Exam question O&E
DESIGN SCHOOL
1. Which of the following is not a statement in line with the Design School way of
thinking about strategy formation?
A strategies should be explicit at all times, so they have to be kept simple
B only after the definition of a unique, full-blown, explicit and simple strategy can it be fully
formulated and then implemented.
C the strategy formation process strategy must be kept simple and internal.
D intuition, judgement, wisdom, experience and insight drive strategy.
2. The design school is most applicable for strategy formation in:
A Stable environments.
B Dynamic environments.
C Both kind of environments.
3. The design school is most applicable for strategy formation in:
A Large, old and established organizations.
B Young and entrepreneurial organizations.
C Both kind of organizations.
D Not applicable at all to any kind of organization.
4. Consider Tony Chocolonely:
- 2003: Journalist Teun van de Keuken reads about the poor working conditions
on cacao farms in West-Africa. He decides to turn himself in as a “chocolate
criminal” for the consumption of chocolate.
- 2005: First chocolate bars produced.
- 2006: Teun establishes Tony Chocolonely officially.
- 2007: Mission not only fairtrade, but free of slave labour.
- 2015: Celebration of 10-year anniversary.
Can we fruitfully use the lessons learned from the Design School to analyze
strategy formation at Tony Chocolonely?
A Yes, the environment of Tony Chocolonely is relatively stable.
B Yes the founder seems to be the primary strategist of the organization.
,C Yes, the idea and course of action seem to have been formulated before the conception of
the organization.
D Yes, all of the above.
E No, the design school is only applicable for older organizations.
5. Tony Chocolonely is often in the news. A couple of years ago, because of their
lobby for a law making organizations responsible for child labor and the use of
slaves somewhere in their supply chain. How would design school thinkers explain
this lobbying behavior?
A By influencing legislation, Tony Chocolonely creates a fair market.
B By influencing legislation, Tony Chocolonely tries to carve out a first-mover advantage as
they are already adhering to the proposed law.
C By influencing legislation, Tony Chocolonely is capitalizing on its strengths.
D They can’t explain this as design school thinkers do not consider that organizations
interact with the environment.
6. Tony Chocolonely entered the market, motivated by a mission and vision to make
chocolate honest. The design school proposes that although each organization
should have a unique strategy, there is also universality of strategy. Tony
Chocolonely may have a diversified product, it’s not very different in taste from
other (premium) chocolate producers. It is more expensive to produce. The
company is distinguishing itself with creative and bold marketing campaigns.
Imagine that you were Teun van de Keuken at the start of Tony Chocolonely.
What would be the result of the gathering of information before your strategy
formulation? My strategy formation would be:
A Don’t start Tony Chocolonely, the threats would outweigh the opportunities and there are
more weaknesses than strengths.
B Start Tony Chocolonely, one strength is enough.
C Don’t start Tony Chocolonely, the market is saturated.
D Start Tony Chocolonely, I’m economic (wo)man and I can perfectly predict the future.
E It seems that the design school can’t explain everything and I want to use a different
perspective; analyze different perspectives to come to a strategy.
7. Are strategies simple or complex? (Design school thinking)
A simple
B complex
, 8. Are strategies unique or generic? (Design School thinking)
A Unique; in practice we see something else.
B Generic
9. Which fictious organization fits best with the Design School?
A Dunder Mifflin (The Office)
B Waystar Royco (Succession)
C Pearson Specter Litt LLC (Suits)
PLANNING SCHOOL
10. What of the following aspects are not exemplary of the overlap between the design
and planning schools?
A both are concerned with how strategies should be formulated than with how they
necessarily do form.
B both always pivot around strategic outcomes that should be unique.
C strategies develop top down in the organization at all times.
D strategy formation is seen as a controlled, conscious process that leads to full-blown
deliberate strategies; with the design school it had to be explicit, but not full-blown.
11. The planning school is most applicable for strategy making in:
A stable environments.
B dynamic environments.
C both kind of environments.
12. The design school is most applicable for strategy formation in:
A Large, old and established organizations.
B Young and entrepreneurial organizations.
C Both kind of organizations.
D Not applicable at all to any kind of organization.
13. Consider picnic: (online) supermarket that doesn’t have physical shops, only
delivery.
