BA 453 MIDTERM VERIFIED QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS
2025 GRADED A+
✔✔mobility barriers - ✔✔industry-specific factors that separate one strategic group from
another, restricts movement between strategic groups
✔✔strategy - ✔✔the set of goal-directed actions a firm takes to gain and sustain
superior performance relative to competitors
✔✔3 elements of good strategy - ✔✔1. a diagnosis of the competitive challenge
2. a guiding policy to address the competitive challenge
3. a set of coherent actions to implement the firm's guiding policy
✔✔3 integrative management tasks of successful strategy - ✔✔1. analysis
2. formulation
3. implementation
✔✔how is competitive advantage judged? - ✔✔relative to other competitors or the
industry average
✔✔how does a firm create competitive advantage? - ✔✔1. create more value for
customers while keeping cost comparable to competitors
2. provide the value equivalent to competitors but at a lower cost
✔✔sustained competitive advantage - ✔✔when a firm is able to outperform competitors
for prolonged periods of time
✔✔competitive disadvantage - ✔✔underperformance relative to other competitors in the
same industry or the industry average
✔✔competitive parity - ✔✔when 2 firms perform at the same level
✔✔effective strategy requires that trade offs are... - ✔✔recognized and addressed
✔✔what is a firms performance closely related to? - ✔✔manager actions (firm's effects)
rather than external circumstances (industry effects)
✔✔relationship between firm and industry effects - ✔✔they are interdependent; relevant
in determining firm performance
✔✔stakeholders - ✔✔Individuals or groups who have an interest in and are affected by
the actions of an organization. They make specific contributions for which they expect
rewards in return
,✔✔internal stakeholders - ✔✔consist of employees, owners, and the board of directors
✔✔external stakeholders - ✔✔customers, suppliers, alliance partners, creditors, unions,
communities, governments, media
✔✔Black Swan Events - ✔✔Unexpected, high-magnitude events that are beyond what
modern society can usually predict
✔✔how do black swan events effect businesses - ✔✔erode public trust in businesses
and free market capitalism
✔✔effective management of stakeholders - ✔✔ensures continued survival of the firm
and sustains competitive advantage
✔✔stakeholder impact analysis - ✔✔a decision tool with which managers can
recognize, prioritize, and address the needs of different stakeholders, enabling the firm
to achieve competitive advantage while acting as a good corporate citizen
✔✔3 stakeholder attributes in stakeholder impact analysis - ✔✔1. power
2. legitimacy
3. urgency
✔✔5 steps of stakeholder impact analysis - ✔✔1. identify stakeholders
2. identify stakeholder's interests
3. identify opportunities and threats
4. identify social responsibilities
5. address stakeholder concerns
✔✔core competencies - ✔✔unique, deeply embedded, firm-specific strengths that allow
companies to differentiate their products and services and thus create more value for
customers than their rivals or offer products/services at lower cost
✔✔resources - ✔✔any assets that a firm can draw on when formulating and
implementing a strategy.
firm specific bundles of tangible or intangible assets that are built up over time
✔✔capabilities - ✔✔organizational and managerial skills necessary to orchestrate a
diverse set of resources and deploy them strategically
✔✔activities - ✔✔distinct and fine-grained business processes that enable firms to add
incremental value by transforming inputs into goods and services
✔✔tangible resources - ✔✔physical attributes and are visible
, ✔✔intangible resources - ✔✔Have no physical attributes thus are invisible. Firm's
culture, knowledge, brand equity, reputation, and intellectual property.
✔✔competitive advantage is based on __________________ resources - ✔✔intangible
✔✔2 critical assumptions behind the resource-based view - ✔✔1. resource
heterogeneity
2. resource immodbility
✔✔resource heterogeneity - ✔✔bundles of resources, capabilities, and competencies
that differ across firms
✔✔resource immodbility - ✔✔resources tend to be sticky and don't move easily from
firm to firm
✔✔Structure follows ________
Structure must be ________ - ✔✔strategies
Flexible
✔✔Organizational Structure determines - ✔✔-Work efforts of individuals and teams
-Resource distribution
✔✔Key building blocks to organizational structure - ✔✔Specialization-Division of tasks.
Employees focus on bigger picture vs. employees focus on narrowly defined tasks.
Formalization- Formality of procedures.
Centralization-Where decisions are made.
