MAN 4720 MIDTERM EXAM QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS 100% CORRECT
Competitive Advantage - ANSWER-Superior performance relative to other competitors
in the same industry or the industry average.
Generating above average returns. Measured relative to other firms. Should rely on a
more holistic perspective vs. just using one metric.
resource based theory - ANSWER-says that the possession of strategic resources
provides an organization with a golden opportunity to develop competitive advantages
over its rivals
strategic resource - ANSWER-this is an asset that is valuable, rare, difficult to imitate,
and non substitutable.
valuable - ANSWER-a resource is _____ if it helps a firm create strategies that
capitalize on opportunities and ward off threats.
non substitutable - ANSWER-a resource is _____ when competitors cannot find
alternative ways to gain the benefits that a resource provides.
general environment - ANSWER-the _________ includes overall trends and events in
society such as social trends, technological trends, demographics, and economic
conditions.
Financial, customer, learning and growth, internal business process - ANSWER-
Balanced scorecard perspectives
People, planet, profit - ANSWER-Triple bottom line 3 p's
Political, economic, social, technology, environmental, legal - ANSWER-PESTEL stands
for
Political is people, parties, and policies. Legal is laws and regulations - ANSWER-
Political vs legal
Industry - ANSWER-Organizations that compete using similar products
New entrants, suppliers, buyers, rivalry, substitutes - ANSWER-Porter's 5 forces
new entrants - ANSWER-Barriers to entry is a threat to
, industry - ANSWER-the ______ consists of multiple organizations that collectively
compete with one another by providing similar goods, services, or both.
D - ANSWER-You have taken a job with Exxon-Mobil and have identified a major threat
in the external environment that you believe the executives may not be aware of. Upon
approaching your boss about this he tells you that since the executives have already set
the strategy for the year, you should wait until they begin the analysis/scanning phase
again before bringing this to their attention. This response is...
A Plausible, the strategic management process is a linear process with a discrete
beginning and end, so they may not find the information useful right now.
B. Plausible, the strategic management process is a linear process, but is iterative,
starting again from the beginning after completing each iteration, so they may not be in
the right phase to use the information right now
C. Implausible, the strategic management process is a purposefully non-linear series of
steps with no logical order, so you never know what phase they might be in
D. Implausible, the strategic management process can be thought of as a linear
process, but in reality is more messy - with multiple feedback loops/ iterations
throughout the process, so this information might be part of a feedback loop that causes
them to return to the analysis/scanning phase
B - ANSWER-The Disney company has embarked upon a strategy to be more
responsible to stakeholders of the organization beyond their shareholders. They hired
you to come up with high-level organizational goals aligned with this strategy. The goals
you identified were: Reduce the firm's carbon footprint by 5% in 3 years, reduce paper
waste by 10% in 5 years, Open the Disney Center for the Advancement of Early-
Childhood Education within 7 years, and improve profit margins on video sales by 3%
each year for 5 years. Which of the following frameworks was most likely to have led
you to identify these goals?
A. Financial Ratio Analysis
B. Triple Bottom Line
C. Balanced Scorecard
D. Corporate Social Responsibility
B - ANSWER-Walmart is considering implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning
system (ERP) across the entire organization, but will roll it out one functional area at a
time. Walmart's roll-out strategy is to implement first in a non-mission-critical functional
area (one that doesn't interface with the product/service or customers directly) to
mitigate the losses if the ERP implementation fails. As a consultant attached to
Walmart, use Value Chain Analysis logic to make an appropriate recommendation of a
good first functional area for the implementation.
AND ANSWERS 100% CORRECT
Competitive Advantage - ANSWER-Superior performance relative to other competitors
in the same industry or the industry average.
Generating above average returns. Measured relative to other firms. Should rely on a
more holistic perspective vs. just using one metric.
resource based theory - ANSWER-says that the possession of strategic resources
provides an organization with a golden opportunity to develop competitive advantages
over its rivals
strategic resource - ANSWER-this is an asset that is valuable, rare, difficult to imitate,
and non substitutable.
valuable - ANSWER-a resource is _____ if it helps a firm create strategies that
capitalize on opportunities and ward off threats.
non substitutable - ANSWER-a resource is _____ when competitors cannot find
alternative ways to gain the benefits that a resource provides.
general environment - ANSWER-the _________ includes overall trends and events in
society such as social trends, technological trends, demographics, and economic
conditions.
Financial, customer, learning and growth, internal business process - ANSWER-
Balanced scorecard perspectives
People, planet, profit - ANSWER-Triple bottom line 3 p's
Political, economic, social, technology, environmental, legal - ANSWER-PESTEL stands
for
Political is people, parties, and policies. Legal is laws and regulations - ANSWER-
Political vs legal
Industry - ANSWER-Organizations that compete using similar products
New entrants, suppliers, buyers, rivalry, substitutes - ANSWER-Porter's 5 forces
new entrants - ANSWER-Barriers to entry is a threat to
, industry - ANSWER-the ______ consists of multiple organizations that collectively
compete with one another by providing similar goods, services, or both.
D - ANSWER-You have taken a job with Exxon-Mobil and have identified a major threat
in the external environment that you believe the executives may not be aware of. Upon
approaching your boss about this he tells you that since the executives have already set
the strategy for the year, you should wait until they begin the analysis/scanning phase
again before bringing this to their attention. This response is...
A Plausible, the strategic management process is a linear process with a discrete
beginning and end, so they may not find the information useful right now.
B. Plausible, the strategic management process is a linear process, but is iterative,
starting again from the beginning after completing each iteration, so they may not be in
the right phase to use the information right now
C. Implausible, the strategic management process is a purposefully non-linear series of
steps with no logical order, so you never know what phase they might be in
D. Implausible, the strategic management process can be thought of as a linear
process, but in reality is more messy - with multiple feedback loops/ iterations
throughout the process, so this information might be part of a feedback loop that causes
them to return to the analysis/scanning phase
B - ANSWER-The Disney company has embarked upon a strategy to be more
responsible to stakeholders of the organization beyond their shareholders. They hired
you to come up with high-level organizational goals aligned with this strategy. The goals
you identified were: Reduce the firm's carbon footprint by 5% in 3 years, reduce paper
waste by 10% in 5 years, Open the Disney Center for the Advancement of Early-
Childhood Education within 7 years, and improve profit margins on video sales by 3%
each year for 5 years. Which of the following frameworks was most likely to have led
you to identify these goals?
A. Financial Ratio Analysis
B. Triple Bottom Line
C. Balanced Scorecard
D. Corporate Social Responsibility
B - ANSWER-Walmart is considering implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning
system (ERP) across the entire organization, but will roll it out one functional area at a
time. Walmart's roll-out strategy is to implement first in a non-mission-critical functional
area (one that doesn't interface with the product/service or customers directly) to
mitigate the losses if the ERP implementation fails. As a consultant attached to
Walmart, use Value Chain Analysis logic to make an appropriate recommendation of a
good first functional area for the implementation.
