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Scheme
Etsy promotes its ability to connect thoughtful consumers with artisans selling unique
handcrafted items online. Etsy's strategy is a good example of
A) an offensive strategy to seek uncharted waters and compete in blue oceans.
B) an offensive strategy to offer an equally good or better product at a lower price.
C) an offensive strategy to leapfrog competitors by being the first adopter of next
generation technologies or being the first to market with next-generation products.
D) a defensive strategy to capture occupied territory by maneuvering around rivals.
E) a defensive strategy to minimize the competitive advantages of rivals - Answers -
✔✔A
A hit-and-run or guerrilla warfare-type offensive strategy
A) involves random offensive attacks used by a market leader to steal customers away
from unsuspecting smaller rivals.
B) involves undertaking surprise moves to secure an advantageous position in a fast
growing and profitable market segment; usually the guerrilla signals rivals that it will use
deep price cuts to defend its newly won position.
C) works best if the guerrilla is the industry's low-cost leader.
D) involves pitting a small company's own competitive strengths head-on against the
strengths of much larger rivals.
E) involves unexpected attacks (usually by a small- to medium-sized competitor) to grab
sales and market share from complacent or distracted rivals - Answers - ✔✔E
Strategic offensives make sense when a company is
A) focusing relentlessly on destroying a competitive advantage.
B) applying resources where rivals are least able to defend themselves.
C) leveraging its weaknesses to strengthen operating vulnerabilities.
D) trying to whittle away at a rival's competitive advantage.
E) displaying a "wait-and-see" approach to its rivals' moves. - Answers - ✔✔D
Once a company has decided to employ a particular generic competitive strategy, then
it must make the following additional strategic choices, except whether to
A) focus on building competitive advantages.
B) employ the element of surprise as opposed to doing what rivals expect and are
prepared for.
C) display a strong bias for swift, decisive, and overwhelming actions to overpower
rivals.
D) create and deploy company resources to cause rivals to defend themselves.
E) pay special attention to buyer segments that a rival is already serving - Answers -
✔✔E
,To complement and supplement the choice of one of the five generic competitive
strategies, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google pursue offensive actions such as
A) playing softball against rivals.
B) employing the element of surprise as opposed to doing what rivals expect and are
prepared for.
C) pursuing a market share leadership strategy.
D) blocking the avenues open to challengers.
E) signaling challengers that retaliation is likely. - Answers - ✔✔B
Strategic offensives should, as a general rule, be based on
A) exploiting a company's strongest competitive assets—its most valuable resources
and capabilities.
B) instigating and executing the chosen strategy efficiently and effectively.
C) scoping and scaling an organization's internal and external situation.
D) molding an organization's character and identity.
E) satisfying the buyer's needs that the company seeks to meet - Answers - ✔✔A
The principal offensive strategy options include all of the following except
A) offering an equally good or better product at a lower price.
B) using hit-and-run or guerrilla warfare tactics to grab sales and market share from
complacent or distracted rivals.
C) launching a preemptive strike to secure an advantageous position that rivals are
prevented or discouraged from duplicating.
D) pursuing continuous product innovation to draw sales and market share away from
less innovative rivals.
E) initiating a market threat and counterattack simultaneously to effect a distraction -
Answers - ✔✔E
Offensive strategic moves involve all of the following except
A) leapfrogging competitors by being first to market with next-generation products.
B) using hit-and-run or guerrilla warfare tactics to grab sales and market share.
C) launching a preemptive strike to secure an advantageous position that rivals are
prevented or discouraged from duplicating.
D) pursuing continuous product innovation to draw sales and market share away from
rivals.
E) blocking the avenues open to challengers. - Answers - ✔✔E
An offensive to yield good results can be short if
A) buyers respond immediately (to a dramatic cost-based price cut or imaginative ad
campaign).
B) competition creates an appealing new product.
C) the technology needs debugging.
D) new production capacity needs to be installed.
E) consumer acceptance of an innovative product takes time. - Answers - ✔✔A
, Bumble, a digital dating site where women make the first move, specifically uses which
strategic weapon in its offensive arsenal?
A) pursuing disruptive product innovations to create new markets
B) adopting and improving on the good ideas of other companies or rival firms
C) using hit-and-run guerilla warfare tactics to grab market share from distracted or
complacent rivals
D) launching a preemptive strike to capture an industry's limited resources or capture a
rare opportunity
E) offering an equally good or better product at a lower price than rivals - Answers -
✔✔A
The worst targets for an offensive-minded company to target are
A) market leaders that are strong.
B) runner-up firms with strengths in areas where the offensive-minded challenger is
weaker.
C) large multinational companies with vast capabilities and resources.
D) runner-up firms that have amassed sufficient resources and capabilities to place
them on the verge of becoming market leaders.
E) other offensive-minded companies that possess a sizable war chest of cash and
marketable securities - Answers - ✔✔E
Launching a preemptive strike type of offensive strategy entails
A) sapping the rival's financial strength and competitive position.
B) weakening the rival's resolve.
C) moving first to secure advantageous competitive assets that rivals can't readily
match or duplicate.
D) threatening the rival's overall survival in the market.
E) using hit-and-run tactics to grab sales and market share away from complacent or
distracted rivals - Answers - ✔✔C
A blue-ocean strategy
A) is an offensive strike employed by a market leader that is directed at pilfering
customers away from unsuspecting rivals to boost profitability.
B) involves an unexpected (out-of-the-blue) preemptive strike to secure an
advantageous position in a fast-growing market segment.
C) works best when a company is the industry's low-cost leader.
D) involves abandoning efforts to beat out competitors in existing markets and instead
inventing a new industry or new market segment that renders existing competitors
largely irrelevant and allows a company to create and capture altogether new demand.
E) involves the use of highly creative, never-used-before strategic moves to attack the
competitive weaknesses of rivals. - Answers - ✔✔D
A good example of blue-ocean type of offensive strategy is a company like
A) EERO that leapfrogged rivals in innovation in the home Wi-Fi market.
B) EasyJet that developed a cost advantage to undercut its rivals in passenger airlines.
C) Home Depot that adopted and improved on the good ideas of other companies.