Hierarchy-reporting lines (red tape)
✔✔Organic Organizations - ✔✔low degree of specialization and formalization, a flat
organizational structure, and decentralized decision making. Ex: Zappos
****DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY****
✔✔Mechanistic organizations - ✔✔-high degree of specialization and formalization
-tall hierarchy
-centralized decision making
Ex: Mcdonalds
****COST LEADERSHIP STRATEGY*****
✔✔strategy implementation - ✔✔The part of the strategic management process that
concerns the organization, coordination, and integration of how work gets done, or
strategy execution.It is key to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. (final piece
of the AFI framework)
2025 GRADED A+
✔✔mobility barriers - ✔✔industry-specific factors that separate one strategic group from
another, restricts movement between strategic groups
✔✔strategy - ✔✔the set of goal-directed actions a firm takes to gain and sustain
superior performance relative to competitors
✔✔3 elements of good strategy - ✔✔1. a diagnosis of the competitive challenge
2. a guiding policy to address the competitive challenge
3. a set of coherent actions to implement the firm's guiding policy
✔✔3 integrative management tasks of successful strategy - ✔✔1. analysis
2. formulation
3. implementation
✔✔how is competitive advantage judged? - ✔✔relative to other competitors or the
industry average
✔✔how does a firm create competitive advantage? - ✔✔1. create more value for
customers while keeping cost comparable to competitors
2. provide the value equivalent to competitors but at a lower cost
✔✔sustained competitive advantage - ✔✔when a firm is able to outperform competitors
for prolonged periods of time
✔✔competitive disadvantage - ✔✔underperformance relative to other competitors in the
same industry or the industry average
✔✔competitive parity - ✔✔when 2 firms perform at the same level
✔✔effective strategy requires that trade offs are... - ✔✔recognized and addressed
✔✔what is a firms performance closely related to? - ✔✔manager actions (firm's effects)
rather than external circumstances (industry effects)
✔✔relationship between firm and industry effects - ✔✔they are interdependent; relevant
in determining firm performance
✔✔stakeholders - ✔✔Individuals or groups who have an interest in and are affected by
the actions of an organization. They make specific contributions for which they expect
rewards in return
,✔✔internal stakeholders - ✔✔consist of employees, owners, and the board of directors
✔✔external stakeholders - ✔✔customers, suppliers, alliance partners, creditors, unions,
communities, governments, media
✔✔Black Swan Events - ✔✔Unexpected, high-magnitude events that are beyond what
modern society can usually predict
✔✔how do black swan events effect businesses - ✔✔erode public trust in businesses
and free market capitalism
✔✔effective management of stakeholders - ✔✔ensures continued survival of the firm
and sustains competitive advantage
✔✔stakeholder impact analysis - ✔✔a decision tool with which managers can
recognize, prioritize, and address the needs of different stakeholders, enabling the firm
to achieve competitive advantage while acting as a good corporate citizen
✔✔3 stakeholder attributes in stakeholder impact analysis - ✔✔1. power
2. legitimacy
3. urgency
✔✔5 steps of stakeholder impact analysis - ✔✔1. identify stakeholders
2. identify stakeholder's interests
3. identify opportunities and threats
4. identify social responsibilities
5. address stakeholder concerns
✔✔core competencies - ✔✔unique, deeply embedded, firm-specific strengths that allow
companies to differentiate their products and services and thus create more value for
customers than their rivals or offer products/services at lower cost
✔✔resources - ✔✔any assets that a firm can draw on when formulating and
implementing a strategy.
firm specific bundles of tangible or intangible assets that are built up over time
✔✔capabilities - ✔✔organizational and managerial skills necessary to orchestrate a
diverse set of resources and deploy them strategically
✔✔activities - ✔✔distinct and fine-grained business processes that enable firms to add
incremental value by transforming inputs into goods and services
✔✔tangible resources - ✔✔physical attributes and are visible
, ✔✔intangible resources - ✔✔Have no physical attributes thus are invisible. Firm's
culture, knowledge, brand equity, reputation, and intellectual property.
✔✔competitive advantage is based on __________________ resources - ✔✔intangible
✔✔2 critical assumptions behind the resource-based view - ✔✔1. resource
heterogeneity
2. resource immodbility
✔✔resource heterogeneity - ✔✔bundles of resources, capabilities, and competencies
that differ across firms
✔✔resource immodbility - ✔✔resources tend to be sticky and don't move easily from
firm to firm
✔✔Structure follows ________
Structure must be ________ - ✔✔strategies
Flexible
✔✔Organizational Structure determines - ✔✔-Work efforts of individuals and teams
-Resource distribution
✔✔Key building blocks to organizational structure - ✔✔Specialization-Division of tasks.
Employees focus on bigger picture vs. employees focus on narrowly defined tasks.
Formalization- Formality of procedures.
Centralization-Where decisions are made.
Hierarchy-reporting lines (red tape)
✔✔Organic Organizations - ✔✔low degree of specialization and formalization, a flat
organizational structure, and decentralized decision making. Ex: Zappos
****DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY****
✔✔Mechanistic organizations - ✔✔-high degree of specialization and formalization
-tall hierarchy
-centralized decision making
Ex: Mcdonalds
****COST LEADERSHIP STRATEGY*****
✔✔strategy implementation - ✔✔The part of the strategic management process that
concerns the organization, coordination, and integration of how work gets done, or
strategy execution.It is key to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. (final piece
of the AFI framework)
