Business Strategy Self Assessment Questions

Planning is important for all of the following reasons except: -Planning eliminates uncertainty -Planning establishes organizational goals and standards -Planning can improve employee engagement throughout the organization -Planning provides direction that can align all of the activities of the organization -All of the above - answer-Planning eliminates uncertainty Which ONE of the following would not be considered to be a function of planning? -Hire the senior executive responsible for strategic planning -Define the organization's objectives or goals -Establish an overall strategy for achieving the organizational goals and objectives -Develop a hierarchy of plans to integrate and coordinate activities -All of the above - answer-Hire the senior executive responsible for strategic planning A functional strategy is one that determines how capital will be allocated across various businesses (or strategic business units) - answer-False (Capital allocation across SBUs occurs at the Corporate level of strategy formulation) Operational plans address the "what ifs" of a business -- incorrect strategic planning assumptions and the realization of known risks - answer-False Developing a marketing strategy based on product, price, place, and promotional considerations is an example of a _____________ plan - answer-Functional Which ONE of the following is NOT an approach that a Snowboard manufacturing firm can use to obtain a strategic, sustainable competitive advantage? -Develop, have patented, and then commercialize a new laminate technology that greatly enhances snowboard performance -Lower the price on the firm's popular snowboard product line $50 below the prices of all of the firm's competitors -Secure a 9 year contract with a very popular extreme sports athlete who will exclusively use and promote the firm's snowboard products -Develop, using a trade secrete proprietary technology, a manufacturing process that lowers the cost of making snowboards by 100% beyond what a competitor's production costs are - answer-Lower the price on the firm's popular snowboard product line $50 below the prices of all of the firm's competitors Competitive advantage is always judged relative to other competitors or to the industry average. - answer-True A firm that under performs relative to other competitors in the same industry is said to have a temporary but not sustainable competitive advantage - answer-False From an economic value creation perspective, the firm that does which ONE of the following achieves competitive advantage? -Ensures that the value captured is evenly divided between producer and consumer -Creates and captures more economic value than its rivals -Concentrates on tangible assets available rather than intangible assets -Formulates strategy based primarily on the balanced scorecard approach -Makes significant investments in research and development - answer-Creates and captures more economic value than its rivals A firm that focused on a cost leadership strategy would likely build a business model with all of the following characteristics except: -Tight control over all production and overhead expenses -Product design that stressed manufacturing simplicity -Large marketing expenses to promote product differentiation -Efficient sales facilities -A focus on technology as a means of reducing operating costs - answer-Large marketing expenses to promote product differentiation A ____________ is the end results of decisions and tradeoffs made by management in formulating strategy. -Business Model -Business Strategy -Business Blueprint -Business Concept - answer-Business Model Based on the video lesson discussion what are the three parts of a Business Model? - answer--Value delivery, Value creation, Value generation -Value creation, Value delivery, Value capture -Value conversion, Value delivery, Value capture -Value capture, Value processing, Value delivery -Value generation, Value conversion, Value delivery Which one of the following is not one of the 3 critical factors used to evaluate economic value creation and competitive advantage? -value -stock price -price -costs - answer-Stock Price The firm that consistently charges the lowest price for a product/quality category relative to the competition will always be following a cost leadership strategy. - answer-False Using the terminology of Porter's positioning strategies, Apple Inc. would be said to be pursuing a _______________ positioning strategy in its markets - answer-differentiation Imagine that you are the president of Fran's Hot Dogs ETC, a successful chain of 180 franchised fast food restaurants. The success you have experienced in the last 8 years has you thinking of what to do next. Up to now your success has been based on selling hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken finger baskets, shakes and smoothies targeted towards price and quality conscious Millenials. You believe that the firm's success is driven by the unique experience of dining at a Fran's upscale locations as well as Fran's secret recipes for homemade condiments. Which of the choices below would best describe the firm's strategy in terms of Porter's Generic Strategies? - answer-differentiation-focus-strategy Continuing with Fran's Hot Dogs ETC, recently Fran's has considered buying a smaller chain of hot dog stands that compete in several of the locations currently served by Fran's franchisees. The firm would be combined with Fran's, then franchised (using Fran's brand name) to the current Fran's franchisees in those location. This is an example of which of the following? -stability strategy -organic strategy