reputation
, quality
patents
scale advantage
economies of scale
●● economies of scale
Answer: when costs can be spread across increasing units of production
or in serving multiple customers. Businesses that have favorable
economies of scale (like many internet firms) are sometimes referred to
as being highly scalable
●● switching costs
Answer: exist when consumers incur an expense to move from one
product or service to another
●● Vertical differentiation
Answer: build a better product, products differ in quality
●● Horizontal differentiation
Answer: postilion yourself in "product space" away from your
competitors, used to appeal to distinct groups of customers
●● Supply side differentiation
AND DETAILED ANSWERS
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW RESOURCE
●● Strategic Positioning
Answer: performing different tasks than your rivals, or performing the
same tasks in a different way (creating higher value/revenue)
●● Competitive Advantage
Answer: the ability of a firm to outperform its competitors in financial
measures
●● Sustainable competitive advantage
Answer: financial performance that consistently outperforms industry
averages
●● A factor or set of factors can lead to sustainable competitive
advantage if:
Answer: Affects firm value in a positive way (advantage)
Not too many competitors can imitate it (competitive)
Can keep it up (sustainable)
,●● Resource-based view of competitive advantage (4 Resources)
Answer: the strategic thinking approach suggesting that if a firm is to
maintain a sustainable competitive advantage, it must control an
exploitable resource, or set of resources, that have four critical
characteristics. These resources must be:
Valuable
Rare
Imperfectly imitable (tough to imitate)
Nonsubstitutable
●● Imitation Resistant value chain
Answer: a way of doing business that competitors struggle to replicate
and that frequently involves technology in a key enabling role
●● Value Chain
Answer: the set of interrelated activities that bring products or services
to market
●● Resources for Competitive Advantage
Answer: Brand
reputation
, quality
patents
scale advantage
economies of scale
●● economies of scale
Answer: when costs can be spread across increasing units of production
or in serving multiple customers. Businesses that have favorable
economies of scale (like many internet firms) are sometimes referred to
as being highly scalable
●● switching costs
Answer: exist when consumers incur an expense to move from one
product or service to another
●● Vertical differentiation
Answer: build a better product, products differ in quality
●● Horizontal differentiation
Answer: postilion yourself in "product space" away from your
competitors, used to appeal to distinct groups of customers
●● Supply side differentiation
