lOMoAR cPSD| 22896205
CFI example exam questions Nestor
1- Ms. Ally has been appointed as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Corona_Innova, a
pharmaceutical company that specializes in breakthrough treatments against new viruses.
To boost its innovation performance, Ms. Ally has decided to resize (expand) the company’s
alliance portfolio. She hires you as an independent consultant to help her with this endeavor.
Ms. Ally wants to make sure that Corona_Innova has “the right capabilities to manage a
larger alliance portfolio”. Up until now, each division of the company has independently
managed their own alliances. As a result, each division has its own alliance managers, who
have done a good job so far. Ms. Ally is confident and thinks that building alliance portfolio
capabilities requires “just minor adjustments”, such as “a couple of training sessions where
the alliance managers learn about alliance portfolio management”. Based on Heimeriks et
al. (2009), reflect on Ms. Ally’s ideas and provide recommendations on potential lines of
action. Explain and motivate your answer.
A: Core ideas to be developed in the answer:
● Ms. Ally is not totally right, as alliance capabilities and alliance portfolio capabilities
are related but different. The former could help build the latter, as some best practices
may be already in place (e.g. bonding routines). However, portfolio capabilities would
still require investments beyond training, as they require integration of know-how
across the firm; this in turn requires, for example, functional/staffing (e.g., alliance
pg. 1
, lOMoAR cPSD| 22896205
department) or tool-based solutions (e.g., codification of alliance best practices) at the
portfolio level. Recommendation: make sure that division alliance managers adopt a
portfolio mindset and set up a structured approach to alliance know-how integration.
To do so, besides training, codification of best practices used by the divisions can be
very useful (illustration with Heimeriks et al. 2009).
● Justification: Heimeriks et al 2009: building alliance capabilities for (expanding)
alliance portfolios requires efforts beyond simply having alliance experiences in
different parts of the organization. It requires a structured and deliberate approach
to accumulating and sharing alliance knowledge and integrating it at the firm level.
Also, it is essential for firms to share and implement codified best practices
throughout the organization. Different types of tools may help achieving these things:
functional and staffing (e.g., alliance department), tool-based (e.g., specially
codification of best practices), training (e.g. external training), and 3rd-party
solutions (e.g., consultants).
2 - The current crisis has presented unique challenges for all kinds of firms and for
entrepreneurs in particular. Relying on article(s) covered in the course, please reflect on how
the current crisis might affect the conditions under which entrepreneurs consider
cooperating with larger firms.
● A: The findings show that entrepreneurs take the risk when they need resources that
established firms uniquely provide (i.e., financial and manufacturing) and when they
have effective defense mechanisms to protect their own resources (i.e., secrecy and
pg. 2
CFI example exam questions Nestor
1- Ms. Ally has been appointed as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Corona_Innova, a
pharmaceutical company that specializes in breakthrough treatments against new viruses.
To boost its innovation performance, Ms. Ally has decided to resize (expand) the company’s
alliance portfolio. She hires you as an independent consultant to help her with this endeavor.
Ms. Ally wants to make sure that Corona_Innova has “the right capabilities to manage a
larger alliance portfolio”. Up until now, each division of the company has independently
managed their own alliances. As a result, each division has its own alliance managers, who
have done a good job so far. Ms. Ally is confident and thinks that building alliance portfolio
capabilities requires “just minor adjustments”, such as “a couple of training sessions where
the alliance managers learn about alliance portfolio management”. Based on Heimeriks et
al. (2009), reflect on Ms. Ally’s ideas and provide recommendations on potential lines of
action. Explain and motivate your answer.
A: Core ideas to be developed in the answer:
● Ms. Ally is not totally right, as alliance capabilities and alliance portfolio capabilities
are related but different. The former could help build the latter, as some best practices
may be already in place (e.g. bonding routines). However, portfolio capabilities would
still require investments beyond training, as they require integration of know-how
across the firm; this in turn requires, for example, functional/staffing (e.g., alliance
pg. 1
, lOMoAR cPSD| 22896205
department) or tool-based solutions (e.g., codification of alliance best practices) at the
portfolio level. Recommendation: make sure that division alliance managers adopt a
portfolio mindset and set up a structured approach to alliance know-how integration.
To do so, besides training, codification of best practices used by the divisions can be
very useful (illustration with Heimeriks et al. 2009).
● Justification: Heimeriks et al 2009: building alliance capabilities for (expanding)
alliance portfolios requires efforts beyond simply having alliance experiences in
different parts of the organization. It requires a structured and deliberate approach
to accumulating and sharing alliance knowledge and integrating it at the firm level.
Also, it is essential for firms to share and implement codified best practices
throughout the organization. Different types of tools may help achieving these things:
functional and staffing (e.g., alliance department), tool-based (e.g., specially
codification of best practices), training (e.g. external training), and 3rd-party
solutions (e.g., consultants).
2 - The current crisis has presented unique challenges for all kinds of firms and for
entrepreneurs in particular. Relying on article(s) covered in the course, please reflect on how
the current crisis might affect the conditions under which entrepreneurs consider
cooperating with larger firms.
● A: The findings show that entrepreneurs take the risk when they need resources that
established firms uniquely provide (i.e., financial and manufacturing) and when they
have effective defense mechanisms to protect their own resources (i.e., secrecy and
pg. 2
