BSG Comprehensive Exam (Fall 2023)Solved Correctly!!

The benefits of pursuing a strategy of social responsibility and corporate citizenship include - Answer · The positive impact that such a strategy has on the company's image rating, provided the company spends a meaningful amount on socially responsible activities and such spending is sustained over a multi-year period If a company's managers want to succeed in creating a differentiation-based competitive advantage (And a potential cost advantage in achieving the differentiation) that is difficult for rivals to quickly or easily copy (because every strategic move a company makes to outcompete rivals and gain a competitive advantage is not apparent from information contained in the FIR and the competitive intelligence Report), then the managers have to - Answer · Do a better job then rivals in identifying and implementing ways to become very cost-efficient in producing and marketing 350-500 models/styles of branded footwear that also have the highest S/Q rating in the industry Valid reasons to consider building a new plant in Latin America include - Answer · Low tariff costs on footwear sales in Latin America (because no import tariffs are paid on footwear produced at the Latin American plant and shipped to the distribution warehouses in Latin America) A company stands a better chance of achieving a sustainable cost-based competitive advantage over rivals if its managers - Answer · Pursue a number of cost-reducing initiatives that can be concealed from rivals (because such initiatives are not part of the information contained in the FIR and the competitive intelligence report) Which of the following actions does not help a company's social responsibility strategy result in a higher image rating? - Answer · Reducing the prices, the company charges its customers for branded footwear What does help a company's social responsibility strategy and results in a higher image rating - Answer · Using environmentally friendly or 'Green' materials in producing footwear at the company's plants · Using recycled packaging materials to box each pair of athletic footwear at the company's distribution centers · Making donations to charities and charitable causes · Investing to improve energy efficiency and the use of renewable sources at company facilities. It makes good economic sense for company managers to consider investing $3.5 million per million pairs of capacity for a plant facilities upgrade that will boost laborproductivity by 25%. - Answer · At a plant that currently has labor productivity of 3,200 pairs per worker and total employee compensation of $20,000 annually because the upgrade will cause labor costs per pair produced to decline from $6.25 to $5.00