DESIGN SCHOOL
1. Which of the following is not a statement in line with the Design School way of
thinking about strategy formation?
A strategies should be explicit at all times, so they have to be kept simple
B only after the definition of a unique, full-blown, explicit and simple strategy can it be fully
formulated and then implemented.
C the strategy formation process strategy must be kept simple and internal.
D intuition, judgement, wisdom, experience and insight drive strategy.
2. The design school is most applicable for strategy formation in:
A Stable environments.
B Dynamic environments.
C Both kind of environments.
3. The design school is most applicable for strategy formation in:
A Large, old and established organizations.
B Young and entrepreneurial organizations.
C Both kind of organizations.
D Not applicable at all to any kind of organization.
4. Consider Tony Chocolonely:
- 2003: Journalist Teun van de Keuken reads about the poor working conditions
on cacao farms in West-Africa. He decides to turn himself in as a “chocolate
criminal” for the consumption of chocolate.
- 2005: First chocolate bars produced.
- 2006: Teun establishes Tony Chocolonely officially.
- 2007: Mission not only fairtrade, but free of slave labour.
- 2015: Celebration of 10-year anniversary.
Can we fruitfully use the lessons learned from the Design School to analyze
strategy formation at Tony Chocolonely?
A Yes, the environment of Tony Chocolonely is relatively stable.
B Yes the founder seems to be the primary strategist of the organization.
,C Yes, the idea and course of action seem to have been formulated before the conception of
the organization.
D Yes, all of the above.
E No, the design school is only applicable for older organizations.
5. Tony Chocolonely is often in the news. A couple of years ago, because of their
lobby for a law making organizations responsible for child labor and the use of
slaves somewhere in their supply chain. How would design school thinkers explain
this lobbying behavior?
A By influencing legislation, Tony Chocolonely creates a fair market.
B By influencing legislation, Tony Chocolonely tries to carve out a first-mover advantage as
they are already adhering to the proposed law.
C By influencing legislation, Tony Chocolonely is capitalizing on its strengths.
D They can’t explain this as design school thinkers do not consider that organizations
interact with the environment.
6. Tony Chocolonely entered the market, motivated by a mission and vision to make
chocolate honest. The design school proposes that although each organization
should have a unique strategy, there is also universality of strategy. Tony
Chocolonely may have a diversified product, it’s not very different in taste from
other (premium) chocolate producers. It is more expensive to produce. The
company is distinguishing itself with creative and bold marketing campaigns.
Imagine that you were Teun van de Keuken at the start of Tony Chocolonely.
What would be the result of the gathering of information before your strategy
formulation? My strategy formation would be:
A Don’t start Tony Chocolonely, the threats would outweigh the opportunities and there are
more weaknesses than strengths.
B Start Tony Chocolonely, one strength is enough.
C Don’t start Tony Chocolonely, the market is saturated.
D Start Tony Chocolonely, I’m economic (wo)man and I can perfectly predict the future.
E It seems that the design school can’t explain everything and I want to use a different
perspective; analyze different perspectives to come to a strategy.
7. Are strategies simple or complex? (Design school thinking)
A simple
B complex
, 8. Are strategies unique or generic? (Design School thinking)
A Unique; in practice we see something else.
B Generic
9. Which fictious organization fits best with the Design School?
A Dunder Mifflin (The Office)
B Waystar Royco (Succession)
C Pearson Specter Litt LLC (Suits)
PLANNING SCHOOL
10. What of the following aspects are not exemplary of the overlap between the design
and planning schools?
A both are concerned with how strategies should be formulated than with how they
necessarily do form.
B both always pivot around strategic outcomes that should be unique.
C strategies develop top down in the organization at all times.
D strategy formation is seen as a controlled, conscious process that leads to full-blown
deliberate strategies; with the design school it had to be explicit, but not full-blown.
11. The planning school is most applicable for strategy making in:
A stable environments.
B dynamic environments.
C both kind of environments.
12. The design school is most applicable for strategy formation in:
A Large, old and established organizations.
B Young and entrepreneurial organizations.
C Both kind of organizations.
D Not applicable at all to any kind of organization.
13. Consider picnic: (online) supermarket that doesn’t have physical shops, only
delivery.
