BMAL 590 GLOBAL DIMENSIONS OF BUSINESS
MASTER PRACTICE QUESTIONS WITH
DETAILED EXPLANATIONS 2026
◉ global strategy
Answer: a firm's intention to provide standardized products and/or
services on a world-wide basis. Another definition suggests that
global strategy is any strategy outside one's home country.
However, the best definition is that "global strategy" is each firm's
theory about how to compete successfully in whatever global
markets the firm chooses to compete.
◉ emergent strategy
Answer: Henry Mintzberg, a Canadian scholar, posited that in
addition to the intended strategy that the planning school
emphasizes, there can be an emergent strategy that is not the result
of "top-down" planning, but that is the outcome of a stream of
smaller decisions from the "bottom up."
◉ strategy as integration
Answer: Although the debate between the planning school and
acting school is difficult to resolve, many scholars and managers
have realized that the essence of strategy is likely to be a
,combination of both planned deliberate actions and unplanned
emergent activities
defines strategy as "a firm's theory about how to compete
successfully." In other words, if we have to define a strategy with one
word, our choice is neither plan nor action - it is theory. A theory
serves two purposes: explanation and prediction.
◉ Strategy as a theory
Answer: describes how to compete successfully in a global market.
Firms have both intended and emergent strategies, meaning, some
strategies are defined from the outset while others develop with the
firm's participation in the marketplace.
It is often difficult to change strategy so firms must guard against
total adherence to a strategy because to do so would hamper
adaptation in new situations. Strategy should continue to give
coherence to decisions and actions. Managers must exert effective
strategic leadership both in a global and a local perspective.
Theory building and development requires replication and
experimentation to establish the temporal (time-related) and
geographic limits of an existing theory. The strategy as theory
perspective helps us understand why it is often difficult to change
strategy.
,◉ Why do firms differ?
Answer: The largest influences are a reflection of the cultural
differences between Western and Japanese companies.
In Western firms, the competition among companies drives the
process. In other companies, like the Japanese, networks of
relationships have powerful effects.
◉ Where does most of our knowledge of firms come from?
Answer: Anglo-American capitalism
◉ keiretsu
Answer: Japanese firms extensively employ a network form of
supplier management, giving rise to the term keiretsu (inter-firm
network).
◉ guanxi
Answer: The Chinese favor guanxi (interpersonal networks),
cultivated by managers, that may serve as informal substitutes for
formal institutional support. In other words, interpersonal
relationships among managers are translated into an inter-firm
strategy of relying on networks and alliances to grow the firm,
which, in the aggregate, contributes to the growth of the economy.
, ◉ How do firms behave?
Answer: Companies that embrace the industry-based view focus on
competitive forces within an industry that impact all firms.
According to this perspective, a firm's success in the Indian IT
industry depends on the unique attributes of the IT industry, its
knowledge-intensive nature, and non-location based boundaries.
◉ resource-based (capabilities)
Answer: Those firms that adhere to the resource-based
(capabilities) view focus on internal strengths and weaknesses, that
is, firm-specific resources and capabilities.
For example, successful Indian IT firms tend to have capabilities that
are valuable, unique, and hard for rivals to imitate or replicate.
◉ institution-based view
Answer: focus on government and societal forces.
For example, the pro-market reforms in India have opened the door
for many Indian IT companies to win foreign contracts, while at the
same time, legislation by various states in the U.S. has banned Indian
IT firms from winning contracts.
MASTER PRACTICE QUESTIONS WITH
DETAILED EXPLANATIONS 2026
◉ global strategy
Answer: a firm's intention to provide standardized products and/or
services on a world-wide basis. Another definition suggests that
global strategy is any strategy outside one's home country.
However, the best definition is that "global strategy" is each firm's
theory about how to compete successfully in whatever global
markets the firm chooses to compete.
◉ emergent strategy
Answer: Henry Mintzberg, a Canadian scholar, posited that in
addition to the intended strategy that the planning school
emphasizes, there can be an emergent strategy that is not the result
of "top-down" planning, but that is the outcome of a stream of
smaller decisions from the "bottom up."
◉ strategy as integration
Answer: Although the debate between the planning school and
acting school is difficult to resolve, many scholars and managers
have realized that the essence of strategy is likely to be a
,combination of both planned deliberate actions and unplanned
emergent activities
defines strategy as "a firm's theory about how to compete
successfully." In other words, if we have to define a strategy with one
word, our choice is neither plan nor action - it is theory. A theory
serves two purposes: explanation and prediction.
◉ Strategy as a theory
Answer: describes how to compete successfully in a global market.
Firms have both intended and emergent strategies, meaning, some
strategies are defined from the outset while others develop with the
firm's participation in the marketplace.
It is often difficult to change strategy so firms must guard against
total adherence to a strategy because to do so would hamper
adaptation in new situations. Strategy should continue to give
coherence to decisions and actions. Managers must exert effective
strategic leadership both in a global and a local perspective.
Theory building and development requires replication and
experimentation to establish the temporal (time-related) and
geographic limits of an existing theory. The strategy as theory
perspective helps us understand why it is often difficult to change
strategy.
,◉ Why do firms differ?
Answer: The largest influences are a reflection of the cultural
differences between Western and Japanese companies.
In Western firms, the competition among companies drives the
process. In other companies, like the Japanese, networks of
relationships have powerful effects.
◉ Where does most of our knowledge of firms come from?
Answer: Anglo-American capitalism
◉ keiretsu
Answer: Japanese firms extensively employ a network form of
supplier management, giving rise to the term keiretsu (inter-firm
network).
◉ guanxi
Answer: The Chinese favor guanxi (interpersonal networks),
cultivated by managers, that may serve as informal substitutes for
formal institutional support. In other words, interpersonal
relationships among managers are translated into an inter-firm
strategy of relying on networks and alliances to grow the firm,
which, in the aggregate, contributes to the growth of the economy.
, ◉ How do firms behave?
Answer: Companies that embrace the industry-based view focus on
competitive forces within an industry that impact all firms.
According to this perspective, a firm's success in the Indian IT
industry depends on the unique attributes of the IT industry, its
knowledge-intensive nature, and non-location based boundaries.
◉ resource-based (capabilities)
Answer: Those firms that adhere to the resource-based
(capabilities) view focus on internal strengths and weaknesses, that
is, firm-specific resources and capabilities.
For example, successful Indian IT firms tend to have capabilities that
are valuable, unique, and hard for rivals to imitate or replicate.
◉ institution-based view
Answer: focus on government and societal forces.
For example, the pro-market reforms in India have opened the door
for many Indian IT companies to win foreign contracts, while at the
same time, legislation by various states in the U.S. has banned Indian
IT firms from winning contracts.
