WPC 480 CHAPTER 3 QUIZ WITH 100% CORRECT ANSWERS ALREADY GRADED A+

c A software company that is seeking a sustained competitive advantage will constantly be facing obsolescence because of environmental change. To generate a sustained competitive advantage, this company must: a. develop strategies to push competitors out of the business early so it is not faced with technological pressures. b. capture as much revenue as it can quickly, and then close the business when technology surpasses it. c. be continually building its technological capabilities to develop new skills as technology advances so that it can offer constant upgrades to meet customers' needs. d. always hire new people to bring new experience and knowledge into the firm. a Which of the following is an example of an operations activity? a. Developing employees' work schedules b. Arranging for customers' payments for delivered goods c. Developing and managing product brands d. Fully complying with a product's warranty c Myspace, the social networking site, was a leader and innovator for modern social networking. However, not long after Myspace's peak, a new social networking site, Facebook, began gaining ground. Myspace quickly became obsolete because of Facebook's superior functionality, design, and features. Which of the following was Myspace lacking that resulted in the company losing its competitive advantage? a. A mission statement because the company lacked a clear understanding of where it was operating and who it was serving b. Valuable capabilities because Myspace didn't exploit the opportunity of people's need to connect c. Costly-to-imitate capabilities because it became less expensive to start a social networking site d. Intangible resources c A capability meets the criteria of being valuable when: a. it requires an investment of half of the company's financial assets. b. it is possessed by only the top tier of companies in the sector. c. it helps a firm exploit opportunities in its external environment. d. its causes and uses are unclear. d The senior managers of a grocery store chain have a disagreement over the direction of the company. One faction wants to leverage its capabilities and core competencies to take advantage of the opportunities provided by a stronger online presence, including online ordering with both at-store pickup and home delivery. The other faction feels that the company's strengths lie in small, convenient neighborhood stores and the customer service that accompany an in-store shopping experience. The online expansion would be a departure from what the company already knows how to do and would require a significant investment. Those in favor of the changes feel that the potential returns make the investment worthwhile. What concept are those in favor of change struggling against? a. A global mind-set b. Tangible resources c. Core capabilities d. Core rigidity b TaylorTech, a high-quality metals finishing company, is struggling with its margins. TaylorTech has raw materials delivered to its foundry in Pittsburgh, where the company melts the metals into castings. The firm then polishes them as a value-added process before selling the custom castings to customers. Its unique polishing process is rare in the United States, is very secretive, and results in a more efficient cast that commands a premium price. Unfortunately, the casting process is becoming more expensive because of increased wage pressure from the workers specializing in casting. With these issues, TaylorTech has to make a decision. Which of the following is the most viable option for TaylorTech to increase its margins? a. Lay off team members across the company b. Outsource the casting process c. Stop offering the polishing process d. Hire less-skilled workers d BlackBerry, a one-time leader in secure cell phones, lost its edge. Without significant upgrades or innovation, the company quickly lost market share to iPhones and Android devices. The company attempted to imitate these advances with the Blackberry Storm product, which flopped. Blackberry was criticized as trying to leverage capabilities beyond its core competencies. Which of the following tools should Blackberry use to regain a scope of its core competencies and determine potential sources of competitive advantage? a. External environmental analysis b. Competitor analysis c. Industry analysis d. Value chain analysis c Which of the following statements about tangible resources is true? a. Compared to intangible resources, tangible resources are a superior source of capabilities and, subsequently, core competencies. b. Firms prefer to rely on them rather than intangible resources as the foundation for their capabilities. c. The value of tangible resources is constrained because they are hard to leverage. d. Intellectual capital is the most important tangible resource for today's leaders to develop. b A capability is considered rare when: a. it helps a firm to neutralize any threats against it. b. it is possessed by few, if any, other firms. c. its cause is ambiguous. d. it has no strategic equivalents. b An attorney has grown his law firm, gaining new clients in two diverse areas—estate law and immigration law. He's not sure which specialty will become his focus in the long run. At the